Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, Scream 5 is an American Horror, Thriller film.
Staring Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega, Dylan Minnette, and Jack Quaid are newbies to the franchise, while Marley Shelton, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Neve Campbell, and Roger L. Jackson return from prior editions.
Let’s check it out…
Scream 5 Review
25 years after the original series of murders in Woods, a new killer emerges and Sydney Prescott must return to uncover the truth.
I remember watching the original Scream in the theater and absolutely loved how it had basically rebooted Slasher films. It also paved the way for other Slashers that became popular in their own rights. Kind of like, I know what you did last summer.
But to create a sequel so long after the last one is a risky proposition. The original screen was wonderful and truly one of my favorites, but some of the sequels were less than awesome.
And then bringing back a franchise just because isn’t always the right reason to do so. I mean, just look at Halloween Kills or The Matrix Resurrections.
In this stream, we have a lot of the same callbacks to the original movie. It’s self-aware, but not in the overly cringey way that The Matrix was.
Here the story actually uses the nostalgia and the self-awareness as building blocks rather than punchlines, and the movie even coins a term within this that I really liked and can see using for future movie reviews.
I like how the story returns to Woodsboro and brings back some of the original cast, all while introducing us to a group of new players.
There’s a modern sensibility to the writing, even as the story interweaves familiar themes and then plot points.
The nods to the original come in various forms, and some were even very unexpected. There are certain scenes that almost mirror those from the original, and while they teeter upon being self-indulgent, I found them to be used sparingly enough to not be tired or annoying.
From the trailers, we know that Neve Campbell returns to Sidney Prescott, and I really like how the story utilizes her.
Now she’s not in the film for a ton of it, and the story then works to establish itself really well before bringing Sydney back into the fold.
David Arquette and Courteney Cox also appear as we also saw in the trailer, and I love their addition as well, especially Arquette as Dewey. That boyish goofiness that he had in the original is now gone, and we get to see a man who’s lived through crap but hasn’t lost his charm.
The younger cast works well together, providing some snark, but also some tension, too. Some of the standouts for me were Melissa Barrera, Jack Quaid, Jenna Ortega, and Jasmin Savoy Brown, who I’m also enjoying in the Showtime series Yellow Jackets.
I think they play off each other really well also. They managed to capture some of that same energy that made the first so much fun, while also being able to keep it feeling fresh and current.
Now, with attention, there’s an incredible amount that is built up in certain circumstances, and I love how the story will also fake us out at point, always keeping us guessing if something terrible is about to happen.
The story also does have some comedy to it, just like its predecessor, but some of the time it feels a little forced. They were trying just a little bit too hard to make a joke work, which ended up making it fall flat.
And the comedy is supposed to be a slight reprieve from the anxiety, but that’s not typically the case when it’s used.
This movie works very hard to classify itself as a slasher horror, being sure to differentiate itself from some of the more complex and subtle horrors that we’ve gotten in recent years.
And I think it does a good job at that because there are some wonderful kills. I loved how violent and brutal some of those sequences are.
The film fully embraces the genre and just goes full bore into the bloody Gore. I had a lot of fun with this. I mean, my butt was puckered for parts as the anxiety rose, and I was playing along with the mystery of who was behind the Ghostface Mask.
But this movie isn’t without its conveniences and issues. I mean, there’s a minor and I mean really minor side story that’s interjected in this, and I think it’s totally useless.
There are two scenes that encompass this storyline, and while they could have been battled out to provide some more wonderful suspense and intrigue that just never happens, and then even the kill that comes from it, it’s short and then somewhat lackluster.
There’s also a sequence that takes place inside a hospital. Now the tension is actually executed really well, but the convenient set up I found a bit bothersome.
The hospital is a decently large one, but our characters find themselves on a floor with absolutely zero staff or other patients, and it’s not like the floor is under renovation or anything like that.
The story has just chosen to remove any other living soul from the scenario other than the group that’s involved in the scene.
And again, I enjoyed all of the action and intensity that is produced during this, but it was quite glaring that they just emptied out a hospital floor in order to film the scene.
There’s also a feeling of quickness to the storytelling. I don’t mind an urgency, which I think is actually needed to keep tension and anxiety high, but sudden development seems lacking at moments within the cast, which I think would have better explain certain dynamics.
And then added development would also help to create more suspense and guessing for the who done it portion of this story.
And for me, probably the most bothersome aspect within the whole thing is an obvious reveal. I don’t think this story was nearly as clever as it thought it was when it came to this.
I mean, sure, I still got enjoyment for what came after the reveal, but I do wish the story would have done better at concealing certain aspects.
There’s some exposition within this that’s used as social commentary, and I found it to be pointedly funny. It brings in a self-aware attitude to address a certain topic and then nails it on the head, even if in an ironic way.
Now, despite the negatives that I raised, this is still a tense ride through a lot of it. There were portions that were butt puckering like I said as I became just fully invested in the story and the thrill of the chase.
So this new sequel with the same name is a violent and bloody slasher that pays homage to its origins with a self-aware sensibility, but it doesn’t get too meta. Instead of using the nostalgia to better build out the story.
Even the self aware commentary can be humorous because of how accurate it is. The kills are fantastic. The comedy works to varying degrees. The returning players are great to see, and the new cast is a lot of fun.
The standout for me is the return of David Arquette, who’s charming and endearing and had me rooting for him the whole time.
I do wish some of the elements wouldn’t have been so obvious and that certain conveniences were avoided. But overall Scream is an enjoyable experience that retains many of the qualities that made the first so wonderful.
Is it perfect? No, but still a fun time at the movies, especially if you’re in the mood for a slasher film.
There’s no sex or nudity, a ton of profanity, and I do think it’s a given, but an absolute massive amount of bloody violence.
I am going to give Scream 4/5.
Are you a fan of the series? Which of the movies is your favorite? Mine is still the original, but I’d love to know yours in the comments below. Don’t forget to rate the movie from the box below.
Guys thank you so much as always for reading the review of Scream 2022. See you next time.
Scream 5 Trailer
Check out the trailer of Scream 5 movie to take an idea about the film.
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