Movie Review: Scream

Director: Matt Bettenelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillet
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Melissa Barrera, Jack Quaid, Jenna Ortega, Mikey Maddison, Dylan Minnetti, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Sonia Amar, Marley Shelton, Skeet Ulrich
 
Description: 25 years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, California, a new killer dons the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past.

Review: I was thinking it with the fourth film, thought it with the fifth as well: we really don’t need this (and I don’t understand the title, why isn’t it “Scream 5”?). Where I really like the original film, also liked number 2 and even enjoyed 3 even with it not being that great, number 4 just wasn’t good. It was a simple cash grab. But this fifth installment is different.

A requel, as one of the characters in the film explains it, is both a reboot and a sequel. You introduce a whole slew of characters and supplement them with the original ones. The idea is that the original characters don’t survive and the newcomers continue the franchise. Whether all these rules always apply remains to be seen. But the fact is that 25 years after the first “Scream” film renewed the horror genre, this fifth film is constantly self-deprecating. But I still would have named it “Scream 5”.  

This time, main character Sidney Prescott is replaced by Sam Carpenter (honoring director John Carpenter in a way). She hasn’t spoken to her sister Tara for a few years, but she resurfaces after Tara falls victim of a new Ghostface killer, in a somewhat lackluster opening scene. It’s no spoiler that Tara’s group of friends then run into the killer one by one. Sam and her boyfriend Richie would prefer to escape the situation but decide to track down the killer. They seek help from former sheriff Dewey Riley, living alone after his now ex-wife Gale Weathers is the host of a morning show. Sidney has put all the traumatic experiences behind her.

For the most part, we follow the new characters. It takes a while for the old characters to enter the stage. And of those three, it’s David Arquette’s Dewey that gets the biggest and best part. He is excellent.
In putting those new characters at the front, directors Matt Bettenelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillet don’t shy away from bold plot twists and choices, without omitting the humor. Constantly, they play with the conventions of the genre, delaying jump scares and having the characters slam doors of kitchen cabinets of refrigerators with the expectations that there is a murderous creep behind them. In addition, many of the newcomers have links to the original characters. And of those new characters Jenny Ortega and Melissa Barrera, as sisters Tara and Sam, are the strongest and most interesting.

This is the first “Scream” film not directed by Wes Craven, since he passed away in 2015 and I think he would look at this movie with a smile (the even named a character after him). Even though “Scream” can’t avoid some clichés, the film (as are all the others) is very self-aware and does a lot of things right too. And when I thought it was going to be un unneeded terrible sequel, “Scream” is by no means a bad movie. I really enjoyed it.

Rating: 3/ 5