I saw the original Scream in the movie theater on Christmas night, 1996, with my siblings and friends. When the movie started rolling, my one friend (who had seen it already) leaned over and whispered a HUGE spoiler to me. If you’ve seen the movie, you probably know the huge spoiler I’m talking about. After that moment and seeing what unfolded on the screen in front of me, I realized that no character was safe, and that anyone could be behind that Ghostface mask.
The first Scream was so good. It was original, fun and it kept you guessing until the end. It even inspired the Scary Movie franchise! Scream 2 was a worthy follow-up. Scream 3 is where they started with the whole movie-within-the-movie, Stab. Stab is the film that was being made in Woodsboro (the town where most of the action takes place in these stories) and based on the events of the first Scream. I know I’ve seen the fourth, most recent one but I really don’t remember it. It came out in 2011 but it didn’t really leave a mark.
I would rank the latest Scream, which for some reason is not called Scream 5 even though it’s really the fifth Scream movie, as second best in the series, after the first one. By the time we get to the latest Scream, there have been eight Stab movies released. These are referenced frequently throughout this movie, as they are used as a plot device to advance the story. Previously it was scary movies in general but now the Stab movies are used as a guide to explain to other characters as well as to us viewers what’s going on.
Returning for this Scream is Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers Riley (Courteney Cox), and Dewey Riley (David Arquette) from all the previous Scream installments, and Deputy Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton) who was in Scream 4. Newcomers to this one are Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), Sam’s boyfriend Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid), Sam’s sister Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), and Tara’s friend group consisting of: Tara’s best friend Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison), the twins Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding) and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown), Chad’s girlfriend Liv McKenzie (Sonia Ammar), and the guy who has a crush on Tara, Wes Hicks (Dylan Minnette).
I will attempt to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible. Like previous Scream installments, a character is attacked by someone in a cloak and Ghostface mask. This leaves the rest of the characters to try to figure out who is behind the mask, resulting in each of them becoming a suspect and accusing each other of attempted murder. Dewey is brought back to help solve the mystery and he calls Sidney to tell her to stay away (which of course she can’t) and texts Gale to warn her that there is a new Ghostface killer, who returns to Woodsboro also. These people just can’t stay away, I guess!
There are definite ties back to the first and best Scream, but this one has been updated for the times. The characters use cell phones, and they mention Reddit and 4Chan and more recent horror movies such as The Babadook (which was pretty bad in my opinion) and It Follows. They also use the term “requel,” which is a sequel in a franchise that returns to the roots of the original installment of that franchise (examples include Halloween and the tragedy that is the Star Wars sequel trilogy).
If you are a fan of these movies, you will not be disappointed with the latest Scream film. Also, there was nothing after the credits at our screening so if you see something after the credits of your screening, please tell us!
