Can a 2022 "Scream" movie really live up to the high standard set by the original? Especially
when it's released in January? Here's what works and what doesn't. Massive spoilers ahead!
Most people don't come to horror movies to see awkward romantic scenes — especially
between characters the audience has barely met. Before Sam returns to Woodsboro, she has a pretty
uncomfortable "I love you" moment with her boyfriend, Richie. The love confession is
the first interaction the audience has with these characters, and it just feels ... off.
Given that Richie ends up being Amber's secret serial killer boyfriend, the ickiness makes sense,
but it's a little early to be that obvious. It would make much more
sense to have this kind of scene take place after Sam gets attacked in the hospital,
and we've gotten to know both characters a bit better.
But as it stands, it only serves two purposes:
Making fans feel awkward and showing Richie's killer cards a bit too early.
Let us get invested in a couple before getting sappy in a horror film, please.
relationship, Gale and Dewey have become "Scream" fans' favorite couple. They're a bit of an odd
pairing: Dewey is a Woodsboro lifer while Gale seeks a journalistic reach that extends far beyond
Woodsboro's haunting hills. Realistically, their relationship is doomed from the start.
And although it seems like an inevitability, breaking up Gale and Dewey off-screen is a
disservice to Wes Craven. He's not here to weigh in on that decision — and the
way it plays out feels cheap and uncharacteristic on Dewey's part.
but it's a lame thing to do to Dewey's character right before his death.
It's no secret that horror has more than a few toxic,
damaging cliches that still exist within the genre. "Scream 2" even addresses this head-on.
"Brothers don't last long in situations like this."
Sure, cameraman Joel manages to escape death by getting the hell out of town,
but despite acknowledging this trope,
"Scream 2" begins by immediately killing off two Black characters. Not a good look, Ghostface.
However, unlike its predecessors, 2022's "Scream" manages to be self-aware of the worst stereotypes
the genre has to offer — and actually fixes them. The film adequately handles mental health topics,
and even boasts a stellar female-led cast with women who don't immediately become damsels.
Featuring a diverse gaggle of teens, the movie manages to subvert the worst horror tropes,
all while avoiding being preachy or taking people out of the film. But even better? Chad and Mindy
both survive Ghostface's onslaught to live another day — and in the horror world, that's certainly
something to celebrate. In fact, almost all of the diverse characters from the film survive.
There's no denying that Dewey goes out with a bang, but his death is no less frustrating.
The film already takes his status as a sheriff away, forcing him into
retirement — which is the reason he goes hardcore vigilante in the first place.
After coming to save Tara like a badass, Dewey kicks the living daylights out of Ghostface,
even getting a few rounds into the killer. Yet he makes two
vital mistakes that he should have known better than to do:
He doesn't take off Ghosty's mask, or go in for a headshot when he has the chance.
Instead, he gets stabbed as blood pools out of his mouth and he's spread out on
the hospital floor like a fallen angel with teddy bears strewn around him.
The kicker? Gale calls while he's bleeding out, and her reaction to his death is heart-wrenching.
The one redeeming moment after this bummer of a sequence comes at the end,
when Gale refuses to write about the fame-seeking Ghostface killers. Instead,
she wants to write a story about a good man who used to be the sheriff of Woodsboro.
However, David Arquette told Looper in an exclusive interview that Dewey
was never originally supposed to survive the first film,
so the audience can take solace in the extra four films we got with him.
It's hard to not get a little misty-eyed at the sight of the "Randy Meeks Memorial
Home Theater" in the Meeks household. Following the theme of giving the new
"Scream" characters a connection to the OGs, the 2022 film's wonder twins Chad
and Mindy are the niece and nephew of our first horror expert Randy.
Of course, out of all of the franchise's characters, Randy took center stage during
the series' most meta moments — at least until his untimely death. Now,
in the 2022 film, his niece Mindy is here to follow in his footsteps.
When it comes to iconic film moments, few can top Randy Meeks screaming at a
hapless Laurie Strode to look behind her when he's watching "Halloween."
Meanwhile, fans (and Sidney) yell the same thing to Randy as Ghostface stalks him.
Keen on keeping up the family tradition, in the 2022 "Scream," Mindy watches the
fictionalized "Stab" version of the very same scene, repeating his oblivious performance as
she yells at Randy to turn around while Ghostface lurks in the room.
She's now reached a third level of meta, but given her uncle's fate, she should really know better.
The movies just aren't the same without Randy, and the homage is a welcome touch.
Ah, yes. The killer reveal everyone has been waiting for since Tara's landline first rang.
