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

90s Movie Review - Scream

Director: Wes Craven
Genre: Horror/ Thriller
Runtime: 111 minutes
Year: 1996
Starring: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Kennedy, Drew Barrymore, Henry Winkler

Description: A masked killer begins murdering teenagers in a small town, and as the body count rises, one girl and her friends contemplate the "rules" of horror films as they find themselves living in a real-life one.
Review: Director Wes Craven has been a specialist in the horror genre. Classics as “The Last House on the Left”, “The Hills Have Eyes” and “Nightmare on Elm Street” are some of the movies that shine on his résumé. Half way through the nineties, he decided to mock his favorite genre, by making “Scream”. This film is unique in its genre, because it manages to scare the viewer, but also make you laugh. “Scream” was an unexpected success and later more movies in the subgenre of so called ‘slasher movies’ followed.
“Scream” has an almost classic opening scene, where we see student Casey Becker preparing for a movie night. She gets a call from a man who apparently dialed the wrong number. Soon Casey realizes it’s a psychopath who wants to play a morbid game of life and death. When she and her boyfriend get killed, all the students at the high school are interviewed. The attentions goes out to Sidney Prescott, whose mother was murdered a year ago. Sidney is eventually the target of the killer.
The great thing about “Scream” is, that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The characters talk about all the clichés horror movies have and with that Wes Craven separates himself from other horror directors. “Scream” is in my opinion not really a horror movie, it’s not scary enough. But it’s very entertaining and fun.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

Top 5 Thursday: Dumbest Decisions in Horror Movies

Are you sure you going with that? We all know that in horror movies, people can make dumb decisions. They’re simply dumb people. I listed the five dumbest decisions in horror movies.

5. Almost safe Helen (I Know What You Did Last Summer)
When Helen is chased by the hook man in “I Know What You Did Last Summer”, there is a moment where she could have gotten away. Helen is in an alley and sees the street filled with people. She is almost there, but instead of running for her life, she stops and turns around. To nothing. When Helen turn back, guess who’s there? End of Helen.

4. Don’t believe the scientists (28 Days Later)
In the opening scene of “28 Days Later” we meet a group of activists that wants to free apes. The scientists warns them about the danger and how highly aggressive the apes are. You can actually see their behavior. But why would a scientist be right? They release the apes and with that release an aggressive virus. And that will have serious consequences to the human race.

3. Watch the video (The Ring)
There is this creepy, disturbing video that, if you watch it, will kill you within seven day. If you know about this, what do you do? Exactly NOT watch it! Well, in “The Ring” they off course do.

2. Not calling the cops (Scream)
Casey is home alone and gets a creepy phone call. While I would have called the cop immediately, she keeps answering his calls and stays on the phone, instead of hanging up and calling the authorities. She clearly has access to a working phone line, which lots of horror characters don’t have.

1. All for the tourists (Jaws)
Even though a dead body washed up on shore and a marine biologists warns him, Mayor Larry Vaughn doesn’t close the beach. Because of the tourists. He just made someone happy: the hungry shark.

They Almost Made the Top 5: Exploring an unexplored cave (The Descent), Hands in the Box (Saw 2)