It’s been more than 25 years and it’s still hard to believe that the premise for “Scream”Not once but several times. Kevin Williamson wrote the original slasher-movie franchise and directed it until the latest installment by the late “Master of Horror”Wes Craven took the idea of low-rent, tawdry slasher flicks as a starting point and created a multi-generational ensemble drama. It is infused with meta-humor and filled with set pieces that are at their best.
Four films were inspired by cash-in sequels and Hollywood scandals. Now it is time to start the next one “Scream”You can criticize the current state in horror-movie business by letting franchise free. The new “Scream”It is a new generation of screenwriters and filmmakers but it fits perfectly into the long-standing tradition. Their “Scream”It is very, very, very beautiful “Scream.”
No “Scream”Without a memorable opening scene, no movie would be complete. “Scream”It is the victim of the joke. “Ready or Not”Radio Silence is a collective of Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli Olpin, who stage a newfangled riff to the original high stakes trivia game. Except that Tara (Jenna Ortega) is now the director. “Yes Day”) must answer questions about a slasher movie that’s even older now than “Friday the 13th”Drew Barrymore was still under the knife when this happened: “Scream”Movies themselves exist in this universe, and they are called movies. “Stab.”
It seems that the “Stab”This series is once more out of fashion and the young audience knows as much as they know about all the other hits 1996 films. “Phenomenon”Oder “Ransom.” But it’s still got fans, fans who take it deadly seriously, and any franchise with fans is fodder nowadays for the latest Hollywood phenomenon: requels.
Radio Silence’s “Scream” finds a whole new crew of charismatic teenagers, gives some of them a deeper connection to the franchise’s past, and brings in the surviving old guard to usher in a new era for the series. David Gordon Green’s “Halloween”Although it may appear to be the template, you can look at the latest version from the right angle. “Star Wars” trilogy.
Contrary to the brave and unexpected “Scream 4,”The new approach was a continuation of the previous. “Scream”This formula is more battle-tested and gives its meta humor more weight. It also features a wider range of young, dynamic characters. Melissa Barrera (“In the Heights”) plays Sam Carpenter, the older sister of Ghostface’s first victim, who returns to Woodsboro to settle family business and to confront her past.
Richie, her boyfriend (Jack Quaid), is there with her “The Boys”), who has never seen the “Stab” films and has to catch up quickly, and immediately begins investigating Tara’s circle of friends, like charming twins Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown, “Yellowjackets”Chad (Jason Gooding) “Love, Victor”) and the Sheriff’s goody-two-shoes son Wes (Dylan Minnette, “13 Reasons Why”).
Along the way they recruit former Woodsboro sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette), whose lifelong romance with Gale Weaters (Courteney Cox) has hit the skids — Please try again — and dig up more dirt than ever before on killers of the “Scream” franchise’s past. You’d better believe Neve Campbell is back too. Cameos abound. There are many kills.
James Vanderbilt wrote and directed the screenplay.“Murder Mystery”Guy Busick (“Ready or Not”) knows how to navigate the teen-soap-opera subplots better than any film in this series since the original, and the directors know how to segue artfully into one shocking death scene after another. This new “Scream” is by far the most violent, gruesome, and gory film in the series, but the vivid stabbings and huge pools of blood aren’t here to distract from any deficiencies in the story. The film’s brutality makes all these killings sadder, more pathetic than ever before.
“Scream”It is a horror film through and through. It’s also a small-town drama. It’s also a vicious and spot-on commentary about some of the more repugnant fads in the modern entertainment hellscape. It’s also extremely funny. Radio Silence seems able to see that Radio Silence understands what makes a “Scream” movie is an uncanny, borderline-unbelievable balance of disparate tones and material, and that they have been able to direct not just a very good sequel but also a film that feels like a worthy and indelible chapter in the ongoing “Scream”Without the contribution of the original writer/director, the saga is magical.
You could pick at the small characters’ foolish choices if you wanted. Or one could note that after the killer’s (killers’?) plan is revealed, it’s clear that the whole grand scheme behind this latest murder spree relies on a lot more good luck than anything else. But it’s still a slasher movie. The plot exists only to get people perforated with pointy things, and if you’re not willing to cut these movies just a teensy bit of slack by now, why are you even still here?
Brett Jutkiewicz has captured vivid images (“The Black Phone”Michel Aller cleverly edited the text (“There’s Someone Inside Your House”() “Scream”It is a deadly killer. Smartly scary and scary smart, consistent with the history of this series but unafraid to piss off fans if it’s for the good of the story. This hilarious satire of requels might very well be the first one done right. It’s a scream, baby.
“Scream”January 14th, in US theaters