Is The Latest 'Scream' Sequel Any Good? Here's What The Reviews Say
The famed '90s slasher franchise "Scream," which produced four films between 1996 and 2011 and cemented Ghostface in pop culture history, has returned for a fifth installment after 11 years — reverting to its original title, "Scream."
It marks the first film in the franchise that isn't directed by Wes Craven, who directed the first four films and passed away in August 2015. Is the franchise reboot — a direct sequel to "Scream 4" — worth a watch, or have we as a society gotten over Ghostface's brand of slasher horror? Here's what the reviews say.
Maybe It's Time We Moved On From The Franchise
Revisiting the property 11 years after "Scream 4," the new installment — made with Williamson's blessing and dedicated to the late Craven — goes back to the original for inspiration but seriously over-indulges in self-referential cleverness, to the point of undermining the actual scare factor.
The new "Scream" may be the first horror movie that turns the mockery of fan service into its own fan service. Is it fun? Mostly, yes. Surprising? It keeps faking you out about who the killer is, and playing that guessing game is part of the film's suspense, but it's a suspense based on the fact that the film can stay one step ahead of us in a totally arbitrary way. The new "Scream" is about as good as "Scream 2" was — it keeps the thrill of the original "Scream" bouncing in the air like a blood-drenched balloon — but the film is basically a set of variations on a very old sleight-of-hand fear blueprint.
[Variety]
It's A Gnarly One For Sure
The return to Woodsboro is a bloody one. If you're thinking "duh, Amelia, this is a slasher," I get you. But understand that "Scream" takes the violence to the next level. It's not since... "Scream"... that "Scream" has been so vicious with its kills. (Yeah, they address the title thing. It's very funny. Still doesn't make us look less silly while writing about it.) Things get gnarly in 2022's entry into the franchise, and it's for the better. Every single one of the gruesome maimings and murders is well earned, and Ghostface is trickier than ever as he works his way through his victims.
[IGN]
In fact, "Scream" preemptively satirizes precisely this affectation, with fans mocking the makers of the film-within-a-film "Stab" franchise who are pompously calling their latest episode "Stab" instead of "Stab 8." I have to admit that there is some watchable gonzo humour to this fivequel (though I hid under my seat for the violent bits.)
[Guardian]
It Lives Up To The Part Aesthetically
With the snake busy eating its own tail in the dialogue, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett — last seen pouring buckets of blood on Samara Weaving in the eat-the-rich horror farce "Ready Or Not" — wisely opt for a flat, bright look that doesn't distract too much from the script. (Heavy visual stylization on top of the rat-a-tat script would have rendered this film unwatchable.) The movie takes its time ramping up the gore. But as the action escalates, the corn syrup begins to flow more liberally, and the camera lingers a little longer on professionally rendered prosthetics of, say, a teen being stabbed through the neck. But the 2022 "Scream" — like the 1996 "Scream" —was made with an eye for cruel economy and merciless suspense, qualities that can make a scene bloodier in memory than it actually appears on screen.
[AV Club]
A big part of what made the first film and its sequels, though perhaps to a lesser extent, so memorable is the whodunit mystery at its center. It was never just about the killings or the reasons behind why the murderers went after so many, but the guessing game that carried the story through to the end. "Scream" certainly delivers in that respect, with the characters themselves not knowing who to trust as some begin to turn on each other in doubt. In terms of horror, the franchise was never all that scary, and Scream 5 follows in that vein. The killings are serviceable, occasionally gruesome and creative, but not as thrilling as the mystery and suspense that comes with trying to escape being found and stabbed by Ghostface. To that end, the scares are rather underwhelming, but they're luckily overshadowed by the film's better qualities.
TL;DR
This new "Scream" toys with our knowledge of the old — a knowledge that we share with the Stab-savvy characters — its very familiarity fueling nostalgia while letting expectations yield their own modest red herrings. Like "Scream 4," it is interested in two very different generations which have both inherited the traumas of the first "Scream," even as it skewers precisely the conservative culture of fandom that demands backward-looking sequels like this in the first place.
Watch the official trailer below: