It is interesting that they just called this movie Scream, even though it is basically a sequel of the previous Scream franchise films. Very much like Halloween (2018), although that film removed all but the original film and Scream (2022) brings them all previous Scream films into a nice, cozy hug before slashing their throats.

That may be taking personification to a new level, but there is not a better way to describe how meta and violently bloody this film is. It is also going to be a difficult film to talk about without spoiling, so I will be as careful as I can. I’ll start with this… I enjoyed this quite a bit. It takes the DNA of several of the films and makes it into something relevant for the movie going public of the last several years.

Scream has always been very meta in on itself, with the arrival of the Stab franchise within the movies, which was, of course, based on a true story in the world of Woodsboro. This fifth film takes that age of meta to a new level.

A new Ghostface has appeared in Woodsboro and continued the horror movie phone calls and the violent knife attacks. After Tara (Jenna Ortega) was attacked by Ghostface, her sister Sam (Melissa Barretta) came back to Woodsboro to discover what happened. With these Ghostface murders happening again, it was just a matter of time before the OG Scream team of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gayle Weathers (Courtney Cox) and Dewey (David Arquette) would get involved.

Part of the awesomeness of Scream is the mystery of who has now donned the iconic mask of the Ghostface killer and, while this one was not perhaps the most original reveal ever, the reasons behind the killings were something that I found hit the right button for me.

The new character of Sam is badass and she dominates the scenes that she is in. Melissa Barretta brings a ferociousness to the role and she showed the toughness one would have to have in order to try to survive a Ghostface murder spree. There is a hook with the character of Sam that really was an effective use of history.

Of the old guard, David Arquette stood out dramatically. His character had the biggest arc of the originals and he brought it. I actually thought his performance elevated the film more than any of the others from previous Scream films.

The kills are pretty good and definitely vicious. There was a lot of blood, but the people of Woodsboro must be a hearty crew because several people took stab wounds and just kept on kicking. However, with all of the knife attacks in the area, you would think that there would be more gun owners in Woodsboro.

There were a few moments that felt as if the characters were not using their brains, but there was nothing that truly took me out of the narrative.

The film does an admirable job of establishing the new characters while blending them in with our old favorites. However, there were a few of the characters that was short changed, and, of course, that was bound to happen.

Overall, I was entertained with this movie. Its humor, bloody kills and tension was on par with the best of the Scream films. There were a few moments that dragged the film down some, but it is still a very good entry into the franchise, proving that Scream still has some juice left.

4 stars