Scream
At some point, Woodsboro’s gonna have to run out of copycat killers.
Cast of Characters:
Sam Carpenter – Melissa Barrera
Vince Schneider – Kyle Gallner
Chad Meeks-Martin – Mason Gooding
Amber Freeman – Mikey Madison
Wes Hicks – Dylan Minnette
Tara Carpenter – Jenna Ortega
Richie Kirsch – Jack Quaid
Judy Hicks – Marley Shelton
Billy Loomis – Skeet Ulrich
Mindy Meeks-Martin – Jasmin Savoy Brown
Liv McKenzie – Sonia Ammar
Gale Weathers – Courtney Cox
Dewey Riley – David Arquette
Sidney Prescott – Neve Campbell
Director – Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett
Writer – James Vanderbilt & Guy Busick
Based on characters created by Kevin Williamson
Producer – William Sherak, James Vanderbilt & Paul Neinstein
Distributor – Paramount Pictures
Rated R for strong bloody violence, language throughout and some sexual references.
The Rundown: Twenty-five years after the town of Woodsboro, California was terrorized by a streak of brutal murders, the town once again finds itself terrorized by a new killer donning the infamous Ghostface mask. With a new batch of teenagers now fighting for their lives to avoid getting the Ghostface stab, they look to longtime survivors Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) and retired cop Dewey Riley (David Arquette) to help them take down the masked killer.
Until the next sequel, of course.
Pre-Release Buzz: Development on a fifth Scream film dates as far back to the last entry, 2011’s Scream 4, where the late, great franchise director Wes Craven himself confirmed he was contracted to direct a fifth and sixth installment if the fourth film was successful. However, with Craven’s passing in 2015, franchise writer/creator Kevin Williamson’s doubt on any future sequels, and then the downfall of The Weinstein company in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, it started to become more and more unlikely that there would be a new Scream film.
Then, almost a decade later in 2019, Spyglass Media Group acquired the rights to produce a new film, eventually bringing on Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett to direct, with the aforementioned Williamson singing on as well, though this time only serving as executive producer. With Williamson not writing, the production turned to Zodiac writer James Vanderbilt and Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett’s Ready or Not collaborator Guy Busick to pen the script. Though the film would be sort of a “soft reboot” that focuses on a new batch of teens, it was confirmed that it would still serve as a direct sequel and would feature the return of legacy actors Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courtney Cox.
Yet you name it Scream… just like the first film. Look, I still really liked 2018’s Halloween, but it was so clearly a direct sequel to the original 1978 slasher. Not sure why this film had to follow suit, but if it’s obviously intended as a sequel, then name it as such.
The Good: Despite January being the dumping grounds for a lot of cinematic junk, there always seems to be that one film that gives you a pleasant surprise by actually being good (e.g., The Grey, the Paddington films, Split). Scream, not to be confused for its 1996 predecessor Scream, is that one film for this January.
Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while.
Admittedly, I wasn’t really looking forward to this film. Sure, I love the first Scream and Scream 2, while a step down, was still a good follow-up. However, Scream 3 was absolutely terrible, Scream 4 was an improved but mostly middling effort, and the trailers for this film didn’t impress me at all. But one of the joys provided by film is when you go into a movie not expecting to like it, and come out of it having had an actual blast, and I had a lot of fun with this film.
Bringing the same slick, twisted craft they brought to 2019’s entertaining Ready or Not, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett wisely avoid trying to one-up or outshine Craven’s work like many of the Craven remakes have tried and utterly failed to do (The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House on the Left, A Nightmare on Elm Street). The duo are more than fine following Craven’s vision, while adding their own flavor to the mix in a way that still feels like it fits within the aesthetic developed by the legendary filmmaker (much like Ready or Not, this Scream is arguably the bloodiest of the entire series). It’s, of course, maybe too obvious to say that Craven’s touch is missed, but Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett do him justice.
