Ghostface is back in “Scream” (“Scream 5” from here on out), and this time it’s not just the fresh-faced crop of Woodsboro teens under the knife, but film discourse and especially film Twitter which is ripe for a skewering.
The latest (intentionally) continuity denying sequel takes us back to where it all started to bring the masked killer out of obscurity and “Stab” movie fiction back to a shocking reality.
The strengths of the latest entry into the franchise land squarely with ideas in James Vanderbilt and Guy Bisick’s. The meta-commentary in this entry targets film discourse (film fandom). Woodsboro teens are as much the targets of this “requel” (the film’s made-up word to encompass these reboot/sequel hybrids).
Ghostface, in the “Stab” universe, has taken the Friday the 13th route and jumped the shark (gone to space ala “Jason X”). The Ghostface killer returns to right the wrongs of these fantastical iterations of the Stab series to take us back to the nightmarish scenarios that while you’re at home alone, a masked killer stalks the shadows, playing rigged games with your life.
While Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven’s original “Scream” felt it had decades of rich, seminal, culturally altering horror films to honour and critique with equal enthusiasm; “Scream 5” follows much of blueprint of the disproportionally great “Scream 2”. “Scream 5” wrestles with prestige “elevated” horror. The evolution of horror – mainly due to the adverse impact and resonance of gore-porn typified in the “Saw” franchise – saw contemporary resonant horror anchor the fantastical with disturbing social and psychological phenomena.
The reduced cultural impact of the horror genre itself reduces the ammunition for the latest franchise entry which requires it to stretch to an overarching thesis on “fandom”. While these elements work right now, the timelessness of the best entries in the series are in their ability to manifest great horror moments.
“Scream 5” suffers from a distinct absence of scope and tension. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (the filmmakers behind the wonderful “Ready Or Not”) use Ghostface’s torment to subvert our expectations. In many instances, this disruptive technique to deny more traditional scares has the opposite effect.
The gold standard of slasher films, “Halloween” and Wes Craven’s “Scream” and “Scream 2,” find ways to make the appearances of the stalking Michael Myers/Ghostface – especially in harsh daylight – help to build dread.
Unfortunately, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett largely fail in their attempt to overcome the audience’s awareness of the hallmarks of this enduring franchise. There is no point in “Scream 5” that Ghostface’s appearance or death-dealing created any sense of genuine terror.
“Scream 5” is is the most confined and claustrophobic of the series. The town of Woodsboro feels more diminutive; the homes, especially the exteriors, feel like movie backlots and not with the same purpose exemplified by “Scream 3”. One wonders if it’s a symptom of the film business as a whole or as a result of the pandemic, that other than a few choice scenes, the film lacks any resemblance of the fictional Californian town or college campus we’ve seen to date.
The best entries in the franchise have found ways to critique horror while managing genuinely fright. The death of Randy (Jamie Kennedy) in “Scream 2” was seismic. The formidable Randy trash talks Ghostface before being trapped and slaughtered in the safety of a crowded campus. A series defined by its adoration and reverence of “rules” uses the slaying of the arbiter of survival to underscore that no one is safe.
That original “Scream”, and every entry in the franchise, has been decked out with a memorable cast of supporting characters, whose roles, however fleeting, made them fast friends. The latest cast is easily the most forgettable yet.
Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega’s Sam and Tara Carpenter are the centre of “Scream 5” and are serviceable at best. Their clique – Dylan Minette’s Wes, Mikey Madson’s Amber and Mason Gooding’s Chad are essentially a catalogue of types rather than friends. “Yellowjackets” star Jasmin Savoy Brown’s twin Mindy is a tier above this entry’s horror movie nerd.
The breakout though is Jack Quaid as Richie. Quaid does what the truly great characters in this series do. Quaid exhibits this hyper-awareness that he’s unwittingly cast in a horror movie while delicately casting doubt on his intent, walking the knife’s edge of loyalty and suspicion.
It’s a welcome sight to see Neve Campbell back in the saddle as the assertive and fearless Sidney Prescott. Campbell took the title of Scream Queen from Jamie Lee Curtis and continues to reign in large part because the slasher genre is in a coma.
David Arquette’s Dewey Riley returns as living scar tissue of the series, the torchbearer of the scars of the series. Arquette’s mileage brings depth to Dewey, especially in his interactions with Courtney Cox’s Gale Weathers-Riley. Cox’s Gale – now a morning show host like her “Friends” partner in crime, Jennifer Aniston – returns to Woodsboro refreshingly as an insider rather than a news vulture for the latest appearance of Ghostface.
Genuinely great horror movies access something primal; from the comfort of darkened theatres or of your couch, allow you to experience a heightened sense of terror of gruesome violence. “Scream 5” has the brains but not the brutality to elevate it to one of the series best. The satire is superior to the scares.
