Scream (2022) Review

To think that Scream 4 was long enough ago that I wasn’t writing reviews yet. But here we are again as Ghostface rears his head once more.

The first Scream was actually the first horror film I ever watched. Which means it’s humour flew right over my terrified head! But with subsequent views of the series, and many more years on the clock, I’ve come to really appreciate these films. As a series I’d say Scream is second only to Halloween when it comes to my own experience of the horror genre.

Can the fifth, with it’s awkward title, keep that balance between knowing winks and scares?

Sort of?

Each entry has been a commentary on the genre. with 5’s focus on ‘requels’. I much prefer this term to my previously used ‘legacyquel’, and I like how the story, and characters, are fully aware of the situation. The legacy characters return to bolster this further; they can quite rightly see through all of it! The cast is fun, once again mixing some known faces amongst newcomers and the legacies.

I’d need to check to be sure but I think this the bloodiest in the series, though not offputtingly so. Enough to make me wince but not want to vomit. And then there’s the meta commentary. Suffice to say, if you’ve been on Twitter for more than five minutes and seen ‘discourse’ over any popular film, you’ll understand.

So there’s plenty of blood and plenty of meta. But here’s the thing that may put some of you off; Scream isn’t that scary. Both the score and set dressing make the ‘scan the background’ game a very enjoyable one. It’s tense and entertaining, but bar me being careful with the toilet stalls immediately after I didn’t leave unsettled.

This is first Scream film produced since Wes Craven’s passing. Keep him in mind throughout and you’ll be warmly pleased.

Many horror series become their own worst enemy. A fast turnaround on sequels with nonsensical plots is a real killer. But Scream has learned to give entries space to breathe. Eleven years between three and four, and now another eleven between four and five, has given us time to appreciate what came before. Giving us the chance to miss them makes it mean more. We can see how the characters have changed and enjoy it.

The fifth entry may have a dumb name, but it’s an entertaining slice of horror that I’ll watch again for sure.