Scream (2022) - Movie Review

 

                What's your favorite scary movie? 

  Scream (2022)- directed by Matt Bellinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett.  Starring Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega,   Jack Quaid, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette. (Potential Spoilers Ahead)

 The fifth Scream film serves as a sequel/reboot of the franchise that started over 26 years ago. Introducing fresh faces such as Barrera, Quaid, and Jenna Ortega. the sinister Ghostface returns yet again, this time, terrorizing Sam Carpenter (Barerra), her sister (Ortega), and other teenagers in the cursed town of Woodsboro. The teenagers seek help from the franchise trio of survivors in Sydney(Campbell), Gale (Cox), and Dewey (Arquette), hoping to survive the Ghostface massacre once again. 

When the original film was released back in 1996 fans fell in love with horror icon Wes Craven's spin on the genre. Considered by many as black- comedy films, Scream was very self-aware of what slasher films had become. Films such as Halloween and Friday the 13th while popular, over-saturated the genre. Scream offered something fresh and different. Scream (2022) comes at a different time in Hollywood. It seems the days of original films are over. Reboots and sequels are constantly being, using nostalgia as a selling point. I personally believe that remakes and sequels should not be done unless there is something new to be offered to the story. 

Scream (2022) attempts to address these issues. The film has many scenes that nearly break the fourth wall. Characters oftentimes make self-aware comments and references that acknowledge they are in a reboot. There is literally a scene where all the characters breakdown the "rules" of reboots, even if it means potentially deprecating their own film. Whether viewers like the meta-commentary is purely a matter of taste, it is interesting to see a movie accept its flaws and use them as an attempt to enhance the movie. Add this up with lots (and lots) of gore, brutal deaths, and funny one-liners, and you get a solid 21st century film.