One of horrors deadliest killers returns. The newest Scream is a worthy addition to this already beloved franchise. Where old school meets new school in a perfect blend of what makes this franchise so great.
Twenty-five years after the original series of murders in Woodsboro, a new Ghostface emerges, and Sidney Prescott must return to uncover the truth.
There are certain rules for surviving a horror movie, everyone knows this. 25 years ago made these rules were made famous, and people in Woodsboro have been trying to follow them ever since. Ghostface has a long line of victims, and the body count usually gets bigger with each new installment in this franchise. While there are certain rules one must oblige to in order to survive these movies. For me, these movies themselves must follow certain rules in order to be successful.
They are as follows. One, the opening scene must set the tone of the movie and must be memorable and arguably the scariest part of the movie. We all remember the iconic opening of Scream, that haunted audiences and made you realize no one would ever be safe in a Scream movie. Drew Barrymore was thought to be the star of the movie. Secondly, the movie has to have a decent kill count, and some imaginative and worthy Ghostface kills. Finding new ways to kill people is something Scream is known for, and great and memorable kills helps with the overall feel of the movie. Finally, you need the reveal of the killer to actually be shocking or surprising in some way shape or form. These movies are always whodunits, so the big Ghostface reveal and their motive is something that can either make or break the movie. Lucky for this movie, it meets the incredibly high expectations of all 3. Now, I won’t be going into spoiler territory, because these movies are best served not knowing any of those juicy details.
Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett had rather large shoes to fill. Wes Craven, one of the many Gods of the horror genre is sadly no longer with us and this is the first Scream movie that he was not apart of. Wes Craven would have be proud of what was accomplished here and this movie is almost a love letter to everything that came before it. They are able to blend the perfect mix of bringing in new and interesting characters and honouring those legacy characters that they bring back. As for the legacy characters, who we all know and love, Sydney (Neve Campbel), Gale (Courtney Cox), and Dewey (David Arquette), they all serve a purpose and feel like they needed to be there. Not shoehorned in or just there for the sake of fan service. The Scream movies and especially this one always have something to do with the past. Hence why they all felt vital to everything going on during the movie.
As for the new cast, they once again manage to bring in the best looking young people in Hollywood that all happen to go to the same high school. It can’t be a Scream movie without a good looking cast. Everything comes back to the past, so as for these new meat puppets, they are all somehow connected to the original killers or victims from Scream. We have sisters Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega), who’s history I will keep quiet about. This movie is all about Sam, as she is set up to be the new Sydney. We have Sam’s boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid), who is a lovable yet unqualified person to help protect Sam, because he knows nothing about horror movies, or does he? Never trust the boyfriends, or maybe this time you can? We have Tara’s group of friends, Liv (Sonia Ammar), Wes (Dylan Minnette), Amber (Mikey Madison) and the clear standouts and MVPS of the movie, twins Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown). They are the niece and nephew of the legend Randy. So they know a thing or two about how to survive a horror movie. The whole new cast works great, they are interesting enough that you end up caring about them, and they each bring their own unique qualities to their respected character. This really feels like a whodunit, more so than the last 3 installements. They are questioning the moves and motives of all of their friends and can’t help point fingers at one another when something goes wrong. The movie does a great job trying to tease who the killer is and who isn’t as you change your mind about five or six times throughout the film. Until the final bloody showdown that exposes the killers and why they are doing all of this……
What I love about these movies is just how simple and fun they can be. Not to mention I just think Ghostface is so damn cool and one of the best creations in all of horror. This feels like a proper sequel, nothing is held back, it’s violent as hell and the blood shed and body count is high. This feels like a rated R movie, unlike some of the last few sequels. They are setting up a new franchise here, where we could easily get a few more Scream movies and that’s just good news for everyone. I would say this is the second best film in the franchise and I can’t wait to see where they go next. Yes the movie has some flaws, more so in the first half of the film, but the 3rd act blood bath really took me for surprise and it’s just so great seeing Neve Campbell do her thing again.
Scream = 81/100
