Scream (2022) Review (Patreon)

BY: Colin Gregory Antes

I was 8 years old when the first Scream film was released in December of 1996. While I was too young to know at the time, horror at the movie box office was on a downward trend during the early to mid 90’s, and its popularity seemed to be waning. Horror had just passed its peak during the 80’s with the iconic franchises that featured the likes of unkillable slasher monsters Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees, and Freddy Krueger. By the 90’s, the Slasher subgenre of horror had been played out and done to death. There was nothing else that could be done or said when it came to Slashers. Then came Scream.

Scream was one of those films that is considered lightning in a bottle. Everything that could go right with a film went right with Scream. The script, the director, the casting, the music... and -- most importantly -- the timing. Scream came out at the exact moment in time that would make it the smash hit that it became. It revitalized the Slasher genre in the late 90’s with its characters being aware of the usual and familiar tropes in horror movies, and a mysterious masked Ghostface killer who liked to call his would-be victims and make them play a deadly game of horror movie trivia. The brilliant script by Kevin Williamson was brought masterfully to life by great horror director Wes Craven, and just like that, a new horror franchise was born, and the Slasher subgenre was revitalized.

With the release of Scream, a new legacy of horror icons and characters were born, with three subsequent sequels being released in 1997, 2000, and 2011. All of them would be directed by Wes Craven and feature the main three returning cast members of Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox. Even though the original trilogy of films were big hits, the Slasher genre revival that the first film kickstarted had died down by 2011, and Scream 4 did not achieve the same box office success as the other films. With the passing of Wes Craven in 2015, it seemed that the Scream franchise had finally run its course.

However, as time marches on, the drug of nostalgia becomes ever more potent, and with the coming of a new generation and the dawn of social media, the original horror classics had only grown more popular and desired by rabid horror fans and people like me who grew up watching horror films such as Scream during our formative years. I will freely admit that Scream is my personal favorite horror franchise. With the release and great success of the new franchise Halloween movie in 2018 -- starring a returning Jamie Lee Curtis in the famous role of Laurie Strode -- Slasher horror was once again revitalized, along with a desire by its fans like myself to see a new Scream movie featuring that other famous “final girl” of horror played by Neve Campbell: Sidney Prescott.

The wheels were finally in motion for a new sequel to be made, and the original famous trio of surviving characters would also be brought back. However, with the passing of Wes Craven, a new director would have to be found, and after the release of the fantastic horror film Ready or Not in 2019, the studio found their men with the directing duo of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, also known as Radio Silence. The new sequel would be simply titled Scream, dropping the numbered sequel convention just like the recent Halloween and upcoming The Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies as a sly commentary on horror movie trends that each installment of the franchise is so well known for riffing on. Scream was then shot, brilliantly marketed on social media, and released worldwide on January 14, 2022.

The film had a lot of expectations for fans. Would it live up to the quality of the rest of the franchise while also providing a great commentary on current horror? Would the masked Ghostface killer be scary and brutal? Would the new cast of characters live up to the returning fan favorites, and would both generations get their moments to shine? After seeing the film on preview night with a special live Q&A after the showing, I would like to answer those questions with an emphatic, “YES!”

The new Scream film not only met my expectations, it exceeded them. The opening scene is the most thrilling one since the first film, matching the intensity and horror of the iconic original as Ghostface calls unsuspecting girl Tara, played wonderfully by Jenna Ortega, and terrorizes her with horror movie trivia just like what was done with the character of Casey Becker, played famously by Drew Barrymore, in the very first Scream film. The whole opening scene is a great return to form for the series, and it even has its own new twist with the ultimate outcome of Tara’s fate.

While Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott character is prominently featured in the climax of the film at the killer’s house from the original movie, she mostly takes a back seat for the greater part of the story. The character of Sam, played by Melissa Barerra, is our new main “final girl,” and she is the sister of Tara and the main target of the new Ghostface killer that has come back to terrorize the town of Woodsboro. Sam is also revealed to have a hidden familial connection to the past, which the Scream series has become well-known for when it came to certain new characters from its prior sequels.

As with all Scream films, we also meet a new group of young characters who will act as both victims and suspects as the plot of the movie unfolds. One thing that this movie has in greater amounts than the prior Scream films is the sheer paranoia of this new group of friends when it comes to suspecting who amongst them could be the Ghostface killer. Characters are seen refusing to be alone with other characters, and also becoming highly suspicious of those who have no solid alibi during a Ghostface killing.

This film also subverts our expectations a bit when one character from the group of friends, who does their best to play by “the rules” of horror films to survive and does everything they can to protect themselves, ironically ends up being one of the earlier victims of Ghostface. Another character is also killed in broad daylight right before the other’s death scene, and it’s one of the most brutal killings we’ve seen by Ghostface so far.

The brutality of the kills in this film I feel makes this Ghostface one of the nastiest we’ve ever seen, and it helps the film earn its R rating. One particular killing that takes place in a hospital is sure to the leave the audience shocked and gobsmacked by what they’ve just seen. It is probably the most memorable scene in the film, and is sure to leave longtime fans of the Scream series with their heart wrenching.

Along with the brutal kills, Scream is also littered with a host of Easter Eggs for fans of the previous films. There are references to characters that were killed from past films, other characters that were not killed making a return appearance (and – SPOILER – even some that were killed, returning in a surprising way!), and even a quick nod to past director Wes Craven with a shot of a car passing a street named Elm Street. The film also honors the late great Wes Craven with an end title card that simply reads, “For Wes.”

I feel that the filmmakers truly did Wes proud with this new Scream film. It maintains the high-quality of standards and spirit that each of the Wes Craven films had and is, in my opinion, the best Scream movie since the original. The cast and crew really did all they could to make this the best Scream movie since the first, and it shows.

While the film is a pleasure to watch for any Scream fan like myself, there are still some elements of the film that can be criticized. The final killer reveal is not really unexpected and can be seen as being redundant based on prior films and also uninspiring. While the performances of all Ghostface killers are truly great once they are revealed in any of the movies, I was hoping for something a little different and more unique when it came to the reveal of who it was doing the killings in this film.

One thing that I can praise about the reveal is the motive. Just as with other Scream films, the motive for this one fits as a commentary of the times and the current state of horror films and its fandom. Each Scream film offers great commentary on the tropes of horror films and the fans who love them, and this one is no different with a strong critique of toxic fandom and how it can sometimes go too far. You could even counter original Ghostface killer character Billy Loomis’ famous quote from the ending of the first Scream and say that some movies do indeed create psychos.

At the end of the movie, we have a new set of “final girls” and surviving characters that can take us into a next possible sixth installment of the 25-year-old franchise. Legacy characters like the original surviving trio are important, but they won’t be around forever, and I have every confidence that this new crop of Woodsboro survivors will be able to carry the future of the Scream franchise on their shoulders to a possible next film and beyond. Here’s to hoping that the next Scream film will be just as good and as exciting as this one.