Scream (2022)

25 years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, Calif., a new killer dons the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past.

NOTHING NEW IN STORE

Scream has always been aware of what kind of movie it is, parodying those serious horror flicks that come in a bunch every year. This horror slasher is no exception to that prophecy. What’s different in this fifth film of the genre is it tries to combine both new characters and legacy in a tasteful way. It has happened in every franchise that ever existed, when they try so desperately try to revive the franchise, like waking it up from the dead. As one who hasn’t seen the other films from the franchise, it doesn’t matter. You still might be able to follow the story that’s straightforward.

Like any other Scream film, here is a girl who gets an unidentified caller and gets killed. But this girl survives through the whole film for some suspicious reason. Then this killer goes on a rampage and one by one gets killed off in a true slasher-film manner. Some scenes are gorier than others, some are just jump scares that don’t fill a function. We’ve seen it before. This movie tries to recap and guide the audience as well as the characters on what will happen later in the film. It kinds of are a funny, off-key function but it doesn’t engage the audience in a proper manner.

There’s nothing new introduced that is important. Dewey is one of the victims and there are some references from other movies. His death is probably one of the major ones and death that meant something. It had some interesting moments but nothing to elevate the story in a satisfactory direction that feels complete and necessary. It also doesn’t hold back on the violence with some death, as mentioned before. For the newcomers, Jack Quaid as Richie made an interesting perspective on his character. He’s one of the better characters. Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, or David Arquette doesn’t really bring any nuanced to the series and was there for the journey.