SCREAM: FRANCHISES NEVER DIE

 

 

When it comes to hugely successful movies, especially horror films, studios will find a way to ensure that the movie never stops. Every character in the movie except one could die, including the bad guy, and they will find another way to resurrect the series with something new. For the most part a series like this will falter at some point and the series will die only to be rebooted by a Hollywood lacking new ideas. But on occasion the series will turn out to not only remain successful but to have a whole run of good films as well. Such is the case with the new SCREAM movie.

The first SCREAM came out in 1996, 26 years ago, to huge success. Directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson it told the story of two psychopaths who were killing the teens in Woodsboro, CA. The fun of the film was that it was a horror film that at the same time made fun of the tropes of horror films. One character even listed the rules of things that took place in every modern horror movie. This film was followed by three more films all with the same director and writer except one. With the passing of Craven it would have seemed the series would end. Not so.

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett along with writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick are keeping the series going with this new release that reverts to simply using the original’s name of SCREAM. When looking for it just check the year to make sure you grab the right one, this one is 2022. Taking the old formula and making it still feel original is something they’ve done here and in so doing have made it remain as fun as it was the first time.

Taking place 25 years after the first series of murders that took place in Woodsboro things are slightly different. Dewey (David Arquette) is no longer sheriff having fallen apart after his divorce from TV celeb Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox). Sidney Prescott (Never Campbell) has moved away. And the killers of the previous films are all gone.

Now a new Ghostface killer is on the loose. High school student Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) is home alone and attacked by the new Ghostface left alive and taken to the hospital. Miles away in Modesto her sister Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) is told by one of Tara’s friends, Wes Hicks (Dylan Minnette), about the attack. Fearing for her sister she decides to return to Woodsboro and her boyfriend Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid) insists on going with her.

Tara’s friends are all there to support her when Sam returns to visit her. When they have time alone they talk and Sam is forced to explain to her sister why she abandoned her all those years ago and left Woodsboro. She had left Woodsboro because she had learned that her biological father was Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), one of the two original killers. Afraid she might carry on his legacy she left to save Tara. But she’s been having visions of Billy lately and now worries this is all coming true.

Sam and Richie go in search of help from the one man who has faced down every Ghostface that’s come along, Dewey. At first he refuses to help but eventually his sense of duty prevails and he agrees. When word of the new killings gets out two more faces from the past return as well. Gale shows up to cover the story taking place, the new killing that have followed the first attempted murder and Sidney who arrives because of…that is better left unsaid. With the two strong female leads back in town to stand alongside Tara and Sam the new Ghostface doesn’t stand a chance. Or does he?

Once more the tropes of horror films are taken to task, in this case those of horror sequels. The number of suspects remains high as they have in the rest of the series but so is the body count. Thankfully not so much of the past films needs be in your memory as this film moves forward. It contains the saddest moment in the entire series and delivers not just the mystery but the scares as well.

The best part is that the cast from the original has all come back again to stick with this series. Nothing is worse than seeing someone inserted into a role made familiar by another actor or having a character either disappear or simply killed off screen when an actor doesn’t return. All of the returns here are great performances and a welcome sight to fans.

The film is dedicated to Wes Craven and there is little doubt he would have enjoyed the film. It lives up to the expectations put in place by the four previous films to be entertaining and to keep you guessing. That rarely happens. In this case the result is a movie worth picking up and adding to your collection.

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