Indubitably one of the most hated slasher films of the eighties, "Scream" (not to be confused with the Wes Craven classic that would come fifteen years later) follows an arbitrary group of rafters who are traveling on the Rio Grande through Texas. They decide to get off the waterway and camp out, but find an abandoned ghost town to make use of. Bad idea.I had heard nothing but bad things about this film for years, which is part of why I took so much time getting around to finally watching it. A lot of horror movies from this period get the "worst movie ever made" declaration from some people (mostly those who don't understand the aesthetic appeal of these films that genre nerds love), but most of the time, there is still a fanbase who defends these films. "Scream" is one of the rare exceptions where you will find more or less nothing but awful things said about it.Let's be clear: "Scream" is not a good film. It's artless, bloodless, poorly-acted—its script meanders without purpose, while its characters and their relationships to one another are indistinguishable, and coherence never comes into the equation. Basically, it is a by-the-numbers slasher flick with the singular distinction that it has one single on-screen death. Despite what the DVD cover may lead you to believe, this is not a splatter flick by any stretch of the imagination.So, what then? Well, under the pile of slasher sins this film commits, I can say it has one thing going for it, and that's its atmosphere. The dusty ghost town setting is simply fantastic—it's obviously a studio lot, but the fact that it's obvious makes the film even weirder. The camera pans around the town in darkness, and ominous music really establishes a legitimately creepy atmosphere. It's a strange setting for a horror film that is explicitly non-Western, but again, it just adds to the film's weirdness. The finale is weak and the killer's "revelation" (if you want to call it that) really just further complicates matters, especially as the film is bookended by panning shots of an old living room, a painting, and a trio of "the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker" figurines. This is probably symbolic, given that they have zero bearing on anything else that occurs in the film, but who knows? Yet another instance of the mysteries that are "Scream."Overall, I'd only recommend this film for die-hard slasher fans, who even then will be divided. As a slasher film, "Scream" is definitely one of the downright strangest offerings of the eighties. Many have condemned it, and I don't blame them—it is a classically bad movie. But in spite of its shortcomings, there is something to be said for its spooky atmosphere and the idiosyncrasies and peculiarities that it is peppered with. It feels like the writer/director literally had no clue what he was doing making the film, and while that certainly makes it nearly unwatchable in some respects, it also renders the film a marginally eerie anomaly. 5/10.

SCREAM is one of those movies that everyone hates, and it's perfectly understandable why (this is one of the only slashers I've seen where, so far, every single review on IMDb has been negative). However, I managed to find the good in this movie that everyone else is overlooking.A group of people (it's never explained if they're friends, coworkers, family members, or what) are on a rafting trip down the Rio Grande when they decide to spend the night in an abandoned ghost town miles away from civilization. Soon, one of them is killed. Then another. And another. Could it be someone in the group? Or is it an outsider? Or could it even be something that isn't quite human? Yes, SCREAM is indeed one of the slowest slashers of the decade. It is also one of the least bloody. But still, there's a certain charm under all the crap that doesn't quite make its way through to the audience. First off, SCREAM is a slow-burn in every meaning of the term. The film sets its own pace (that of a snail) and follows it all throughout. But you know what? I like that. It's a nice, mellow movie that I would pair with THE PREY (1984) as far as movies I would want to watch at three in the morning go. You fall asleep during HALLOWEEN? You miss plot points! You fall asleep during SCREAM? You miss absolutely nothing! SCREAM is also a movie completely drenched in atmosphere. Any serious-minded horror flick featuring a ghost town is bound to be creepy, and this is no exception. The film opens on a rather creepy note with the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker wax figures all in row. The camera zooms in on a clock striking midnight, the camera pans back, the butcher's cleaver has blood on it, and the other two figurines' heads have been lopped off. Then the butcher's eyes move! Another standout scene is when one character finds he is trapped in a room with something in one of the sleeping bags and breathing heavily.Both a good and a bad thing is that the characters are really stupid! They constantly go by themselves into dark rooms after people have been killed, and it is a good thing because it does manage to generate some suspense. I guess we're supposed to assume supernatural forces are making them do this, but it is never fully explained.Another complaint people have is that nothing is ever explained in this movie. I'm guessing the audience is supposed to assume that the ghost of a pirate is killing off these people. Also, the film sets up a huge body count in this large group of vacationers, yet most of them survive, including every single female! That's certainly a rarity in the subgenre, and I liked how they at least mixed things up a little bit (as well as making a lot of the characters middle-aged).The acting was a mishmash of good and bad, with some actors looking really invested in the film and others looking like they're reading their lines off a teleprompter. Some of the bad writing does lead to some pretty unintentionally funny moments (one character screaming is head off and running away when a spider crawls on his hand, then just standing there in a state of shock when one of the characters is murdered just one or two feet away from him), and some funny dialogue ("I won't let anyone tell me what to do, especially a FEMALE!") This isn't really an accomplished film (it's obviously made by a first-time director, actors, and, well, basically everyone) by any means, but I found it to be an alright timewaster, especially if you're feeling drowsy but you need to watch a movie before you go to bed. Or if you have insomnia. Take your pick, but just watch it no matter what the case. Unfortunately, both of this film's titles (SCREAM and THE OUTING) have been taken by later and better films (THE OUTING was a great 1987 killer genie flick).

A group of rafters is terrorized by a mysterious killer in a small Western ghost town.As soon as they arrive and night falls the murders begin.Then a horseback-riding ghostly stranger comes into town lead by a black dog.Painfully slow,almost lethargic slasher flick with solid cast and passable photography.The music is quite atmospheric during the night scenes,but there are so many flaws in "Scream" that's it's hard to enjoy it:paper-thin characters that resemble zombies in coma,agonizingly slow pacing,amateurish editing,incompetent direction and bloodless death scenes.Should I go on?No logic.No suspense.No tension.Just boredom and the lack of explanation in the ending.Who was the killer?We will never know.4 out of 10.A bit better than "Savage Water",but not much.

I watched this recently and noticed that it has the same title as Wes Craven's horror smash hit "Scream", but don't fooled this has absolutely no connection to that Wes Craven masterpiece.The Plot = A group of holiday makers go on a rafting trip down a river stop in at an old ghost town to spend the night. Soon their rafts disappear, and then they begin to be eliminated one by one by a mysterious killer.Oh my god this has to be the world's most boring-est slasher movie ever, talk about a total waste of time, I usually can find the good points in bad Slashers but not in this one, there ain't any redeeming features what so ever, everything in this was bad, badly acted, badly lit, non interesting characters that I couldn't tell apart, the music score sounds completely ripped off from other movies, deaths off-screen which I hate when they do that and stupid subplots (like the bikers turning up and that black guy on the horse and carriage and dog) who neither offer nothing to the movie and that pathetic ending which made this pile of crap even crapper.All in all this pile of rubbish makes movies like Don't Go Into The Woods Alone decent, this should stay dead and buried and never see a DVD release, if u come across this stay well clear.