This Slasher Flick Is A Cut Above

“Scream” is one.

Dedicated to the idea that there’s no place like homicide for the holidays, Wes Craven’s new movie is a satisfying thriller and a mean, witty spoof - “Scream” straddles both sides of that fence until it leaps off for a twisty double-flip at the end.

The opening takes us from 0 to 60, terrorwise, in a matter of seconds. Giggly Drew Barrymore, alone in a house, gets a phone call from a creep who is watching her from somewhere nearby. The scene is simultaneously funny and creepy as it lampoons slasher-movie cliches, like when Drew opens her door and the sarcastic creep tells her, “You might as well just go outside to investigate a strange noise.”

Turns out Barrymore is a high-school senior (one of the movie’s many in-jokes is that, as in real slasher films, the whole cast is about five years too old for their parts), and she’s not the only one being stalked. Neve Campbell (TV’s “Party of Five”) is another potential victim, and her history makes her a sociopath’s dream come true. “Scream” follows Campbell and friends as they plow through a script written by a guy (Kevin Williamson) who has seen every bad horror movie and who gleefully dices them up. It all ends in a party that is a vacationing parent’s worst nightmare: coming home to a house that is not only trashed but also littered with rotting corpses.

The unnamed setting of “Scream” could be dubbed Sarcasmville. Humor comes from the single-mindedness of some characters (“Now that Billy tried to mutilate her, do you think Sid would go out with me?” says one hormonal kid), their hyper-awareness of pop culture (“You can only hear that Richard Gere gerbil story so many times before you have to believe it,” says another) and the movie’s nutty willingness to make fun of itself: Linda Blair and Henry Winkler have scuzzball cameos, one teen tryst is underscored with “Don’t Fear the Reaper” and a character misidentifies the movie’s director as “Wes Carpenter.” Bloody funny stuff.

“Scream” is marred by one bad performance - the over-the-top Matthew Lillard, who thinks he’s Nicolas Cage - but what’s nifty about it is that it simultaneously makes fun of slasher flicks and reminds us what’s cool about them. “Scream” makes screaming fun again.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “Scream” Locations: North Division and Showboat cinemas Credits: Directed by Wes Craven, starring Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore, Courteney Cox Running time:1:44 Rating: R