Scream (2022) - A Movie Review

Remember the rules to a horror movie? Everything is repeating, so remember.

After the events that happened 25 years ago, Scream is a 2022 sequel. Another victim falls prey to a killer in a Ghostface mask. Targeting a group of teens, it’s only a matter of time to solve the case before everyone is killed.

Scream changed the slasher genre when it was first released in 1996. I have not seen the sequels to Scream but based on most of the clips and the premises of the films, I assumed that I wouldn’t miss much for the latest film. I was mostly right. The fifth Scream resembled more of a fanfiction of pop culture than an actual film.

The cast of Scream (2022) contains characters who are either on the kill count, sport suspicious behavior, or notable characters who return to the legacy. Most of the characters are stereotypical. They spend most of the film talking about theories and making fun of horror movie cliches. I was impressed with how some members of the cast studied subtle behaviors.

Credits include Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Marley Shelton, and some familiar surprises. Like the past Scream films, Roger L. Jackson played the ominous voice of Ghostface over the phone. I was overjoyed to see a cameo by Dead Meat, one of my favorite Youtube channels.

Starting off the film, Jenna Ortega is fantastic. I was on the edge of my seat. Ortega is superb at expressing agony. I wish that she could have been the main character over Melissa Barrera.

Barrera looked bored. None of her dialogue was convincing. The sibling dynamic was mostly for story purposes. The whole scenario fell flat to me. The revelation of Sam’s past didn’t feel necessary at all.

Returning to their iconic roles, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette were great. Campbell deserved a bigger role than what she was given. She and Cox’s roles felt like mere cameos just uttering little sayings about how reminiscent everything is. Arquette was the only character given direction and had a reason to be in the story.

This was the first Scream without the direction of the late Wes Craven. Taking the reigns as directors, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett did too much with the nostalgic atmosphere. Both fans of the Scream franchise, they ran out of original ideas by the climax. The ending was a copy of the original.

The second half of the film was the most original portion that felt like a story. There are too many references to the original Scream and other pop culture horror films. That’s what it became. Writers had guts for one crucial element. I gasped at this said event and I was sad.

Every second I was guessing who the killer could have been. In some instances I was right. Audiences are kept guessing until the last minute. The true ending was kept a secret from the cast during production. In the end, the climax was a tad overdone, unless it was on purpose.

Fair warning, Scream has an extreme amount of bloody violence. Filmmakers did an effective job with the suspense. Maybe overdone in some parts, but overall it was fun getting a chance to see Scream (2022) in theaters.

If you are a fan of the Scream franchise, I wouldn’t skip out on this film. I had a different opinion since I have not seen all the films. It’s a suspenseful film with effective jump scares. See it in theaters or on streaming services.