MJB SCRIPT REVIEW | SCREAM

This weeks script is the infamous SCREAM.

Plot in a nutshell: A series of grisly murders are being committed in the small town of Woodsboro. At the centre of them, Sydney Prescott, a traumatised young high school student still dealing with the brutal death of her mother exactly one year ago...

So, I remember at the time when this film came out (1996), Kevin Williamson was hot. Not just popular hot. I mean the type of hot a writer dreams of. The type of hot every writer wishes they could be. And to be honest, on the strength of this script, boy, can I see why…

I’ve read a fairly strong number of scripts. But until now, A QUIET PLACE has been my favourite. But this script can stand proudly next to it. It is, in simple terms, an exercise in exceptional writing. Yes, there are classics like Chinatown. But this script is tighter than ill-fitting school shoes. Kevin was 29 years old when he wrote SCREAM, and yet he makes the teenage characters seem real and fascinating. He doesn’t tie his hands with trendy teen speak, but rather treats them as adults trying to break out from their parents shadows. He gets that these characters need time for angst and to live and to have fun, as well as having these horrific events happen to them. the world they live in is easily recognisable to us (an essential element of really great modern horror) and the knowing jabs at the classics of the genre that are already established, have made this a fun game of getting the audience to recognise when to shout “YOU IDIOTS!” and when to cower in fear.

Unlike the film, the script carries an energy to it, but does not age. I’m almost loathe to read the sequels (though, I’ve heard that SCREAM 2 is just as excellent) in case the writing deteriorates. But I digress. The script is a masterpiece in how to not only write a horror script, but a thriller as well. In all seriousness, it feels like it should be taught in English classes in schools across the planet. If they ever decide to teach script writing. Which they should.

So, what did I learn from reading SCREAM?

There are a ton of lessons to take away from the script, but the one I’m going to recommend is writing dialogue for teenagers. I have always thought that there is a certain worry about writing for those characters as you get older. I would certainly argue that being a parent of a teenager helps write those types of dialogue. And unlike Joe Cornish for ATTACK THE BLOCK, I don’t have six months to a year to work with kids in an innercity estate, listening to them talk to try and get the language right. So I think Kevin offers a brilliant lesson here; write them as adults. Write them as people you talk to. Then throw in a dash of I don’t care. That feels like a pretty solid direction to go in. No, you’re not going to get it right all the time. But it takes away the worry of trying to sound “hip”

Just an absolute stunner. Please enjoy! 

Link to the script;

https://thescriptsavant.com/movies/Scream.pdf