Scream's three rules for surviving a scary movie
The original Scream, from screenwriter Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven, is back for a 30th-anniversary re-release. A Guardian review calls it a self-aware romp through the horror genre.
A local horror fan in the film lays out the three scary-movie rules for staying safe: remain a virgin, avoid drink and drugs, and never say “I’ll be right back.”
The review notes that when Sidney has sex, she puts herself in mortal danger.
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The rules read less like practical advice than a test of genre literacy—one local horror fan states them flatly.
The review’s darker point is less about literacy than about cruelty: it says male movie fandom can often seem obnoxious, and very possibly sadistic, and cites the killer’s smug trick question about the first Friday the 13th.