This is my favorite episode in the whole show, it's also one of my favorite Halloween episodes of all time. Though that's the same on everyone else's list for fans and even nonfans of the show. This episode is truly unique as it's the kind of episode you never really seen coming and to me those can be the best kind.
Obviously, this episode is a parody on the slasher films that came out in the 90's, back in the 90's after the film "Scream" the slasher genre and young adult horror films came back as fast as a tidal wave as there were plenty of other films that followed suit like "Urban Legends", "Urban Legends: Final Cut", and others. Yeah, there have been plenty of parodies of "Scream" and these types of films even today, but this episode was the first and still the best.
It's true if you seen enough sitcoms, you could easily deduct this is all a dream, from certain things happening like bloodless kills (it's a sitcom after all), someone showing up out of nowhere, the fact that Cory and Shawn didn't react when someone close to them dies (well maybe things were happening so fast they didn't have time), yeah you can probably guess. Let alone an implied clichéd psychological analysis for one character at the end. But these things didn't deter anything as we were all in it for the fun and that's what this episode really is.
I really love how clever the humor in the episode is as it really pokes fun into all the cliches you would see in the slashers or even those whodunnit thrillers. I also like how certain characters mainly Shawn, Eric, and Angela just had a big hand in things as they had the most memorable moments and lines.
From Angela acting as the typical screaming girl which I'll admit she does well. Shawn whom we see is a horror movie buff and is able to point out some of the cliches that happen, it's funny when he mentions each of the films, he's seen which all have uninspired and obvious titles. And Eric who is the would-be strong protagonist which is a nice change of pace for the character.
There are plenty of memorable moments, I'll just state a few. One is where there is a character none of us give two fraks about, if you've seen the slashers, you already know this person is the first to go. It's just funny how obvious it is, from being named "Kenny" which is a bad sign there; suddenly being a blowhole to everyone saying "nothing scares me" which we know are the very last words of most slasher victims.
Second is when Eric is alone to bait and draw the killer out which is you can say either brave or foolhardy (probably both) of Eric. And then he suddenly turns around and sees Jennifer Love Hewitt. I'll admit when I saw her it literally took me by surprise, it was never advertised she would guess star which was a wise choice as that made the surprise all the sweeter.
But also, her appearance makes the episode ironically funny as she was in the slasher film "I know what you did Last Summer". Last note had a huge crush on her at the time another of my celeb crushes, and I did watch "Party of Five".
Anyway, it's funny how both of them just hook up super-fast though this could also be a kiss of death sometimes as we know young couples are another essential target for the slashers.
Third there is one death scene that is probably the most bizarre ever which is on book falling on people. How the hell anyone can die from that is anyone's guess, those must've been very hard books, let alone makes me think about the safety standards of that library.
There is also a degree of suspense and intrigue as we're wondering who could be next, its surprising seeing certain characters die which shows no one is truly safe. But I also like that this is all taking place in a high school in the nighttime which is cool as I don't see many slasher/horror films that use that setting except for the film "Slaughter High" in the 80's.
A school in the middle of the night is the perfect arena as there are plenty of rooms and areas to access and hide, there is no one else around to help and most lines of communication are off which really creates that feeling of total isolation. Let alone the killer seems to know the school like the back of his hand which unfortunate gives him full home court advantage.
Also were constantly playing a guessing game as to the identity of the killer, personally I almost put my money on Topanga. Which would be interesting and make sense when you think about it, from her intelligence level but also some of her highly negative behavior recently I wouldn't be surprised she flew off the handle. In fact, one scene almost hints at that when we see Topanga pass by at the library giving both Cory and Jennifer's character that eye.
Can they all survive the night, you'll just have to wait and find out.
Rating: 4 stars.
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