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Scream (2022)
The 2022 film version of Scream is a grizzly and suspenseful "Requel" to Wes Craven's 1996 masterpiece that not only respects the original film, but provides 21st century sensibilities to a story that we thought had been told, but has legitimized the possibility of a new series of films thanks to likable new characters who make realistic connections to the legacy characters of the original franchise. Will attempt to review this without spoilers.
The film opens with a nearly flawless recreation of the opening of the 1996 film with Drew Barrymore where a a young girl named Tara is forced into trying to protect her BFF from dying through a trivia quiz over the phone with a killer. Somehow, this girl survives and not long after her arrival at the hospital, it is revealed that Tara is the younger sister of Sam, who it is revealed is the illegitimate daughter of Billy Loomis, one of the killers in the original film.
Credit is due to James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick's near brilliant homage to Kevin Williamson's screenplay which introduces new characters to a 25 year old canvas and provides immediate connections to the original story without recreating it in order to make a connection to this story. The story still has that same combination of tongue in cheek comedy and breaking of the 4th wall that the original film did. That delicious comedy of breaking all the accepted rules of slasher films, while explaining said rules right before they break them. The opening scene with Tara is a brilliant example...it plays so much like the famous Drew Barrymore scene, but is given fresh life thanks to the fact that Tara is now on a cell phone.
As for co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, they also have apparently put a lot of study into Craven's original film, providing this film, not only with some undeniably stomach churning violence, but with some unparalleled, spine-tingling suspense, like Hitchcock-calibre suspense that I haven't seen in ages. Love the detail put into the depiction of a character we just know is going to be a victim, as he steps into a shower. We are given at least five false starts wondering what's going to happen to him. As a matter of fact, when the killer is asking the guy's mother if she's ever seen Psycho, we then see the shower head come on and I swear that shot of the shower head is the same one utilized in Pyscho. The director's attention to the effect the first franchise had on the legacy characters is also on the money...our reintroduction to Sheriff Dewey (David Arquette), is absolutely heartbreaking.
And if you're wondering about the term "Requel", just watch the film. It is explained during the running time to complate satisfaction. In addition to Arquette, we are also are revisited by Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and Skeet Ulrich. There are a couple of smart turns by Melissa Barrera and Jack Quaid as Sam and Richie, that are surprisingly effective anchors to the story. Didn't think this could be pulled off, but it was.
The 2022 film version of Scream is a grizzly and suspenseful "Requel" to Wes Craven's 1996 masterpiece that not only respects the original film, but provides 21st century sensibilities to a story that we thought had been told, but has legitimized the possibility of a new series of films thanks to likable new characters who make realistic connections to the legacy characters of the original franchise. Will attempt to review this without spoilers.
The film opens with a nearly flawless recreation of the opening of the 1996 film with Drew Barrymore where a a young girl named Tara is forced into trying to protect her BFF from dying through a trivia quiz over the phone with a killer. Somehow, this girl survives and not long after her arrival at the hospital, it is revealed that Tara is the younger sister of Sam, who it is revealed is the illegitimate daughter of Billy Loomis, one of the killers in the original film.
Credit is due to James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick's near brilliant homage to Kevin Williamson's screenplay which introduces new characters to a 25 year old canvas and provides immediate connections to the original story without recreating it in order to make a connection to this story. The story still has that same combination of tongue in cheek comedy and breaking of the 4th wall that the original film did. That delicious comedy of breaking all the accepted rules of slasher films, while explaining said rules right before they break them. The opening scene with Tara is a brilliant example...it plays so much like the famous Drew Barrymore scene, but is given fresh life thanks to the fact that Tara is now on a cell phone.
As for co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, they also have apparently put a lot of study into Craven's original film, providing this film, not only with some undeniably stomach churning violence, but with some unparalleled, spine-tingling suspense, like Hitchcock-calibre suspense that I haven't seen in ages. Love the detail put into the depiction of a character we just know is going to be a victim, as he steps into a shower. We are given at least five false starts wondering what's going to happen to him. As a matter of fact, when the killer is asking the guy's mother if she's ever seen Psycho, we then see the shower head come on and I swear that shot of the shower head is the same one utilized in Pyscho. The director's attention to the effect the first franchise had on the legacy characters is also on the money...our reintroduction to Sheriff Dewey (David Arquette), is absolutely heartbreaking.
And if you're wondering about the term "Requel", just watch the film. It is explained during the running time to complate satisfaction. In addition to Arquette, we are also are revisited by Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and Skeet Ulrich. There are a couple of smart turns by Melissa Barrera and Jack Quaid as Sam and Richie, that are surprisingly effective anchors to the story. Didn't think this could be pulled off, but it was.