(2022) Scream - Quite Faithful Sequel to the Original Successful 1996 Movie

I was already eyeing for this movie for quite some time as my wife and I are major fans of the Scream movies. So when it was released yesterday and played in the theater near our home, we decided to see it immediately rather than waiting till the weekend as we did in recent weeks. Well, I'll get right to it then.

Brief Story Line

In Woodsboro, the infamous Ghostface reappeared after 25 years from the first murder. The killer started to attack a group of high school students that consisted of Tara (Jenna Ortega - The Babysitter: Killer Queen, You TV series etc), her best friend Amber (Mikey Madison - Better Things TV series etc), the twins Chad (Mason Gooding - Love, Victor TV series etc) & Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown - Yellowjackets TV series etc) and Wes (Dylan Minnette - Don't Breathe, 13 Reasons Why TV series etc).

Meanwhile Tara's older sister Sam (Melissa Barrera - In the Heights, Vida TV series etc) who heard about the attack, came back to Woodsboro together with her boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid - The Boys TV series etc). When she realized she could not face Ghostface alone, Sam sought the help from Dewey Riley (David Arquette - Eight Legged Freaks, Never Been Kissed etc) who later on informed Gale (Courteney Cox - Friends TV series, Bedtime Stories etc) and Sidney (Neve Campbell - Skyscraper, The Craft etc) about the return of this serial killer.

So what would happen to them all? You can find out in this slasher horror movie.

End of Brief Story Line

As I said earlier, Scream movies have been favorites of mine and my wife's since its first film. It was a very memorable movie that I thought shaped the slasher genre plus it also had few highlights that were still being referred to in latter films or TV series. It even spawned into a Scream: The TV Series which was enjoyable as well. Now this movie was still having almost the same formula as the previous films, where the killer was using Ghostface mask and attacking many people viciously.

What made this movie interesting was it has a strong resemblance with the original movie (I'll let you see for yourselves to find out) and it also made fun of the way sequels were made or the different characteristic of slasher horror with other horror films. In addition to these parts that distinct Scream movies from other slasher films, we were obviously entertained by the factor of guessing who was the killer. It managed to keep us guessing till almost the end. The filmmakers were intelligent enough to throw off the scent every now and then, making us thinking that our guess could have been wrong (although my wife's intuition was certainly better than mine as she was able to guess correctly). This movie was co-directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyller Gillet who had experience in directing horror suspenseful movies like Devil's Due and Ready or Not and it marked the first one in the series which was not directed by the late Wes Craven.

Aside from the intriguing whodunit part, a slasher movie would not be complete without the gory killings. In this area, the movie did quite successfully, although I think at least twice the Indonesian censorship body cut the scenes (one of them was so obvious but understandable as it was too terrifying). It would be interesting to see this movie later once it is available for streaming just to find out what really happened. The classic jump scare scenes were quite a lot in here, making us keeping ourselves on our toes (my wife had few screams of her own, just like what the film intended us to do).

Another thing that I thought was brilliantly done was the smooth transition from the original cast to the new group. If this one is successful commercially, we might see more sequels in future with the newly formed cast. These new cast were generally OK as they did not seem inferior compared to their seniors. Their chemistry was quite good too. The sound effects were decent enough, although it would probably be even more satisfying in Dolby Atmos (which sadly was not available here). 

Overall this movie was entertaining for those who like the slasher genre and people who have seen and enjoyed the original 1996 film. I cannot say the same for audience who have not seen the previous movies at all, as it might be confusing with all the past references (even my wife and I did not remember all of them) or even dissatisfied with the logics, especially if you are very particular about it. But if you could see past a bit of the ridiculousness of why the people did this or that, I bet you would enjoy this slasher horror movie like both of us. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars