"Something about this one just feels different."
What’s your favourite scary movie? This one!
At a time when so many classic film franchises are releasing follow-ups to their original counterparts, Scream (2022) is no exception, with the creators having decided to take a stab at their own reboot/sequel (requel, apparently?). These attempts almost always end up with a truly terrible outcome (think Halloween (2007) or Friday the 13th (2009)) that confirm a franchise has been run into the ground. The Scream (2022) creators, however,have managed to dodge that harsh stereotype and have no doubt paved the way for more Scream films to come with this hilariously self-aware, bloody-as-ever, carnage-filled slasher flick.
The basics won’t come as much of a surprise; we are back in the small town of Woodsboro, where a new Ghostface is once again racking up an assembly of helpless victims in the form of high school teens, all of which seem to have a connection to the original killings back in 1996. After her estranged sister is attacked, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) returns to her hometown and unwittingly becomes involved in the latest of the deranged killings. As the body count continues to grow, our veteran heroes Sidney Prescott, Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley (played by our long-established Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette) can’t help but find themselves drawn back to Woodsboro for a hauntingly familiar face-off.
This rebirth of the franchise gives fresh faces to our story, with a whole new group of iconic teens who, not forgetting their roots, still have their connections to the original story and its characters. While the die-hard Scream fans will be mostly pleased about the treatment of the original beloved legacy characters making their resurgences (a certain line, “I’m Sidney Prescott, of course I have a gun!”, certainly prompted some whoops and hollers from audiences.), the fresh blood in the cast is sure to bring in a whole new generation of Scream lovers and have them hooked for life. There really is something here for everyone, with clever kills and witty one-liners appealing to a wide audience that is no doubt full of varying generations.
A film which mirrors the original so much, Scream (2022) is undeniably a love letter to the franchise that came before it, but perhaps more specifically to that first 1996 Scream film itself more than anything else. As early as the charged opening scene, full of sadistic games and sharp quips, we see the impressive and upcoming Jenna Ortega, who is very much making her presence in Hollywood known, and for good reason. She portrays one of our new scream queens, Tara Carpenter, and plays a hand in providing us with what could quite easily be the best Scream opening sequence since that first ever iconic bloodbath with Drew Barrymore.
The film, as self-referential as all those that came before it, managed to successfully encapsulate everything that is so special about that original movie. Even after Wes Craven’s passing, this film is proof that they haven’t lost an ounce of the genius, the wit, or the stamina that the original films possessed. It would seem the directors have created a bona fide legacy sequel that Craven would be proud to have his name attached to.
★★★★½
