Ridicule it if you may but without Scream, horror would probably not be much of a thing these days.
The early 90s saw the genre die an embarrassingly public death with one DTV turkey after another, only for Wes Craven's 1996 smash to bring it back to life with a refreshingly sly tone to support a steady stream of scares.
With another three films helping to complete the much-rewatched franchise, we decided to go back to the beginning to uncover the things you (probably) didn't know about the original Scream.
(Images: All Star)
1
After reading the script, Bob Weinstein complained that 30 pages went by without a murder so Kevin Williamson added the death of Principal Himbry
2
There was a bidding war for the script and it eventually came down to the Weinsteins and Oliver Stone. Kevin Williamson went with the Weinsteins as he thought they would keep a lot of the violence in the film.
3
Other directors were initially approached to take on the film, including Danny Boyle, Robert Rodriguez and Sam Raimi. Kevin Williamson claimed that none of them understood the script and saw it purely as a comedy.
4
Brittany Murphy and Melissa Joan Hart both auditioned for the role of Sidney while Reese Witherspoon was also approached to play her
5
Casey Becker's house is actually directly opposite the house used in Cujo
6
Ghostface was originally supposed to wear a white robe but it was changed to black after fears that it might look too much like the Klu Klux Klan
7
Joaquin Phoenix turned down the role of Billy Loomis
8
Wes Craven's assistant was looking online for someone to provide a score for the film and someone in a chatroom suggested Marco Beltrami. He ended up scoring all of the Scream films
9
The reporter who screams "people have a right to know" at Sidney is played by Linda Blair, who famously starred in The Exorcist. There are also horror cameos from Joseph Whipp who plays Sheriff Burke and also the sheriff in A Nightmare on Elm Street and Frances Lee McCain who plays Dewey and Tatum's mum and Billy's mum in Gremlins
10
Wes Craven almost took out the line where Casey claims that the first Elm Street was good but the sequels sucked as it would make him seem egotistical. He changed his mind when someone reminded him that he has co-written the third as well as writing and directing the seventh
11
The special effects team used around 50 gallons of fake blood throughout production
12
During production of the first legendary scene, the film crew were contacted by police as they thought it was really happening.
13
While it's well-known that David Arquette and Courtney Cox were dating during production, did you know that Neve Campbell and Matthew Lillard were also an item while filming? Because they totally were.
14
The Friday the 13th trick question during the initial call was inspired by a real life situation where Kevin Williamson fooled friends in a bar and won a round of drinks
15
The "Richard Gere gerbil" line was replaced with another but it didn't work as well. Wes Craven reluctantly kept it in but was worried about the effect it would have. He was even told at the time by some people that he would struggle finding work again after the release.
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