Scream and Postmodernism

I just want to say, this was the best horror movie I’ve ever seen, really enjoyable and entertaining. Loved it from the very first minute. The decision to get the sexy blond (Drew Barrymore) killed right in the very beginning was an unexpected turn. Much like it was in Hitchcock’s Psycho – when Marion Crane, the presumed protagonist was brutally killed in the first half of the film.


What makes this film postmodern?

To start from the obvious , Scream intentionally references other horror films (Halloween, Friday the 13th ect) .For intance, one of the characters is surnamed Loomis, a name shared by a character in Halloween, and another in Psycho. 

It  is ‘built’ On the overused formula of horror films like Halloween, Friday the 13th and their sequels. Its always about a psychopath stalker with mask, a group of teenagers left alone ect.

But yet  Jem Bloomfiel in his film review writes: "Scream invented a new genre, the so-called “postmodern slasher flick” or “meta-slasher”. Its for this film is self-aware of the formula of slasher film its using. The conventional rules of it are parodied by characters who themselves are experiencing the established routine of a slasher movie.


For example one character explains that “there are rules for surviving a horror movie”, which involve suspecting everyone, never drinking or having sex and certainly never saying “I’ll be right back.”



So the film references the past style but at the same time is self-aware satire of the slasher film genre.