by Jason Cook
In the mid-1990s there was a major resurgence of the teen scream genre of film. Or more modernly referred to as slasher films. Scream is notably one with the most success. Another worthy mention would be I Know What You Did Last Summer which is also seeing a resurgence in the form of a television series on Amazon. And while sequels and prequels are big money makers for studios, Scream is changing it up and getting a “requel”. Not to be mistaken for simply just Scream 5.
I don’t plan to give too much away about the film itself. Any Scream fan knows the plot. Ghostface comes back and kills a bunch of people somehow tied into the original film. It’s fair to say, the latest Scream doesn’t shy away from that. If anything it plays to it.
A “requel” is not only a sequel but it’s also a remake. And if you still don’t get it, fear not. It’s all covered in the film itself with examples.
The writers have managed to tie everything together across all 4 films and introduce a new group of teens to possibly carry on with future films. This means the likes of Sydney Prescott (Never Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette) just to name a few returns to reprise their roles and help stop Ghostface one last time.
Alongside these Scream veterans are an outstanding ensemble. Leading the cast is Melissa Barrera (In the Heights, All the World is Sleeping) as Sam Carpenter. Dylan Minnette (13 Reasons Why, Don’t Breathe) plays Wes Hicks. Even Jack Quaid (The Boys, The Hunger Games), the guy who killed Rue in the Hunger Games is on board playing Richie Kirsch, Sam’s love interest.
With all the familiar faces of modern-day television and movies, it’s a clever and wonderful way to welcome in the new cast for possible future films and give the originals the credit they deserve. It also conveniently has some resolutions between characters and closes out some stories fans have been holding on to all this time. In particular the love story between Gale and Dewey.
It’s exactly that word “fans” this film revolves around in a funny and clever way. If you think back to the originals there are films called Stab inside the Scream movies. These are based on Gale Weathers’ books which are an account of the events “The Woodsboro Murders”. Much like in the Scream movies where Stab has a cult fan following, the Scream films in their own right have a strong following and gave a resurgence to an otherwise dry genre. Halloween and A Nightmare On Elm Street to prove the point. Scream manages to capture what fandom means and how that fits with a modern audience while pleasing fans of the originals.
But not just fans of the Scream franchise will appreciate what is being done with the latest Scream. It plays on the fact any fan of a slasher film will know there will be someone standing behind the door when you close it. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett use that to their advantage and play on that fact. There is one scene where there were so many doors being opened and closed the suspense of what was to come became hilarious.
Overall, Scream, Scream 2022, Scream 5 or Scream the sequel or “requel; whatever you want to call it, for this genre is actually quite a well-directed movie. Bringing in the old to hand over to the new, not an old concept and most certainly not a new one. But the way the film is executed to welcome new audiences and give enough for fans of the original to appreciate what is to come. There’s no denying the original is and will always be one of the greats. This is a wonderful “requel” for the times.
