Living up to its box office standards, the movie "Scream" entertained a large audience Friday night in Spaulding Auditorium.
The high demand for the film became evident over an hour before the movie's start, as a line exclusively for Dartmouth Film Society season ticket holders began forming outside Spaulding's entrance. Those people who did get there early enough to get into the sold-out theater witnessed a unique showing of a movie which just won't be the same on home video.
"Scream" was engineered brilliantly, ridiculing the qualities of classic, cheesy horror movies, while at the same time possessing many of those qualities itself. However, the movie was not only frightening, but also wrought with humor -- a number of hilarious jokes were clearly intended for a college-aged audience.
Yet what ultimately made the film enjoyable was a highly involved audience. During the first scene, half of the audience was on the edge of their seats, eagerly awaiting their first scare. When the masked villain taunted a lone Drew Barrymore over the phone and then proceeded to maim and kill her, the audience reaction was enormous -- and expected.
The members of the audience were not disgusted by the gratuitous violence and blood -- rather they were further excited by it. Throughout the movie, people yelped and jumped in their seats at the villain's every entrance. I myself did not hesitate to grab the nearest stranger by the arm a number of times during the film.
The entire audience laughed during this horror-film spoof, especially when a much older "Fonz," playing the principal of the movie's fictional high school, was seen standing in front of his mirror, running his fingers through his hair, reminding everyone of his "Happy Days" past.
The crowd, collectively, did not hesitate to show its feelings by clapping and yelling at the screen, in response to the film's simple humor and visceral scares.
The students who attended Friday night's showing were able to experience a unique display in which the enthusiastic crowd amplified the tension, allowing everyone to become more involved in the movie.
