Prepare for a bloody good time with the next installment in the Scream franchise that would make the late Wes Craven proud.
Twenty-five 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.
Now, this is how you start 2022 off. The new Scream movie definitely delivers and with the addition of brand new characters creates something new and fresh while still staying true to its roots. What I really enjoyed about this new movie is that all the legacy characters are given their fair share of screen time, but the movie focuses more on the new characters giving them their chance to shine.
I just wanna say that this is a perfect sequel and it kept a smile on my face for the majority of the film, except for the moments where my jaw dropped and my heart was racing with anticipation.
What directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett managed to do here was develop a fresh new entry while keeping everything that we love about the originals. Everything felt completely natural, and not at all forced. One would assume that the meta aspect is getting old by now, but nothing is really old if done properly. It had one of the most meta scenes in movie history, and the audience sure seemed to love it (as did I). It’s funny, awesome, and creepy, constantly keeping you at the edge of your seat.
The writing is so extremely clever, thanks to writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, to the point where it feels like they are just toying with the audience, and by my theater’s reactions they absolutely ate it up. There are no more stupid character decisions like the previous films, in fact, there are numerous occasions where the characters do the smartest things possible.
One of the biggest improvements in this film is that the kills are seriously brutal. If there was a Scream kills ranking list, this one would win the top spot. Solidifying the connection with past Screams is the return of immortal players like Neve Campbell as heroine Sidney Prescott, Courtenay Cox as TV anchor Gale Riley, and David Arquette as former-sheriff Dewey Riley. These three veterans show the skills of seasoned actors and help boost the star power of the new characters like sisters Tara (Jenna Ortega) and Sam (Melissa Barrera). The vets viscerally connect the past to the present is just one of the reasons that this film works.
Overall, Scream is an enjoyable horror that still manages to change the slasher genre in a way that freshens the genre while still being slavishly derivative.
Scream is now playing only in theaters
What did you think of the film? Let us know in the comments.
