I can’t believe it has been over 25 years since SCREAM, the influential and endlessly quotable and overall fun horror comedy from the late great Wes Craven, was a surprise hit at the box office and spawned a franchise that had a sequel one short year later, then a heavily delayed third movie, then a decade until another one and an even longer decade-wait until this latest endeavour. I am sure I speak for many when I say that we’re beyond exhausted of all of the sequels, remakes and reboot culture and studios clearly knowing what sells and not trying for original content anymore.
Thankfully, what sets this 2022 edition of SCREAM apart is that it’s partly a tribute to just the original movie and it’s absolutely essential viewing in preparation for this new picture. There is a part of me that is beyond exhausted with so much familiar material placating our cinemas and after the last few disappointing SCREAM sequels I went into this one with a lot of trepidation.
And yet…I was still entertained. I know I shouldn’t be as this series is now 25 years old and there hasn’t been a SCREAM entry in a decade and any release like this comes with some major trepidation, especially in an era where the moviegoer is interested in “a little less” and this current generation may not have even heard of or is anticipating a new SCREAM movie. Original content is not interesting to people anymore. According to the numbers, we only want Marvel and DC movies because it’s familiar. It’s a plot we all know and can understand.
Here, SCREAM puts a pretty clever spin on the original 1996 SCREAM that opens with a very similar sequence to when Drew Barrymore famously picked up the phone to talk to a stranger. Here, the immediate question comes up…:”Who uses landlines anymore?” as the phone rings. Thankfully it’s commented on here, and I also liked how a cell phone is also used in this sequence when Tara (Jenna Ortega) answers the phone to the infamously faked voice. This leads to a pop-quiz then attack that she survives, and brings her older sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) back to town after being estranged for a few years. This also brings back several additional characters, too many to name, and it’s a similar who-dun-it murder story as the killer could come from anywhere in the same town in which the original events took place. This also brings back the “legacy” characters of Sidney (Neve Campbell), Gale (Courtney Cox) and Dewey (David Arquette) I have never really been a fan of playing the guessing game and just enjoy letting things play out, and SCREAM gets a lot of mileage out of this with characters popping in and out, and when it’s finally revealed even I kind of go “…oh yeah!” with a bit of a grin.
The characters say “elevated horror” a lot to describe something like Jordan Peele movies like GET OUT or US, or even a reference to THE BABADOOK, and discussions of all differing and conflicting viewpoints are also all on display here, which is very accurate. There’s also a clear jab at Rian Johnson and STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI as to what that movie did to its original characters and storyline. In addition, a running joke of the STAB film series runs parallel with a lot of amusing in-jokes. Filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett thankfully don’t over-do this and more poke fun at the “re-quel” idea . Even the title itself, by just being called SCREAM, is a play on reboots and using the same name over again, instead of calling it SCREAM 5.
The cast here is solid and “elevates” the material, as it were. In particular I was impressed with Melissa Barrera (IN THE HEIGHTS) and Jenna Ortega (from last year’s SxSW entry THE FALLOUT, which is finally coming to streaming later in January) as the deeply conflicted sisters. Jack Quaid, son of Dennis and Meg Ryan, has commanding leading presence here, and I also really liked young Mikey Madison as one of their best friends; you may remember her as one of the final Manson kids in Tarantino’s ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD. Also good to see was Dylan Minnette (DON’T BREATHE) and Jasmin Savoy Brown from last year’s THE SOUND OF VIOLENCE. There are also a few appearances from Marley Shelton, Skeet Ulrich (who appeared to have some visual effects work performed on him), Heather Matarazoo and even a well-placed photo of Jamie Kennedy for effect.
So even though I am aware I am supposed to be tired of these re-hashings, I still had fun with this 2022 picture with its great references and parallels to the original movie, so much so that you can just skip the sequels and do a fun double bill with Craven’s 1996 original and just call it a day.
SCREAM is now playing in theatres. As well, if you haven’t seen the original SCREAM, it is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video & Crave in Canada.