Like the other films, Scream follows the same gimmick of being a sharply self-aware deconstruction of the slasher genre while still being an effective slasher film itself. Though the same “certain rules” are rehashed again, Vanderbilt and Busick infuse some freshness into their script with sharp stabs at both the recent trend of more thematically-driven horror films dubbed “elevated horror” (e.g., The Babadook, It Follows, Hereditary), reboots and toxic fan culture. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett do provide some thrilling set pieces (particularly a great mid-point tracking sequence that plays with the obvious jump scares tactic so commonly used in horror), but much of Scream’s fun is found in Vanderbilt and Busick’s commentary.
For the fifth entry, the focus is on a newly assembled lineup of young stars, and while the characterizations are the usual suspects of slasher horror archetypes, the young cast members all come to play and are effective, most notably the film’s three central players Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega and a near-scene-stealing Jack Quaid (son of stars Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan). Barrera, in particular, does a great job of distinguishing her “final girl” from Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, bringing more of an edge to Sam Carpenter that serves as a contrast to the vulnerable yet steely resourcefulness of Prescott. Outside of the three main stars, recognition should also be given to Jasmin Savoy Brown (here playing this film’s version of Randy Meeks), who riffs out a great monologue on “requels” (part reboot, part sequel) that skewers the pressure studios face to neither do a sequel for fear of being seen as a cash-grab, nor doing a full-on reboot for fear of pissing off the highly-fervent franchise faithful. It’s a highly insightful and relevant attention grabber that manages to take the piss out of franchise culture while simultaneously looking inward at itself.
Aha – Stab 8 directed by that guy that did Knives Out. I see what you did there, movie.
As for the legacy actors, fans may be disappointed that Campbell, David Arquette and Courtney Cox are no longer the central focus of this film, but they can rest easy in knowing that their appearances are far from just throwaway glorified cameos. Both Campbell and Cox turn in fine work in their return to Woodsboro, but the standout of the three is actually Arquette who’s absolutely terrific here. As the likably goofy police officer Dewey Riley, Arquette was always the oddball charmer of the series, yet this time around, his character is provided with a lot more emotional range. Now playing a Riley that’s been broken down and jaded over what’s he’s experienced throughout the series, Arquette is required to hit a number of emotional beats here and he more than capably does so, easily earning the most satisfying character arc of the three returning stars. It’s also hard to overlook the added layer of meta in Riley and Gale’s reunion, knowing Arquette and Cox’s real-life relationship. Whether intentional or not, their scenes together contain a little bit of needed tension, but are overall quite touching.
The Bad: It’s hard to dive deep into the film’s missteps without getting into spoiler territory, so I’m gonna do my best to avoid spoilers. As referenced in the film, the formula to the Scream series centers on the concept of the meta slasher whodunit, which ultimately culminates in a big third-act reveal of the one who is behind the Ghostface mask. Of course, a franchise that stretches the formula out over five films will start to wear out the surprise factor. To an extent, that is the case here, with the final-act laying out a heavily telegraphed answer to the whodunit that becomes more and more obvious as it draws closer to the killer’s reveal. This doesn’t derail the film in any way, unlike say Scream 3’s horrible reveal that was the final nail in the coffin of a film that was already pretty disappointing. In spite of the lack of surprise, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett still keep things entertaining with enough style and energy through those final scenes, even if the gotcha moments aren’t nearly as inspired as the first Scream.
Also, while more a minor nitpick, there is a returning original character who’s given the CGI de-aging treatment that looks a little iffy. Since the character is used sparingly, the critique, as stated, winds up being just a nitpick, as opposed to if he was a major presence where the dodgy effect would then be a constant distraction. Still, while it’s nice to see the actor back in the franchise, the visual rendering could’ve contained a little less of that over-glossed polish that tends to come with this particular effects process, so that it looks as close to an actual human actor instead of obvious CGI trickery.
The Ugly: Ghostface hates elevated horror films like The Babadook and Hereditary. I feel attacked.
Consensus: Scream doesn’t exactly shake up or reinvent its franchise, but a game, attractive cast and a good deal of style and meta-deconstruction from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett inject this fifth entry with a level of slick, bloody entertainment not reached since the first two films.
Silver Screen Fanatic’s Verdict: I give Scream a B+ (★★★).
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