Back in 1996, as a gangly gay waif at the rear of a desolate movie theatre, I chanced upon Scream with a friend. We cowered in the back row and writhed as Drew Barrymore got slaughtered when she failed to answer the killer’s trivia questions about horror movies over the phone. We were blown away by the film’s self-referential take on the horror genre, and director Wes Craven’s catalyst of a movie which helped fuel a new spate of Hollywood slasher fodder.
Fast forward to present day. A day where, unlike 1996, there are no surprises. Every uber-horror-fan with a YouTube account has been posting egregiously about theories, spoilers and assumptions regarding the new Scream (2022). So, when I went to see it one rainy afternoon, by myself, face mask on, ready to run at the sound of the first cough, I already knew 75% of what was going to happen. But just the same, I felt obligated to rush to the theatre in an effort to outpace the flood of spoilers from the internet already infecting my eyeballs.
This new Scream has its flaws, some guffaws, but mostly “meh”s. Gone is the camp and humor from past iterations. As well as the heart. In its place is an ultra-violent and gory reflection of our woke pandemic-agitated society. And what heart it does have, it’s generously ripped apart by the killer’s hunting knife.
Directed by Radio Silence team Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (fresh off their success from 2019’s Ready Or Not), Scream is a tightly-knit (albeit dark) chapter that introduces us to a new contingency of high school friends threatened by Ghostface. The connection? These characters are related to ones we have come to love (and mourn) from earlier films.
One standout performance comes from Jasmin Savoy Brown (known for her role in Showtime’s Yellowjackets) as the niece of now-deceased Randy Meeks. She picks up the torch where her uncle left off as Mindy Meeks-Martin, who dutifully lets her classmates (and audience) know about the rule of “requels”: films that are a “reboot” and a sequel featuring “legacy” characters.
Which brings us to the return of Arquette, Campell and Cox. David Arquette as now-retired Sheriff Riley does a nice turn as a troubled man consumed by alcohol battling his own past demons. But Neve and Courtney feel wallpaper thin in this film and seem to be dialing in their performances.
This new Scream is trying to appeal to all audience members, from those who were around for the original movie’s release, to anyone now of age and able to buy a ticket for an R-rated feature. What this has reaped, however, is a film that feels wooden, very akin to the performance from lead actress Melissa Barrera who, as the “second Sidney,” fails to really connect to her audience, whereas Neve Campbell had us lapping up her tears in the original movie.
Overall, Scream (2022) has its highlights, but basically feels like a movie that is playing it safe, a retread of all that we have seen before, one where you shouldn’t expect any surprises.
Speaking of, even if the next great new thing is looming on the horizon, poised to hit the horror genre the way the first Scream did, you can bet: some villainous YouTuber is out there, chomping at the bit in an effort to sufficiently spoil it. Ghostface, in comparison, feels decidedly less scary.
