Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) is menaced by Ghostface in 'Scream.' The movie continues the familiar story of revenge and terror in a California town with familiar actors returning to their popular roles.
Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) is menaced by Ghostface in 'Scream.' The movie continues the familiar story of revenge and terror in a California town with familiar actors returning to their popular roles.
Near the end of “Scream,” a character remarks that the “Stab” movies lack an enduring big bad villain. “Stab,” the in-universe equivalent of the “Scream” movies, doesn’t have Michael Myers (“Halloween”) or Freddy Krueger (“A Nightmare on Elm Street”).
“Scream,” the “requel” to a quarter-century-old franchise, once again has a double-edged point. You can recognize Ghostface in its familiar form, wielding a knife and terrorizing some hapless individual who usually ends up dead. But Ghostface is an identity that has been taken on by multiple people in the course of five “Scream” movies and a TV show.
The “Scream” movies are perhaps best known for their constant leans on the “fourth wall” separating audience and action. To use a quip that the characters would appreciate, their first movies were like a dramatized TV Tropes page before TV Tropes even existed. It’s a legacy, and “Scream” would never, ever ignore a legacy.
When it comes to “Scream,” in particular this “requel” (a movie that continues an ongoing story while telling one closely related to an earlier installment), I think the humanity should be remembered as much as the wit.
Made you re-read that sentence, didn’t I? I’m talking about humanity in the sense of human nature. The “Scream” series has had killers motivated by rage, revenge, obsession, fame and such on. Ultimately, the movies remain thrilling thanks to one idea: there’s a sick creep or two out there that needs to be taken care of and the best way to do it is by relying on ingenuity and strength.
There’s no shortage of heroines in “Scream,” written by James Vanderbilt (“Independence Day: Resurgence”) & Guy Busick (“Castle Rock”) and directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett (“Ready or Not”). Neve Campbell, once again playing the perpetually resilient Sidney Prescott, might get top billing, but I was more impressed by the double act of Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega as sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter.
After the obligatory opening attack on Tara in her home, estranged Sam returns with boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid) to Woodsboro, California. Life has gone on, to varying degrees. Dewey (David Arquette) is no longer sheriff, or in a relationship. Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton), who tried so hard to land Dewey in the last movie, has succeeded him in law enforcement. And show of hands, is anyone that surprised that Dewey and Gale (Courtney Cox) are going to once again be drawn together?
Sam and Richie investigate Tara’s circle of friends and friends of friends. They include Dylan Minnette as Judy’s son, Wes; Sonia Ben Ammar as Liv, who got too close to a creepy ex-coworker (Kyle Gallner), Mikey Madison as Amber, who tends to rival Sam; and Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown as twins Chad and Mindy, who are mostly likable, even if she sometimes got on my nerves with the oh-so-clever dialogue.
The cast also includes Roger L. Jackson as the voice of Ghostface and cameo appearances from people including Heather Matarazzo. Surprise surprise, Chad and Mindy are the children of Martha, Heather’s character in “Scream 3.”
Revealing too much more of this current edition of “Scream” would spoil the experience. I hesitate to say “fun,” because there are elements I strongly disliked. For example, the two prolonged sequences of Tara in pain. In the latter scene, she literally crawls to escape from Ghostface. Tara is high school-aged, but in these moments, she might as well be an infant. It’s especially satisfying when the movie treats her — and Sam, and Gale, and Sydney — with some respect.