"Scream" gets even more meta than usual when Richie and Amber out themselves as Woodsboro's
latest dastardly duo. So, what's the deal with Richie and Amber's unlikely homicidal pairing?
Oh, they just hate the in-universe "Stab" sequels adapted from Gale's original books.
Yup, that's it. They met on a "Stab" message board, of all places, before Richie stalked
and seduced Sam. Of course, he takes a minute out of his very busy stabbing
takes a true fan seriously." Essentially, their murder spree is a twisted director's cut they
concoct to make a better movie that honors the original. Just go to film school, you creeps.
The reveal is a mixture of an epic, yet fairly predictable plot twist, topped off with lackluster
motives. Dewey even calls the plot twist right at the very beginning: It's always the love interest.
As far as horror villains go, Ghostface is a simple killer. He torments some
hapless teenagers on the phone in a discount costume from the corner store,
then gets stabby when people don't want to play his deadly game.
As far as bells and whistles go, his kills don't have a whole lot of thrills.
That's what makes the "Scream" franchise good — it knows exactly what it is,
and doesn't need to prove anything with an onslaught of CGI and special effects.
Occasionally, however, the series does seem to feel the need to add
some extra oomph to the kills. Gale and Sidney's partnership
comes into play when the duo takes on one half of Ghostface: Amber.
Amber seems to bite the dust after a fiery collision with a gas stove.
Later on, in arguably the most badass scene of the series,
Sidney hands the gun to Tara — who takes the kill shot when a flaming Amber barrels into the room.
perished in that very same movie, and due to the ever-revolving slate of villains in the franchise,
the sequels have never quite lived up. However, series fans are met with an
epic surprise when Skeet Ulrich crashes the Woodsboro party, returning as Billy Loomis.
No, he doesn't get a resurrection in physical form, but viewers discover that Billy didn't
only leave dead bodies behind in "Scream." As it turns out, he's the biological father
of the new Final Girl Sam. We can chalk her conception up to bad high school decisions.
Throughout the film, we watch Sam grappling with this revelation years after the reveal, and her
trauma manifests itself as a hallucination of dear old dead dad. However, the stakes are raised when
Richie tries to kill her, and she sees a vision of Billy showing her where a knife is on the ground.
Up until this point, Billy is a hostile representation of her own
self-hatred regarding her mental health and genes,
but she accepts herself in this moment. In addition to the fun cameo from Ulrich,
it's a nice redemption moment for Sam in that your genealogy or mental health doesn't define
who you are. Horror typically demonizes mental illness, but this moment is a nice change of pace.
The 2022 "Scream" is a compelling mashup between the legacy and
new cast. The new film offers perfect closure for the franchise — and it would be the perfect ending
if they stopped here. The beauty of "Scream" and its sequels hinges on the fact that the
writers never rebooted the movie franchise with a new Final Girl. The 2022 "Scream" is
a phenomenal homage, but most fans don't want Woodsboro without Sidney Prescott.
Given how many characters survive this movie, the film sets up the franchise
for an overhaul that could continue for another 25 years with a new cast. But
that will only add "Scream" to the list of franchises watered down by too many sequels.
The movie offers closure for the legacy characters and teases the future of Ghostface,
but nobody needs to see that play out on-screen. The 2015 "Scream" TV series
was a great way to keep the franchise alive without overshadowing the films,
but "Scream" movies that don't focus on Sidney just feel wrong.
Wes Craven, director of the original "Scream" film,
is nothing short of a horror legend. His films are so ingrained in pop culture
that even horror's biggest haters can name characters like Freddy Krueger and Ghostface.
Craven reinvented the horror genre, and was an invaluable element of some of the best
satirical and deconstructed horror the genre has ever seen. While many horror franchises lose their
director after the first or second films, Craven stood by "Scream" up until his death in 2015.
Craven loved this franchise just as much as its dedicated fans, and despite his passing,
you can feel his presence throughout the 2022 film. Neve ["NEV"] Campbell
said during an exclusive interview with Looper, discussing doing the fifth film without Craven,
"He was talked about every day, and we were always discussing,
'Would Wes do it this way? Would he do it that way?' The directors wanted that
input because they're uber fans of his. They became directors because of Wes."
She praised the final product, adding, quote,
"I really think they've done him right. I think Wes would be proud."
Just as the movie honors its fallen characters, 2022's "Scream" dedicates itself to Craven with
two words: "For Wes." Dylan Minnette even plays a character named Wes — another nod to the late,
great filmmaker. All in all, no fan watching the movie can deny that Wes
Craven's legacy and energy lives on in the movie, and that's all fans could hope for.
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