Scream (2022)
Scream
- 3.5/5 Cameras 🎥🎥🎥.5
- Directed by: Matt Bettinelli and Tyler Gillet
- Starring: Melissa Barrera, Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, et al
- Where to find it: In Cinemas Now
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| No Copyright Infringement Intended |
Scream is one of my favourite film franchises. The original
is a ground-breaking classic that revolutionised the slasher, and two of its
three sequels have been pretty excellent meta-slashers themselves (we don’t
talk about Scream 3). Needless to say, I was excited at the prospect of a new
entry, even without the late great Wes Craven or original writer Kevin
Williamson. The blow of these two being out was helped a lot by Matt Bettinelli
and Tyler Gillet signing on as directors, with the two of them having been
responsible for Ready or Not a couple of years ago, an extremely fun and
joyously violent horror-comedy that hits just the tone you’d want in a Scream
film.
Scream starts out as all Scream films do; an elaborate
opening set-piece where we get to see Ghostface in action. From here we switch
to focus on Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), a former Woodsboro resident who
returns to the city to visit her estranged sister, Tara (Jenna Ortega), who was
hospitalised in the initial attack. From there we’re introduced to Tara’s
friends as the mystery unravels in the face of more Ghostface killings. The
original trio of Sydney, Gale, and Dewy (Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David
Arquette respectively) all make their returns as well, though notably are kept
more as side characters.
I’m sure some people will be wondering why this film is
called Scream and not Scream 5, since it takes place in the same universe as
the other four films in the series. Well, this is perhaps best explained by the
character of Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown), niece of Randy from the original. She
goes on a long spiel about the modern trend of rebooting old franchises with
original cast members such as the 2018 Halloween or Ghostbusters: Afterlife in
one of the many entertaining meta moments in this film. Around these elements
of meta humour is a fun slasher mystery that twists and turns a satisfying
amount to keep the audience guessing throughout. Worth noting here is that none
of this is new for the franchise; this new Scream does almost exactly what the
original did in the 90s, so it’s not likely to be winning over anyone who
didn’t enjoy the original. Despite this, for long-term fans it still manages to
feel fresh, aided by its focus on a new more youthful cast that stops it
feeling like nothing more than a rehash even as it goes through eerily familiar
locales and set pieces.
This young cast is pretty strong, Jasmin Savoy Brown and
Mason Gooding as twin siblings Mindy and Chad being highlights for me. The
returning cast not being the focus of the story was a surprise for me (I’d made
a point of not reading too much about the film prior to seeing it) but in the
end, it feels like it was the right move as it allows their characters to shine
brighter in the screen time they do get by ensuring the film doesn’t feel too
stale by following the same dynamics covered already in the four previous films.
One minor criticism I’d make is that the film isn’t very
scary. Sure, the original isn’t what I’d call a particularly scary piece of
cinema either, but it builds a lot of good tension with some drawn-out scenes
of stalking and the like, and I’d perhaps have liked a little more of that in
here, but ultimately that’s not enough to stop me having had a great time
watching Scream. Wes Craven would be proud of this one and I would recommend it
to anyone who enjoyed the original. For those who didn’t, what the hell is
wrong with you anyway?
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