Scream (2022) review
The Scream franchise has always positioned itself as one where the filmmakers are in on the gag. They poke fun of slasher movie tropes with a winking nod to viewers as if to signal “Yeah, we get it, but play along with it, OK?”
A less heralded aspect of the franchise is its ability to stay true to the DNA of the series while adapting with the times. The 1996 original playfully leaned into the formula with characters who knew slasher movie “rules” as they got picked off all the same. As the years passed, so too did the characters’ agendas and killer/killers’ motivation.
With the 2022 edition, not so creatively dubbed Scream, screenwriters Guy Busick and James Vanderbilt take the series along the requel route. Requels are films that are looking to expand a franchise in a new direction with fresh characters while having longtime, established characters on hand to gracefully pass the torch. Think Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Blade Runner 2049.
That means series mainstays Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courtney Cox are back to offer their cinematic blessings to the new stars. Busick and Vanderbilt are perhaps a bit too cautious in establishing this new status quo as the old guard really wasn’t necessary given the intriguing angle for this installment.
Sam (Melissa Barrera) returns to Woodsboro after her estranged little sister, Tara (Jenna Ortega), gets brutally attacked by a new Ghostface. Returning home, Sam gets a frosty reception from Tara’s BFF, Amber (Mikey Madison), and many longtime residents.
Most of the new cast come off like so much knife fodder, but Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding are entertaining as horror aficionado twins Mindy and Chad. And Jack Quaid (The Boys) is amusing as Sam’s boyfriend Richie.
Richie has never seen the Stab series, the meta slasher film within the slasher film based on the events of the first movie. The Stab series has jumped the shark with longtime fans hating on the new direction of the franchise. Scream smartly gets ahead of the fans by addressing their potential complaints in-movie.
Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (Abigail) and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not) make the Scream version of Ghostface far more aggressive. Ghostface doesn’t just stick to nighttime for slaying as the body count rises during broad daylight as well.
They actually pay off on the well-crafted jump scares with some surprisingly jarringly brutal kills. Earlier kills were almost joke-y but Scream’s death scenes have a brutality that sells the horror impressively.
Naturally the film still requires some suspension of disbelief with Ghostface’s prowess in electrical wiring, cell phone cloning and alarm engineering, but Scream is always more fun if viewers aren’t trying to catch the filmmakers in some plot holes. And like most of the previous installments, many of those “plot holes” are smartly covered with the final act.
Turns out many of the potential victims have ties and connections to the original Woodsboro crew.
Sam has her own legacy secret, which could explain Ghostface’s return. Knowing she doesn’t have all the insight into this killer, she goes to an expert, Dewey (Arquette), the retired sheriff who’s still harboring a torch for his ex-wife, Gale Weathers (Cox). Arquette still slides into this role easily providing a nice comforting presence.
Barrera and Ortega prove more than capable of handling the franchise going forward as a sisterly bond is a new dynamic in the series. Both convey that well while Barrera’s Sam being the more protective, aggressive one while Ortega’s Tara is more vulnerable yet formidable in her own right.
Like too many requels, Scream keeps an eye – or screentime — on what’s come before a little too much. While it was fun to see Campbell and Cox, the film layout only really needed a cameo from them. The new generation doesn’t have any problems keeping the franchise going…provided they can survive.
Rating: 8 out of 10
Photo Credit: Paramount
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