GoMovieReviews Rating: ★★★1/2
Rated: MA15+
Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Written by: James Vanderbilt, Guy Busick
Characters Created by: Kevin Williamson
Produced by: Paul Neinstein, William Sherak, James Vanderbilt
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jenna Orgtega, Melissa Barrera, Marley Shelton, Dylan Minnette, Jack Quaid, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Sonia Ammar, Mikey Madison, Mason Gooding, Kyle Gallner and Reggie Conquest.
‘What’s your favourite move?’
The phone rings and I think to myself, who has a landline?
But Scream 2022 is all about bringing back the audience to the same opening as Scream 1996, the original.
Tara (Jenna Orgtega) answers. She’s home alone and about to get stabbed.
Welcome back to Woodsboro.
Scream the return, doesn’t shy away from its slasher genre. The film gets very stabby, Ghostface relentless as the knife penetrates cheeks and stomachs, people straddled with two handed plunges. It gets bloody. As expected with the Scream franchise.
The difference with this instalment is the invitation to the audience to be part of ‘the game’.
Watching the characters walking around the house just waiting for Ghostface to suddenly appear behind a door. It’s a tease and light-hearted (if a slasher can be light-hearted) because the audience knows what’s going to happen. We’ve seen it all before and know:
Don’t go off on your own.
If you know the why of the killing, you’ll know who’s the next target.
The killer is always part of the tight-knit group of friends being targeted, here your somewhat typical high school buddies, hyper vigilant Wes (Dylan Minnette), twins Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding), girlfriend of Chad, Liv (Sonia Ammar) and best buddy of Tara, Amber (Mikey Madison).
The film uses the assumption the audience knows what’s coming and the characters know what’s coming next because they’ve all seen the slasher franchise, ‘Stab’. Which is basically the Scream franchise so the characters analyse their situation based on the Stab movies. While being in a Scream movie. Scream the return, or ‘requel’ as described by Mindy is not just a slasher, but also self-reflecting that makes for some funny, tongue-in-cheek humour.
Another rule in making a sequel (requel) is bringing back some legends, enter the return of Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette), Gale Riley (Courteney Cox) and of course, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell).
So there’s the current storyline of Tara and her sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) with boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid) coming back to Woodsboro to help solve this new phase of Ghostface killings.
And there’s the legends brought back to help figure out who Ghostface is because they’ve been in the same situation many times before.
All the while inviting the audience to see the characters reflect on their story while comparing the killings to the Stab movies while we the audience watch them.
Is it better than the original? No. The first one was shocking and unforgettable. But it’s just as good in other ways because it’s something different and challenging.
This instalment is not your typical slasher and the risky re-visit to the original idea of, Scream, is surprisingly successful. It’s like a re-make in a re-make that leads to all sorts of layers and humour while still having the scary moments.
Recommend going back and watching at least the first Scream movie to get some of those aside jokes.