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Welcome, Popversians, to another edition of The Coldest Open, the column where I, your humble horror host, examine the history of scary cinema through the first moments of its standout entries. Since it is extra hot out this weekend, I thought we'd cool things down with what many horror fans consider the most frigid cold open of them all: that is, Wes Craven's Scream.

The way Coldest Open works is this: I'm going to be breaking down five different hallmarks of every great cold open in horror, then judging whether the movie in question pulls them off. If so, that hallmark will get ranked with a "Cold" verdict; if not, it'll get ranked with a "warm." At the end, we'll tally up those verdicts and determine a temperature, ranging all the way from Lukewarm to Absolute Zero.

Go ahead and put your phone on silent (you never know who might call while you're reading) and so let's get into it.

Scream's Cold-Blooded Killer

The Ghostface mask is such an icon of the horror genre that it's easy to forget it wasn't how the killer was first introduced. Minutes before we see Ghostface's pallid visage reflected in poor Casey Becker's window, we get to know the villain of Scream via his gravelly voice on the phone. Provided by Roger L. Jackson, who would go on to do the 'voice masking' for every Ghostface in the franchise, this voice gets all the creepier thanks to Kevin Williamson's scummy dialogue, introducing our killer as not just a sadist, but a man who believes he is genuinely in the right. Ghostface, who we'll later learn is Billy Loomis (and Stu Macher) is a petulant child, toying with his victim because he gets off on the power he holds over her.

Not only is that absolutely terrifying, but almost 30 years later, it's also still quite relevant.

Verdict: Cold

Scream's First Person to Get Iced 

Speaking of that first victim; there wouldn't be a Scream franchise without the brilliance of Casey Baker, played by Drew Barrymore. Already a screen veteran at just 21 (and, thanks to Firestarter, a horror vet as well), Barrymore begins her brief stint as Casey by playing a sarcastic, deeply likable Girl Next Door. When her smile turns to shock at the "who I'm looking at" line, the mood of the viewer drops too  - though we just met Casey, we're already worried for her survival. Then, when she meets her grisly end, director Wes Craven brings her humanity home in an especially gut-wrenching way: by having her body discovered by her traumatized parents.

For all the real fun that the Scream franchise entails, hearing Casey try to call for her mother with a cut voice box is one of the most disturbing horror moments of the time period.

Verdict: Cold

Scream's Polar Plot Intro

It's true that we don't meet Final Girl Sidney Prescott until after the events of the cold open, but there's still a whole lot of plot we get just from Casey Beckers' sequence. As mentioned earlier, we find out about Ghostface's whiny characterization here, but we're also introduced to the format this plot will take: that is, a whodunit. Though these twelve minutes have all the hallmarks of Carpenter and Hitchcock, there's a lot of Agatha Christie's DNA in there too, particularly as Ghostface's disguise is ripped off, only for the camera to cut away. 'Who's under the mask?' becomes the cornerstone question of the movie.

Come to think of it, it's been the central question of every Scream since.

Verdict: Cold

Scream's Frozen Snapshots

The imagery of Scream's opening scene is well-known to horror fans - how many times has that reflected Ghostface mask/screaming Casey shot I mentioned earlier been parodied, homaged, or put on merch? But the forgotten brilliance of Craven's camerawork comes even earlier than that, before Casey even begins to fear the mysterious voice on the other end of the phone. I'm talking about the special time Craven spends on the swing that hangs from the tree outside Casey's house. A symbol of a happy childhood, that swing will become Casey's final resting place just a few minutes later, a bit of foreshadowing that can make the intro hit even harder upon rewatch.

Just like Woodsboro, you the viewer are about to entire a time of ruined innocence. What better way to make you aware of that fact by reminding you of what you're about to lose?

Verdict: Cold

Scream's Bone-Chilling Music

It won't be until a few more moments into the film that we hear the music most associated with the Scream franchise. that is, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' number Red Right Hand. However, I'd kindly remind you that even before that atmospheric anthem, there's a phrenetic soundtrack that makes the viewer feel as though they're trapped in their own burning popcorn tin. Composed by Marco Beltrami, the opening track uses sustained strings to keep the audience expecting something to happen, keeping the thumping chase music for after Ghostface makes his big reveal. Moments later, those strings turn into a discordant sigh as the life leaves Casey's body, hovering like Ghostface's bloody knife over the viewer's soul.

Verdict: Cold

Scream's Cold Open Temperature: Absolute Zero

The beginning of Scream gets a perfect score on The Coldest Open scale, and honestly, you probably knew that would be the case before you opened this link. But I'd challenge you, faithful horror fan, to consider the implications of this scale beyond our treasured weekly meetings via this column. What impact does such a perfect couple of moments have on horror filmmaking as a whole? How many lesser imitators has it inspired? How many first draft openings has it elevated? 

As we approach Scream's thirtieth anniversary, I ask you to consider the impact that these mere 13 minutes had on the history of the horror genre, and in doing so, I ask you to consider a question perhaps even scarier than the ones Ghostface asks poor Casey during their fateful phonecall:

That is, what if it hadn't happened at all?

Scream is streaming now on Max.

In the immortal words of Danny Elfman, "Life's no fun without a good scare." Join Popverse's weekly explorations of the best opening moments of horror cinema in The Coldest Open, and then check out:

• The best horror movies of all time, according to horror aficionado Greg Silber
• The most underrated horror movies from the past couple years
• All the new and upcoming horror movies for 2025 and beyond

And much gore. Er, more. Much more.