Review: ‘Scream’
What’s your favorite scary movie? It’s a question that’s become so eponymous with the Scream franchise but also, 25 years later, may elicit a completely different response from today’s crop of horror fans compared to the answers that would have been given back then. While the first film’s opening scene namedrops everything from Halloween to Friday the 13th, this latest installment pokes fun at the “elevated horror” trend by namedropping films such as The Babadook, The Witch and Hereditary, all of which are now considered modern classics by horror fans and have spawned countless rip-offs since they were initially released a few years ago.
Scream, the latest addition to the Scream franchise and the first one released in over a decade, understands the changing landscape of the horror genre and the somewhat of a generational divide that has taken place because of it. But instead of imitating the aforementioned modern horror classics or recycling some of their elements in order to appeal to a new generation of horror audiences, which is what the recent Paranormal Activity reboot attempted to do, the latest Scream movie firmly stays in its lane by putting a fresh, smart and relevant spin on the original formula.
Much like 2018’s Halloween reboot / sequel of sorts (or what the film refers to as a requel,) Scream reenlists its trio of original stars (and some guest surprises as well) to make a more than welcome return to the franchise. But instead of letting the film rest solely on the shoulders of the franchise’s three main leads, which is what Halloween did with Jamie Lee Curtis, who firmly remains that franchise’s lead character, Scream lets its legacy characters take somewhat of a backseat to the newest additions to the franchise, which is ultimately a wise decision, as it gives fans of the franchise time to get to know the latest roster of characters who may very well become the subjects of sequels within the next few years.
First up is Sam Carpenter played by Melissa Barrera, who made a splash this past year as the star of acclaimed musical In the Heights. Sam is a Woodsboro local who escaped the suffocating clutches of the town and her alcoholic mother years prior in order to find herself, leaving her younger sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) behind to pick up the pieces. Sam is eventually drawn back to Woodsboro by a sudden, brutal and near deadly attack on Tara, who she soon comes to reconcile with and vows to protect no matter the cost. As the tough, jaded and guilt-ridden Sam, who we soon come to find out may be carrying a deep, dark and deadly secret, Barrera manages to firmly hold her own against franchise veterans Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox. No simple feat, as Campbell, Arquette and Cox deliver wonderful, magnetic and ultimately cathartic performances as Sidney Prescott, Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers respectively.
Ortega, playing Sam’s younger sister Tara, kills it in the film’s opening scene, which cleverly plays with the audience’s expectations by having Tara survive the ordeal rather than having her perish (not a spoiler), which is par the norm for the film’s infamous opening sequences. As she screams, sobs and crawls away from Ghostface, Ortega gives it her all, turning in the best Scream opening sequence since the 1996 original with Drew Barrymore in the process. Elsewhere, Jack Quaid is affably charming as Sam’s earnest and genuine boyfriend Richie, while Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding make the largest impression out of the film’s supporting characters as the sarcastic and witty horror movie expert Mindy and the charismatic, sensitive jock Chad Meeks-Martin (yes, that Meeks).
The film also boasts an incredibly sharp and clever script courtesy of James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, who are very obviously passionate about the franchise, imbuing this latest film with a plethora of callbacks and references that never feel forced or unnecessary. And while the original film massacred the tired and true horror formula of that era, the latest film very cleverly takes aim at toxic fandom, which has negatively affected every franchise from Star Wars (namedropped several times throughout the course of the film) to the DC Extended Universe to even the Scream franchise itself, which came to a sudden, screeching halt after (unfairly) negative reactions to the fourth film, released in 2011. The film ponders over two simple questions: What happens when you love something so much that you come to feel ownership of it? And what if new, fresh-faced creators came to play in that sandbox? There isn’t a clear and decisive answer to the latter question but if this latest film is anything to go by, Scream fans shouldn’t fret or worry; the franchise is very much in safe hands.
Clever, brutal and genuinely surprising, Scream is not only the best film in the series since the original but it is also a love letter, not only to Wes Craven, the franchise, and horror movies in general but also to the fans as well.
Rating: 5/5
Scream will be released in theaters on January 14.