Scream 5 Review

Screams 1 and 2 are sacred texts. They remain way up on my list of all time favorite movies. They were enormously influential towards my own creativity in that time. I could not hold them in higher regard.

Scream 3 is the runt of the franchise. Scream 4 was, I thought, a very underappreciated comeback for the franchise.

Which brings us to Scream 5, which, for some reason is just called Scream, because we can't subtitle or number sequels anymore like normal people. See also Halloween, Shaft, Charlie's Angels, etc. But for now and for always, this thing will be Scream 5 to me. 

And...it's really fucking good. Not 1 and 2 good, but probably even better than 4 good. I will see this again, but after 1 viewing I would place it above 4 because it feels a little tighter and more focused. 

This is the 1st film in the franchise to not be directed by Wes Craven, and Kevin Williamson neither wrote this (as in 1, 2 and 4) nor outlined the story (as in 3). You really wouldn't know it though. The new filmmakers do an excellent job of making this thing feel like a fit. 

So, Ghostface is back, and killing people in Woodsboro again. We do get the returns of Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette, but for a good chunk of this movie the focus is on the new characters.

A few of the new cast of killer fodder are just meh. And we get Dylan Minnette from 13 Reasons Why yet again playing a high schooler. 

But the film really nails it on the female side. In The Heights's Melissa Barrera is pretty much THE lead here, and she is fantastic. If she is meant to sort of take over the franchise going forward I'm all for it.

The stupid cute Jenna Ortega is also terrific as the killer's initial target, and Jasmin Savoy Brown completely steals the back half of the movie as this movie's Randy.

Scream 5 is bloodier than other entries, and harsher. There are a couple death scenes here that are really brutal and really hit. 

It has the same meta vibe as the other films. This one presents itself as a "requel" with older characters being  brought in to assist the new cast. 4 was kind of that too, but was presented as a remake. Elements of 5 are more in that remake vein. 

Scream 5 does really nail the most underrated aspect of the franchise, that at their best (so, not 3) these films are some legitimately excellent mysteries. I didn't know who the killer or killers were. The reveal isn't quite as memorable as it was in 4 but it all wraps up in a satisfying way.

I don't know what the plans are for future sequels. I feel like this should probably be the last outing for the old cast, although if Jamie Lee Curtis is still making Halloween movies at her age then all bets are off. But since this is the only non-Spiderman movie to succeed at the box office in basically 2 months I'm sure we will get more.