Film Review: Scream

Images courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Embracing the past while maintaining the trends of the present, Scream perfectly encapsulates the modern era of ‘re-quels’ – for better and worse.

I’d never seen a Scream movie before last Wednesday, so as a caveat to this review I’ll say that I had Scream fatigue by the time I saw the latest entry. So, when I say this movie felt a little tired maybe that’s why. But amongst Scream diehards, I’ve heard a similar sentiment.

This self-labelled re-quel surgically builds on nostalgia. Near-completely remade scenes and sets put a loving close to the original storyline, which started a wild, multi-decade trend of self-induced, campy horror comedy/cringe content. Scream relies on the original plotlines enough to somewhat justify my Scream marathon, and I felt like I fit in as characters incessantly re-watched of the original Stabs on Netflix.

The feeling of self-awareness that cemented the legacy of Scream is still here in full force, though never as hilarious as when the cast read their script as it gets faxed through to them in Scream 3, or the classic opening of Scream (1996) where the victim can’t put down the phone and just run away from Ghostface. This new edition – maybe as a response to the all-too-serious Netflix reboot mini-series – ups the violence by about 11 notches compared to what came before it. These deaths, which you know are coming a-plenty, are astonishing sometimes. No longer will we see silly Shaggy from Scooby Doo stabbing his friend before getting stabbed himself… No, no, no. Scream will make you squirm as the knife twists in each subsequent teen.

But as the horror kicks up, naturally the humour is dulled in Scream. There are still moments where the script starts folding in on itself and characters step back into the meta-arena that the series is known for. Ultimately slick visuals and crisp deaths take a lion’s share of the screen time, creating a more serious tone which may have slightly hurt it. Unfortunately for Scream, when the funnies stop rolling in there’s ample room for personality that some of the cast just can’t seem to fill. 

Aces to the fact that the movie yet again sets up the Ghostface reveal to be a mystery. I was completely clueless until the very explosive reveals and for that, Scream marks another worthy entry into the series catalogue.

Scream is showing in cinemas now.