TNT RoughCut

Wes Craven continues to explore (and blur) the lines between reelity and reality with his latest, and perhaps best, cinematic slice of horror.

TNT RoughCut by Spencer H. Abbott

Wes Craven continues to explore (and blur) the lines between reelity and reality with his latest, and perhaps best, cinematic slice of horror.

Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman

A deft, funny, shrewdly unsettling tribute to such slasher-exploitation thrillers as "Terror Train," "New Year's Evil," and Craven's own "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

Dallas Observer by Andy Klein

Craven's other accomplishment here, besides resuscitating the genre, is the way he keeps things scary even when they're at their funniest. The grand finale, while thoroughly bloody and tense, has some genuinely hilarious shtick.

L.A. Weekly by Paul Malcolm

A meta-horror film that hilariously parodies the genre's clichés with smarts to spare. It's also the scariest fucking movie Craven has made since the first "A Nightmare on Elm Street."

The A.V. Club by Keith Phipps

Finely crafted, tense, scary thriller from start to finish.

Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas

It's sensational in both senses of the word: a bravura, provocative sendup of horror pictures that's also scary and gruesome yet too swift-moving to lapse into morbidity.

Film.com by Sean Means

Craven creates his savviest and most frightening movie since the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" by spoofing the horror cliches and simultaneously reinventing them to scare you all over again.

Washington Post by Richard Harrington

Deftly mixes irony, self-reference and wry social commentary with chills and blood spills.

Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov

Craven is obviously having a ball here, and it's impossible not to sit back and go grinning into this dark, gory ride.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

What did I think about this movie? As a film critic, I liked it. I liked the in-jokes and the self-aware characters. At the same time, I was aware of the incredible level of gore in this film. It is really violent.

TV Guide Magazine by Frank Lovece

Compared with most of what passes for scary movies these days, this is golden: It's not stupid, it's not wussy and it pulls off a couple of pretty nasty jolts.

USA Today by Susan Wloszczyna

While Scream has its frights, it feels more like one of those solve-the-mystery jigsaw puzzles than a real movie.

Chicago Tribune by John Petrakis

Pretty run-of-the-mill stuff. [20 December 1996, Friday, p.J]

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Liam Lacey

May not be the most scary or the grossest horror film you've ever seen, but it has one distinct feature: it actually talks up to the audience. By the conclusion, you won't be shaking in your seat, but you may enjoy the status of someone who has earned a Master's in Slashology.

Variety

Though the material is more intelligent than the norm and has an unusual third-act twist, it also employs some very clunky stereotypes.

Chicago Reader by Lisa Alspector

Tiresome, blood-filled comedy.

Film.com by John Hartl

Doesn't know when to stop with the jokes about other horror movies and settle down to tell a coherent story.

San Francisco Examiner

An artificial and hypocritical effort to escape the artistic limitations of teenage slasher flicks.