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.
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.
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.
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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.
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