James Rolfe: It's Cinemassacre's "Monster Madness". Director Wes Craven sorta established himself as a prime leader in the slasher franchise. "A Nightmare on Elm Street" introduced Freddy Krueger and spawned many sequels throughout the 80's. Wes Craven was barely involved with these sequels, but in 1994 he returned to the series with "Wes Craven's New Nightmare".
Not only did the film finish off Freddy and keep him dead for nearly a decade, but it also had a self-awareness to it. The movie centers around a film-crew making the movie as Freddy becomes real. It's a strange notion of how horror movies could affect those who create it. Shortly after cleaning his hands off Freddy, Wes Craven decides to put an end to the slasher genre itself.
Sidney Prescott (talking on the phone): No, it's just-- What's the point? They're all the same. Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act who is always running up the stairs when she should be going out the front door. It's insulting.
(Immediately the scene cuts to another scene where Sidney herself actually runs up the stairs while Ghostface chases her)
James: "Scream" kinda rides on the same ideas of "New Nightmare". It's a horror movie that tries to be self-aware where the characters in the film itself know the clichés.
Randy: Never, ever, ever under any circumstances say "I'll be right back", 'cause you won't be back.
Stu: I'm getting another beer, you want one?
Randy: Yeah, sure.
Stu: I'll be right back!
(Everyone in the living room cheer)
James: Often people dismissed horror movies for being so cliché but now they were being celebrated. Just like how "Psycho" made people look twice when they take a shower and "Jaws" made people stay out of the water, "Scream" made people get Caller ID.
Casey (on the phone): Why do you wanna know my name?
Ghostface: I wanna know who I'm looking at…
James: The killer in the movie wears a typical halloween mask that was already common before the film came out. It was based on the famous painting "The Scream". By having such a common mask made it really generic and anonymous that the killer could be almost anybody.
Randy: There's a formula to it. A very simple formula! EVERYBODY IS A SUSPECT!!!
James: "Scream" obviously didn't end the slasher franchise and because it was so fucking popular instead it resurrected the genre. It had two sequels, a ton of crappy teen horror comedies and a string of "Scary Movie"-parodies followed. But one good thing it did was bringing the audience's attention back to the original slasher movies; now classics. For example, it was in "Scream" when a new generation learned that Jason wasn't the killer in the first "Friday the 13th".
Casey: Listen, it was Jason! I saw that movie 20 goddamn times!
Ghostface: Then you should know Jason's mother Mrs. Voorhees was the original killer. Jason didn't show up until the sequel.
James: Though I think "Scream" was very overrated in my personal opinion, still I can't deny that the modern perception of the slasher genre owes a lot to it.