Scream remains one of my all-time Top 5 favourite films, at the time of release I was the perfect age and while I didn’t think I liked horror, it changed something for me with its super smart, funny, and downright scary setups! Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s movie has stood the test of time and continues to inspire and delight, and it’d be a very different film without the sheer brilliance of Marco Beltrami’s timeless score.

With that in mind, I’m delighted to share the news that Beltrami’s landmark score is on the way with a new anniversary reissue, from Varèse Sarabande and Craft Recordings. Arriving 28th August, the original 14-track album returns to vinyl in a collectible “blood-soaked” sleeve featuring that iconic image of Drew Barrymore as Casey Becker, who stars in the film’s absolutely unforgettable opening scene. 

In addition to the wide “Woodsboro Bloodbath” red vinyl, fans can find the 1-LP set in a variety of limited-edition exclusive pressings, including a “Knife’s Edge” silver vinyl with poster (Target), “Surprise, Sidney” metallic blend vinyl (Barnes & Noble), “Don’t Hang Up” clear vinyl (Books-A-Million), “I’ll Be Right Back” blue vinyl (Urban Outfitters), “Final Girl” splatter vinyl (Hot Topic), “Wrong Answer” Blood Red Splatter vinyl (Varèse Sarabande/Craft Recordings), and “Final Phone Call” blue vinyl at select indie retailers.

 An Extended Cut Edition of the Scream (Original Motion Picture Score), featuring all 40 of the film’s cues from the 2022 Scream boxset, will also be available on CD. All formats are available to pre-order or pre-save today. Scream was something else entirely, brimming with a who’s who of Gen-X stars—including Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich, Jamie Kennedy, and Rose McGowan—Scream became one of the highest-grossing horror films of all time and deserved it.

At the core is an engrossing score by Marco Beltrami, then a young, up-and-coming composer—one who, ironically, had never scored or even seen a horror film submitted 13 minutes of music for the opening sequence, and his future was changed forever – just a few years after his time at the University of Southern California. Director Wes Craven said this back in 2012:

“We knew in half a minute that we had found our composer. The music was haunting, beautiful and totally original. Marco turned out to be shy and soft-spoken, but a fountain of ideas and innovation. I never looked back.” 

Working within a limited budget, Beltrami was strategic with his arrangements, recording smaller combinations of musicians in lieu of a full orchestra. That ingenuity paid off. The result is a dynamic, suspenseful score that keeps audiences on their toes from start to finish. 

Among the highlights is “The Cue from Hell,” which accompanies the film’s opening scene, in which Casey (Barrymore) receives a chilling call from a stranger. As she and her boyfriend quickly become two of Ghostface’s earliest victims, the music tracks Casey’s emotions in real time—her unease transforming into sheer terror. Equally haunting, “Sidney’s Lament”captures the grief Sidney (Campbell) carries following her mother’s death. The cue weaves reverb-soaked soprano vocals with atonal strings to conjure not just melancholia, but dread.

Sophisticated yet visceral, timeless yet contemporary, the Scream score set the tone for a new generation of horror films, and Beltrami followed it up by scoring the next 3 films for Craven before moving onto critical acclaim for the likes of The Hurt Locker and 3:10 to Yuma, as well as the Emmy-winning score for Free Solo, and a Golden Globe–nominated score for A Quiet Place.

Click here to pre-order or pre-save Scream (Original Motion Picture Score)