It’s been some time, since I have sat down to a good horror movie. Ok, I watched Poltergeist a year or so ago, but Scream has been a part of my movie history for some years. The 1996 original, boasted Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Drew Barrymore and David Arquette in its line up, as well as a great story with twists and turns. Scream 2, the 1997 sequel reunites our main characters as well as introducing new ones, as Sidney goes to college, with ‘Ghostface’ seemingly following her. Scream 3 in 2000, took us to movie studios, where the story of Sidney’s life was being immortalised in “Stab” the movie. Scream 4, saw Sidney launching her self help book, finding herself back in Woodsboro, where copycat killings had begun. Now we arrive at Scream, released in 2022.
The latest Scream movie offers up a very different slant on the original movies. We are introduced to many new characters, but in the same context as the other movies, we open with the archetypal expectation of the slasher kill. We learn very quickly that our expectations are met, but what we maybe don’t expect, is that the “kill’ survives. When Tara’s sister Sam arrives to see her after Tara has been attacked, we learn that it has been five years. Five years since Sam walked out on their family. What we don’t know is why Sam left.
The story centres around the original ghostface. As you may remember, the original killers were Billy Loomis and Stu Macher. The plot, tells us that the current murders relate to the old characters. Quite quickly, we learn a vital piece of information. Tara’s sister Sam, is Billy Loomis daughter. We learn that Randy’s sister has a son now. Deputy Judy from the original, is now sheriff, and has a son. We also learn that Gale and Dewey are no longer married. We see Dewey living in a trailer and its obvious he has seen better days. We see him pining for Gale, watching her daily on her morning show. We learn that Sidney married Detective Mark Kincaid from the 3rd movie. We find out they have daughters together and have moved away.
As the ‘Ghostface’ begins to chalk up the body count, it quickly becomes clear, that no one is infallible to the killer. The threat is out there in Woodsboro, and everyone is a potential target. Spoiler alert if you haven’t seen it…all of our legacy characters…Sidney, Gale, Dewey and Judy are affected in some way.
With the new murder targets being relating to old characters, it is a nice twist on the plot, enabling Scream to come full circle. With the finale of the movie taking place in Stu Machers house from the original movie, the scene is set for the final show down. The original plot is graciously honoured with this movie. We have someone tied up in the same cupboard that Billy and Stu put Sidney’s dad in. The ‘Ghostface’ in this movie, belongs to two killers, just like it did in the original. Some of the characters lines are shamelessly stolen from the original, but that adds to the charm.
The ending, sees Gale and Sidney outside the house and another news reporter standing in front of the house just as Gale did in the original. The story is being relayed again to the world. We see Sam and Tara being taken together in an ambulance, and again, Scream comes to a close.
If I had to give it a score…4/5. It was a great movie to watch. Makes me reminisce for the original now! I will say, the film was a little predictable and I did guess the killer, but it’s a fun movie. If you liked the others, you’ll like this.
