James R | On 15, Apr 2022

Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Cast: Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette
Certificate: 18

“I prefer The Babadook.” Those are the words of Tara early on in Scream, when she receives a phone call from a familiar-sounding stranger asking how well she knows the original Stab movies. If that sounds like an overly meta joke for the Scream franchise, the good news is that these are safe, self-reverential hands, with writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick (Ready or Not) understanding exactly the kind of thing that will make fans happy – and what will make them annoyed.

It takes barely 30 minutes for someone to mention the word “requel”, or “legacyquel”, in reference to the ongoing trend for franchises to both remake and reboot themselves for modern audiences – the kind of thing that Scream was already doing back in 2011 with Scream 4. But with those generation-straddling acrobatics come the challenge of appealing to new viewers and appeasing old ones, and the 2022 Scream’s achievement is openly acknowledging that tension, in the same way that Scream 4 tapped into questions of celebrity.

The “requel” word is dropped by Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown), this film’s token movie expert – who is none other than the daughter of the niece (Heather Matarazzo, returning from Scream 3) of Randy Meeks. That sets the tone for the rest of the film, as we end up meeting a slew of people related to the original Scream ensemble. The smart thing is that this makes sense for a franchise set so firmly in Woodsboro, a small American town where the trauma and notoriety of the original (and subsequent) killings still lingers in the air.

And so it is that, as the anniversary of those 1996 murders comes around, Tara (Jenna Ortega) is attacked by someone in a Ghostface mask – prompting her estranged older sister, Sam (Melissa Barrera), to return to her hometown, accompanied by her boyfriend, Richie (Jack Quaid). There, she meets Tara’s other friends, including Amber (Mikey Madison), whose home comes with an eerily familiar history, footballer Chad (Mason Gooding) and his girlfriend, Liv (Sonia Ammar), as well as Wes (Dylan Minnette), the son of Sheriff Judy (Marley Shelton, also returning).

These new faces all end up colliding with the old guard – most notably Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette). Seeing them back in action alone is a satisfying treat, and Scream continues its ability to juggle knowing jokes about the characters while also allowing them an emotional arc – if Scream 4 was driven by Sidney’s own journey from being a victim to being a survivor, this fifth outing puts David Arquette’s former sheriff front and centre, as he wrestles with his own past regrets before heading back into the fray with his heart on his sleeve.

The deaths, when they do come, are particularly gruesome and violent, ensuring that the scares are as unsettling as ever, while the pursuit sequences toy with messages and mirrors as much as doors and driveways. Throughout, the always-on-edge Quaid brings comic relief, while Melissa Barrera and Jenny Ortega prove themselves a double-act capable of carrying the franchise forward. The result emerges as an entertaining, thrilling companion piece to Scream 4, and will remind new and old fans alike why Scream earned its strong reputation in the first place.

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