SCREAM (2022)

SCREAM (2022)

Tagline: It's always someone you know.

(Horror, Slasher, Ghostface) [R]

You got stabbed a billion times, got dumped by your famous wife, and crawled into a bottle. I think it's safe to say you're on the suspect list.

In this one after 25 years, Woodsboro is about to undergo another string of killings. This time a new killer takes the mantle of Ghostface and begins to target anyone that has to do with Sam Carpenter. She is basically just a really naïve girl that likes psychological horror. Why else would she be a target? Psychological horror sucks. 

First off, any time you get a chance to bring original cast members back to a horror franchise you just do that asap. This movie was also known as SCREAM 5, but for some reason, they are leaving off the 5 now. Not sure why that is. Waiting 11 years to bring back the franchise after SCREAM 4 wasn’t really a long time to wait. Just think about the crap GODZILLA fans have gone through. Needless to say, I think fans of the got a lot of bang for their buck with this one but did it have any major issues?

In a nutshell yes. I think my biggest problem with this “smart-slasher” was the ending. If you watch the series, you know by now we always have 2 killers, and unfortunately, the motives here just feel very out of whack. One smaller issue is that there is a scene in here where a multiple stab wound victim is in the hospital seemingly without any good meds. I have been in the hospital for outpatient surgeries and woke up not even knowing where I was much less feeling anything. This character feels every move she makes and that is just pretty whacky given her scenario. I guess it’s possible that CA just flat out sucks on the pain med front, but wow. 

So where does this movie succeed? To be honest most of the newcomers in this movie are part of what is essentially a throw-away cast needed for slasher flicks. In other words, they are only really there to get slashed. So it’s hard to nit-pick or praise those elements. If anything, we don’t really get to know them well enough to care. In this aspect, the movie is well done because not having an emotional investment allows these things to be a bit of fun. I also loved (as I eluded to in the intro) that they brought back 3 major players in this franchise. This thing is fast-paced once it gets going which for some is a minus, for me, it’s a plus. I am also a fan of jump scares and tension rather than gore, so this hit both those areas for me. 

Acting-wise, Neve Campbell (who is just 6 months younger than me) plays the iconic Sidney Prescott and is as epic as ever. If anything both she and Courtney Cox (who plays Gale Weathers) get too little screen time in this. We also see the return of David Arquette as Dewey Riley which is rad. My favorite movie of his was EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS by a long shot. Melissa Barrera is one of the newcomers for this one. She takes on the role of Sam Carpenter and is one of the huge pieces at least in the foreseeable future for the franchise. The other big piece is Jenna Ortega who plays Tara Carpenter. She does okay in this but didn’t blow me away. She has been doing a ton of horror lately so I am sure hard-core horror fans love that. I am not a hard-core horror fan. I am more like a “just in October and most every new horror flick sucks” observer. Yes, I am looking straight at you FREAKY. Courtney Cox does look to be returning in the next installment in the series along with Ortega and Barrera.

Overall this thing is pretty decent, but it’s the least clever in the series and even the nods to old 1950s sci-fi flicks like THE BLOB and INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS can fix that this script is almost too self-aware. I have to give this one a 4 out of 7. I am not nearly as much into horror as I used to be, but for kids that grew up in the 80s like me, the entire series still does a good job of not taking everything so seriously.

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF PARAMOUNT PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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