Scream

This review may contain spoilers!

 

Scream is the fifth entry in the Scream franchise, this time bringing back a whole host of new and old characters when a new Ghostface killer strikes Woodsboro. The film follows Sam Carpenter, a young woman with a shadowed past who is brought back to Woodsboro when her younger sister is attacked by a new killer. Sam finds herself back in a town filled with painful memories from her past and surrounded by a group of her sister's friends, any of which could be the killer. The strength of this film is really what makes most of the Scream film so great, it exists in a format that allows it to be very self-referencing and meta about the horror genre. This is a film that can go from observation around fandom, jokes about Reddit, mocking some of the franchises' old plot points and poking fun at new 'elevated horrors like Hereditary. I enjoyed the very genuine wit within the feature because it showed the writers cared so much not just for Scream films but also the horror genre as a whole and, more significantly, how it has evolved since the last Scream feature. The film has a great new protagonist in Sam, who comes with her own share of mystery that links back to characters from the first feature and I enjoyed how this played against the mystery of the Ghostface killer. I also think the film was extremely clever in having the new cast of supporting characters all second-guessing one another almost from the start; having all the characters questioning who is really Ghostface amongst them actually made it more difficult to pin down from an audience perspective. Ultimately this film is a massive homage to what Scream has achieved in the past, all while framing quite an exciting new direction it can go with a new protagonist if desired. I'm certainly keen to see more of Sam Carpenter in the future. The cinematography for the film is stunning, toying with classic horror shots and also highlighting a stunning colour palette. The editing moves at a great speed and is crucial for the tone and humour in a variety of scenes. The score for the feature manages to craft an incredibly eerie atmosphere, while the soundtrack really pumps up the threat of Ghostface.

 

Neve Campbell, who played Sidney Prescott, is woefully underused but great to see again as her most iconic role; the way Campbell takes charge of directly coming after the antagonist is a perfect example of the survivor her role evolved into. Courteney Cox, who played Gale Weathers-Riley, is another returning character who immediately returns strongly to that sharp biting dialogue delivery; Cox really delivers on the more emotional scenes around grief relating to her role. David Arquette, who played Dewey Riley, is very visibly quite broken and distant after the events of previous movies; watching Arquette play such a hollowed out figure who still finds the resolve to get up and protect those who need him is why his role has been such a fan favourite for so long. Marley Shelton, who played Sheriff Judy Hicks, is fairly different from her last Scream appearance but in a good way; seeing her as this hellbent protective mother is very endearing and gives her one of the sadder character deaths of the feature. Jenna Ortega, who played Tara Carpenter, is a genuine scene stealer; not only does Ortega give us one of the best openings to a Scream film to date but the way in which she performs her role's endurance in the face of physical and emotional trauma is inspired. Jack Quaid, who played Richie Kirsch, is this brilliant charming boyfriend role who you tend to like initially; but Quaid's real strength is when he really gets to cut loose and get quite depraved in the final act as the main antagonist. Jasmin Savoy Brown, who played Mindy Meeks-Martin, is an absolute comedic master in this feature; Brown's quick wit and line delivery around analysing past horror elements in Scream films leads to some of the better scenes in the film. Mason Gooding, who played Chad Meeks-Martin, has a lot of fun in the hyped up jock-type role; Gooding stumbling around guessing at the killer while getting killed in a rather comedic manner made for a great minor role.

However, the best performance came from Melissa Barrera, who played Sam Carpenter. For a long time these films have been Sidney Prescott's film, so it was significantly different seeing the film shape Sam as our new protagonist. Scream 4 toyed with the idea of what passing on the torch would look like and subverted it, but this film found a really excellent way to shape a new protagonist through Barrera. When we meet Sam she seems a little distant and sad; she is clearly haunted by something and holds on to the one bright aspect of her life, her relationship with her boyfriend Richie. Barrera plays well to her role's sense of distrust in others and more significantly the doubt she has in her self. She shares a wonderful relationship with her on-screen sister, Ortega, the pair build this wonderful chemistry that goes through conflict and betrayal and reconciliation over the course of the film. I enjoyed how Barrera's role ultimately embraced that she wasn't intent on being a victim to the killer, instead embracing her 'slasher origins' to turn the tables on Ghostface in what is one of the most satisfying conclusions to a Scream film yet.

My main issue with a film like Scream is that it constantly highlights the main elements of slasher horrors and intentionally works out how to subvert your expectations. In fact this film subverted expectations multiple times but there are a number of big scenes that feature the stereotypical slasher elements. Ultimately, there was just a bit of a clash in perception because the film couldn't even escape the jokes it was making about the genre. I also wasn't really onboard with Sam's backstory coming with a mental illness, this distortion around her character's sense of self cheapened what was an otherwise incredible new protagonist. The killer reveal also wasn't the most surprising when it finally happened, even following in the footsteps of past features. It was a moment of disappointment in what was actually quite a solid final act.

Dylan Minnette, who played Wes Hicks, hasn't really actually got a lot of meaningful actions to actually do in this film; Minnette's role spends a lot of time being paranoid and getting killed without doing much else. Sonia Ammar, who played Liv McKenzie, is pushed as this shy virgin character to Gooding's 'ready for the next step' jock and it was kind of cringe-worthy; Ammar jumps from this more shy and reluctant role to quite a confrontational one in a matter of moments making her performance quite confused to watch. Mikey Madison, who played Amber Freeman, isn't a very subtle performer and is quite obvious as one of the two antagonists; I also felt that Madison dials things up a bit over the top the moment she is revealed to be the killer.

A very fitting entry into what continues to be one of my favourite horror franchises. I would give Scream a 7.5/10.