Skip to main content

‘Scream’ 2022 — A Sequel That Slashes Across Generations

It’s been 25 years since its 1996 appearance, but that hasn’t stopped anticipation for Scream (2022) from rising to a fever pitch. From massive box office predictions and news outlets giving air to off-the-wall fan theories, the new slasher flick looks like a bloody terrifying time.

Scream (2022) - Final Trailer - Paramount Pictures

It’s been 25 years since Scream’s screenwriter Kevin Williamson first allied with director Wes Craven to create one of the great tributes to slasher films. Williamson funneled his zeal for horror flicks like Halloween into Scream, adding in details from real-life cases like the Gainesville Ripper, who murdered five Gainesville, Florida students in 1978. Loved as much for its scares as its winking humor, Scream exceeded expectations with its original entry. The fifth Scream (2022) aims to deliver those for the next generation of flagrant horror fans.

Recommended Videos

This Scream offers a nod to its roots by bringing together its first generation with a new generation haunted by Ghostface, this time appearing with an extended jaw that further distends the killer’s terrifying gape. Original cast members David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Neve Campbell, and Gale Weathers return to team up with new additions like Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter and Jenna Ortega as her likely mortally wounded sister Tara.

Related Guides

As with the original, the next-generation Scream actors showed the same chemistry, according to Barrera in an ET interview.

“The amazing Neve Campbell said about our cast, when we all kind of met together for the first time and had dinner, was that this cast seemed most like the original cast from the first film. Which that to us was such a big sigh of relief.”

This is the first Scream film made without Craven, as the horror icon passed away in 2015. Mainstays Campbell and Arquette eased any concerns, however, lauding directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett after shooting the film. Likewise, Scream’s razor-sharp script has been hailed by critics like Collider editor-in-chief Steven Weintraub.

“The new Scream is the real deal,” Weintraub tweeted. “Such a well written script that keeps you guessing and wades into the treacherous waters of fandom in 2022. Scream fans are going to love it.”

The new #Scream is the real deal. Such a well written script that keeps you guessing and wades into the treacherous waters of fandom in 2022. ‘Scream’ fans are going to love it. pic.twitter.com/caf2SqG0so

— Steven Weintraub (@colliderfrosty) January 7, 2022

Though the horror industry can use an endless set of consequences setting up the slasher element, it was Scream’s knowledge of itself that helped the series succeed. In a fun twist, the actors who first drew on slasher film rules two decades ago get to return to pass down this knowledge.

As previews have shown, the new Scream leans in with these tropes again — the steps to take to assure becoming a victim, and not getting caught up in the endless misdirection on who the killer might be. Could it be Dewey? That crazy fan theory has already been tossed about.

Scream opens on Friday, January 14 only in theaters. Audiences will have to wait 30 to 45 days before the fifth edition of the franchise might stream on Paramount Plus.

Read More: Paramount Plus ‘Halo’ Trailer Promises An Epic Resistance

Topics
Matthew Denis
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Matt Denis is an on-the-go remote multimedia reporter, exploring arts, culture, and the existential in the Pacific Northwest…
Sidney Poitier Exemplified Grace, Courage, and Talent
A scene from the play A Raisin in the Sun in 1959 (on the left), with (from left) Louis Gossett Jr. as George Murchison, Ruby Dee as Ruth Younger, and Poitier as Walter Younger. On the right, Poitier receives the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom from then President Barack Obama.

The moment might as well be called ‘the slap’ for its epic import. In 1967's In the Heat of the Night, murder suspect Endicott (Larry Gates) slaps Detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier), a Black man. Without hesitation, Tibbs slaps him right back -- a solid backhand connection at that. Poitier’s reaction reverberated across not only Civil Rights-era America, but around the world. None other than Nelson Mandela, according to People magazine, felt the impact of the avenging anger contained in that hand.

Poitier passed away at his Los Angeles home on Thursday, January 6 at the age of 94. From the time of his first major role as a 16-year-old in 1955's The Blackboard Jungle, the man was not only an incredible actor but a trailblazing Black man. For better or for worse, actors are impactful public figures. No actor, though, may have had more of an impact on American culture than Poitier. Poitier’s transcendence of racial stereotypes on the stage, in film, and as an activist not only changed an entire society’s view of Black people, but kicked down barriers, and opened entirely new vistas for people of color.

Read more
Hollywood Director Peter Bogdanovich Dies After Storied Career
Peter Bogdanovich at the Castro Theatre in San Francisco in 2008.

Director Peter Bogdanovich lived the true Hollywood story of fame and repute found, lost, and refound. In a career that spanned massive swings, Bogdanovich died from Parkinson’s disease, after a long career as a relevant Hollywood actor, director, essayist, and historian, on January 6.

The Manual readers might know Bogdanovich for his recurring role on The Sopranos as Dr. Elliot Kupferber, the psychiatrist who treats Tony’s Soprano’s psychiatrist Jennifer Melfie (Lorraine Bracco). What they may not know is that Bogdanovich also spent the 21st century winning numerous awards and cinema acknowledgments.

Read more
Cobra Kai Season 5 Already Filmed and Around the Corner
Ralph Macchio (left) and William Zabka (right) as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence in 'Cobra Kai.'

Suddenly, Cobra Kai is hot. Since arriving on Netflix in 2020, the show has released four seasons in just under 16 months. Continuing the success of 1984’s Karate Kid sounded unlikely, but the show is now wrapping up filming up season 5 after a stellar season 4.

Cobra Kai Season 4 | Official Trailer | Netflix

Read more