by Paige Taylor
warning: light spoilers about the killer(s) in the second to last paragraph. Read at your own discretion.
I was really expecting and looking forward to the surge of inspiration to write this review, but as Scream ended and the credits rolled, I had nothing. I had looked forward to this film for what seemed like an eternity, waiting eleven long years, yet I feel a sense of emptiness in its wake. After taking some much needed time to process, I can say this… It left me feeling dissatisfied.
As slashers go, it’s a fine film. It’s good even, but there’s some writing that feels a bit forced and exposition heavy, mostly around newcomer, Sam (Melissa Barrera). She’s the older sister of the much more charismatic, Jenna Ortega, who plays Tara. These ladies join a cast of mostly interesting and memorable newbies, including 13 Reasons Why‘s Dillan Minnette, who I wish was allowed to show off more of his acting chops here. The kills are exceptional, and are the only part that holds up for me from the dark and promising trailer. Probably the most regrettable choice was the use of cgi which felt unnecessary and awkward, especially in the third act. What I woke up feeling worse about however, was the way they somehow managed to make all of the OG characters feel not rooted in reality. They brought them back, giving us hope for a continuation of Craven’s legacy, but instead gave us caricatures of what they once were to deliver all knowing words of wisdom in ways that weren’t funny or inspiring, just disjointed.
The rant about requels, “not quite a reboot but not just a sequel” gave it the meta feel that made Scream famous, without feeling like it was reaching too hard to keep going. It was all the talk of toxic fandom however that made me hit pause on sharing my feelings on the film. The writers were vocal about who the villain would be this time around, and maybe in the end that’s why I feel so let down; Fans taking a fun, light hearted, meta slasher film and making it their personality, their childhood, their identity and their savior. Putting something so far up on a pedestal, that a “requel” is bound to leave them disappointed and clinging to the past forces me to wonder, “Is it Me? Am I the drama?” I remember the days where I thought I loved the franchise too much, hesitant to put it on the same level as the slasher films that made its existence possible. I also remember realizing the genius that it was and finally admitting how superior I always thought it to be. Now maybe I’ve been mistaken all along. It was just a comical horror film, meant to entertain, and I along with many others, took it too seriously, made our reactions too contingent on nothing changing or messing with our perfect franchise, and ultimately writing this obnoxiously serious review. I would usually agree with the stance of “you can’t please them all and fuck em anyway”, as the most recent Halloween films have faced a surprisingly large level of backlash from fans who can’t stand the franchise growing and shifting. In fact, most horror films these days spark so much hatred and pompous feedback that I often wonder what has happened to the horror fandom. Aren’t we all in it for one thing… our love and enjoyment of the genre? When did everyone become a film critic? And why do we seem to lean into the constructive and negatively comparative lens for every fun-filled horror flick? Do we even love this anymore? I digress. I love that the writers, James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, brought this commentary into the fifth installment, as the films before touched on the tropes of Horror films, Sequels, Trilogies and Remakes. I expected meta, I just didn’t expect to side for once with the fans who leave with a feeling of betrayal. But perhaps, this one was on me.
Here’s the thing, we all knew Wes Craven (God) originally meant for Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) to have escaped the hands of death, and be the master mind behind a new round of killings in Scream 3. Seeing as how this has been talked about to death by fans and even Lillard, I wasn’t expecting it to reemerge in this reboot. However, the amount of times Stu was dissed by characters, a la “Billy Loomis and his friend”, I started falling for the intentional-or-not red herring bait, and I’ve got to say, it left me even more underwhelmed when the killers were revealed. I still just have a feeling of, “So what, who cares, we’ve seen this before”, and an actual bombshell reveal from the past is what was needed to save this film, tie it all together, and yes…make that death worth it.
In the end, maybe it was my own doing that has me feeling disappointed, confused and needing more Sidney Prescott, but either way, I don’t regret the pedestal I’ve pushed the franchise upon. Sid has and will always be the ultimate final girl and icon I’ve needed and the original film remains an untouched gem in a genre that gets looked down on, disrespected and misunderstood much like the fans that adore it. Whether you ultimately agree with me or not, return to Woodsboro this weekend and make your own judgements.
Til Next Time,
Madame of Horror
Madame of Horror 
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