Two years ago during the holiday season, my best friend and I got to relive our teen years and watch the original Scream (1996) movie in theaters. Not just any theater, but the Tampa Theatre. (If you haven’t heard of this theater, Google it and be impressed; seriously. It’s gorgeous and conveniently right in my hometown.) The last time she and I got to see it in theaters, was back in the 1990s, so you can imagine how giddy we were. What was even better? Teenagers who had never seen the film. Although that made me feel very old, it was still fun to see kids jump at scenes that I have seen hundreds of times and find nothing but humor in (well, humor in now; I was a total chicken in my teen years watching it as well).

Since 1996, they have made three more Scream films and most recently, a Scream TV series. In my own personal opinion, I enjoyed the first two films immensely; the third was okay. It felt somewhat forced and let’s face it (spoiler alert), with no Randy (Jamie Kennedy, Malibu’s Most Wanted [2003]), it wasn’t as enjoyable. I may still be bitter… just a little. The fourth film? I can’t. I love Neve Campbell, and I thought if she came back it would all miraculously work, but it didn’t. However, the Scream TV series? Yes. All of the yeses. I really enjoy that show. Much more than I thought I would. John Karna, who plays Noah Foster, is the primary reason why. He’s hilarious and nerdy.

For the purposes of this article, I am going to touch upon just the first three Scream films and all of the fun facts that make me ever nostalgic for the simpler times of the 90s. Be forewarned, there may be spoilers ahead.

(Scream, [1996])

16. The Ending Party Scene Runs 42 Minutes Long

via: riversofgrue.com

Do you remember the party at Stu’s house? The one where we learn about the “rules” for horror films via the movie buff Randy? Well, that scene runs 42 minutes long (I thought that third act was epically long). It took 21 days to shoot from the time the sun set to the time it rose. After the film wrapped, the crew had t-shirts made that said “I SURVIVED SCENE 118” (the scene name during shooting). Apparently, the cast and crew jokingly called it “The longest night in horror history.”

To be fair, that is a very long scene to film. Sun-down to sun-up? You have to wonder if any of the cast or crew was ever actually scared during filming. I know there are a ton of people on set, but at some point adrenaline would take over, right? In any case, that entire third act was one of my favorites in cinematic history to date.

15. Kevin Williamson Wrote The Script In Record Time

via: scream-trilogy.net

Kevin Williamson (writer for both Scream and Scream 2) wrote the script for Scream in just 30 days. Yes, you read that correctly.

Although the time line may be a little muddled, the idea for this film sparked from a young broke Williamson (also known for the Scream: TV series and The Vampire Diaries) watching a documentary called Turning Point about the real-life “Gainesville Ripper” (Gainesville, FL). This “ripper” raped and murdered a number of college girls on campus. It is said that Williamson wrote an original short shorty/script in the span of just three days, and quickly started working on a second and third as he originally thought it out to be a trilogy (however, Williamson’s script wasn’t used for the third film, which is probably why it was one of my least favorite).