There are two things about the first twelve minutes of Scream: it’s one of the most frightening openings to a horror movie ever, and it probably couldn’t happen in 2020. Drew Barrymore proved this in a new sketch for The Drew Barrymore Show. In the bit, the 45-year-old actress reprises the role of Casey Becker, with trademark blonde bob and white sweater. It’s actually frightening how scary Drew still looks as Casey, like she could return to the role in the upcoming Scream 5 if…well…she wasn’t offed in the first five minutes of the movie.
The skit – titled “What if Casey Becker From ‘Scream’ Lived’ – shows how things have changed since the 1996 movie. Ghostface tries to contact Casey with a series of texts (“It’s that time of the year….where I have to kill you!! Casey???”) before ringing her up. Thanks to caller ID, Casey simply ignores the call, which only infuriates the slasher. “Casey, come on pick up! Stop GHOSTING me!”
Perhaps only second to [SPOILER ALERT] Alfred Hitchock’s Psycho, Scream subverts the audience’s expectation by killing off one of the movie’s top-billed stars. Thanks to the success of films like Boys on the Side and Wayne’s World 2, Drew experienced a career resurgence, which is why it was so shocking to see her die so soon in the movie.
“In the horror film genre, my biggest pet peeve was that I always knew the main character was going to be slugging through at the end, but was going to creak by and make it,” Drew said when discussing Scream during an Aug. 20 appearance on Hot Ones. “What I wanted to do is to take that comfort zone away. So, I asked if I could be Casey Becker, so that we would establish this rule does not apply in this film.”
Drew explained how she got involved in Scream during a 2011 conversation with Entertainment Weekly. “I just read the script one night at my house, and I just said, ‘Oh my God, there hasn’t been anything like this for so long.’ I loved that it actually got tongue and cheeky, but it was still scary and it was this great game that sort of described genres and revived them at the same time and redefined them all in one script. I went bananas.”
“I love Halloween and love Freddy [Krueger, of A Nightmare On Elm Street],” added Drew.“The ones now I can’t handle. But I love the old slasher films, and I just thought this one headed off into a new direction. I did love horror films from the ’70s and ’80s. That was my sweet spot.”
For those in a Halloween mood, Drew will host an all-new Drew’s Movie Nite featuring Scream. In addition to hosting CBS Sunday Night Movies on-air, Drew will also be joined on Twitter by various cast members of the movie’s five film franchise throughout the screening. Join Drew for the live viewing party on Twitter @DrewBarrymore or @DrewBarrymoreTV on Sunday, October 25th at 9:00PM ET/8:30PM PT. Viewers can watch “Scream” on the CBS Television Network or stream it on CBS All Access. #DrewsMovieNite.