TED REVIEWS: “SCREAM” (2022)

By: Ted Campbell 2/3/2022

25 years after the original film, “Scream” breathes new life into the long-running slasher franchise, introducing a fun new cast of characters while also returning previous stars of the franchise. The film takes the franchise in a new, exciting direction and also honors what came before.

I enjoyed the meta humor in scream. No Scream installment is complete without self referential comedy and it sure does deliver. Scream uses its status as a “requel” (a sequel that functions as an introduction to new fans) to continue the “Scream” story while also poking fun at Hollywood’s recent habit of resurrecting beloved properties instead of coming up with new ideas.

Another part of Scream that I really liked was the characters, both old and new. Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette all reprise their roles from every previous movie and all of them do a fantastic job playing older versions of their characters. I was thoroughly entertained by the characters who were introduced in this installment, with the highlights being Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown).

In addition, “Scream” pays respect to Wes Craven, who is known by fans of horror movies as the creator of Freddy Kruger and the director of every previous installment of the Scream series. An advantage that “Scream” has over its predecessors is that it is able to reference Craven without it seeming like self-glorification. Craven even gets a character named after him, which I found to be very touching.

“Scream” is a well crafted, witty, and exhilarating film that is sure to leave any horror fan thrilled.