Scream (2022) Review

 

Scream (2022)

Scream follows Sam Carpenter, who, after her sister is brutally attacked by a new Ghostface, sets out to find the truth about the new killer, who is targeting the family members of the original characters. 

Following the lead of 2018’s Halloween, Scream is back, and as dark and brutal as ever before, taking us back to where it all started—the original. Now obviously, after the last 2 movies and the death of Wes Craven, I was extremely cautious for this return to the series, but I can say without a doubt, this kicked so much ass, it’s not even funny. Not only did they bring the surviving (and some long deceased) legacy characters back into the fold in a respectful way, but they honored their characters terrifically, passing the torch to our younger cast in the only way Scream knows how, as bloody, violent, and mind numbingly meta as they can. I loved that our core cast of newbies descend from characters of the past, with the twins hailing from Randy’s sister, and Samantha, the daughter of murderous psycho, Billy Loomis (yes, you read that correctly). 

Now, while our eventual killers in Richie and Amber were completely expected and somewhat lackluster (I wanted Stu), as well as so meta that my head started spinning, the buildup and portrayal of Ghostface in this may be one of my favorites. The sheer brutality, along with the ridiculous body count he racks up, one of which being a downright slaughtering of Dewey, was nuts and perpetually left my jaw dragging the floor. Factor in that the voice changer was now built into the suit, and damn if you don’t have one my favorite slashers resurrected in exhilarating fashion. 

We get a pretty solid cast as well, starring Skeet Ulrich, Marley Shelton, Dylan Minnette, Mikey Madison, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Neve Campbell, and Melissa Barrera. I was pleasantly shocked at our new star, Barrera, who really honored what it means to be “the new Sidney”, tapping into some really animalistic shit in the finale that was only made better with the appearance of Ulrich, Campbell, and Cox in a literal passing of the torch. 

Scream, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, was a frighteningly brutal return to form for the series that really cranked up the kills to whole new levels of violent, while honoring what came before in beautiful fashion as a new crop of survivors pick up the legacy of Ghostface and Woodsboro. 

9.5/10