Scream: Not a reboot nor a sequel, but a 'requel' - clever, but too self aware to be scary

By Thom Ernst

Rating: B-minus 

It’s not necessary to be a fan of the Wes Craven Scream franchise to know that the films usually begin with a woman alone in a house, a mysterious phone call, and an invitation to play a macabre game of trivial pursuit—one where the category is horror movies. (Scream 2 is the notable exception, but stick with me, I’m going somewhere with this). 

Regardless of what number we’re watching, Scream remains a self-referential parody of the horror genre. The latest in the Scream franchise - which resurrects the plain old title Scream - is no different, except for the part that’s not the same. 

Remember, he’s always someone you know.

That might be confusing, but trust me, this is a “you need to see it to understand it” scenario. The best rationale I can conjure up is explained within the context of the movie itself—more on that later. 

For now, and for the sake of clarity, lets agree to refer to the latest in the Scream franchise as Scream 2022. It may not be the directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (Ready or Not) intended title. But to simply call it Scream would be a red herring. And in a movie driven by red herrings, that would be the most misleading of all. 

The title, as it appears on the marquee, suggests a return to the franchise roots, perhaps to freshen things up for an audience unlikely to relate to the use of a landline by Drew Barrymore (the original Scream’s first victim). Scream 2022 pushes logic as far as it can into an era of smartphones and texting. But Scream 2022 does not erase the past. It goes the extra mile to bring the past into the present so that the new butts against the familiar. It’s an intriguing mix of the new and the nostalgic. 

But everyone is up for grabs, to turn out be the killer or the killed. 

For Scream newbies, there is a cast of fresh young victims led by Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter, who’s set up as the next-gen version of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). Jack Quaid—offspring of the Meg Ryan/Dennis Quaid union—is Richie, Sam’s tag-a-long boyfriend. Rounding out the list of most-likely-to-dies are Jenna Ortega, Dylan Minnette, Mikey Madison, Sonia Ammar, and Mason Gooding (son of Cuba Gooding Jr.).

For Scream veterans, there is the return of Sidney Prescott, Gail Weathers (Courteney Cox), Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette), and a surprise cameo I choose to leave unmentioned. However, their name is prominent on the IMDB cast list if you want to ruin the surprise. 

Most likely, the filmmakers wouldn’t be averse to going down in cinema history as the movie to introduce the term “requel,” a term spell-check has yet to catch up with. I can’t confirm whether a requel is a legitimate thing or not—I’m not your go-to guy to find out which terms are cropping up in the fan sphere. Like most, I’m a prisoner to the expertise of characters in the film who present the requel as being not quite a reboot but not quite a sequel.  A requel. 

Scream 2022 spends a lot of effort anticipating criticism and having characters talk about it. And though those efforts distract from what should be the film’s prime concern - which is to make a scary movie - they are nonetheless impressively meta. Much of the fandom commentary is filtered through STAB, the movie’s fictional doppelgänger, a movie about the events in the movie Scream. At times, the film has the uncanny sensation of a movie that reshot scenes to address subsequent backlash after its initial release.   

The movie falls short in scares despite more gratuitous violence than I remember from previous installations. And the bar that directors Gillette and Bettellini-Olpin raise doesn’t reach as high as the bar set by David Gordon Green when he recently rebooted the Halloween franchise. 

But there is a lot that Scream 2022 gets right: It sufficiently mocks its less-than-prestigious position in the horror oeuvre by referencing more cultured genre films like Hereditary and The Babadook in the dialogue. And the movie does a beautifully layered bit of paradox upon paradox by having former husband and wife (Arquette and Cox) playing former husband and wife (Riley and Weathers).  

Scream 2022 continues to successfully set up horror tropes and play on them to an adequate level of humour, if not actual dread. A particularly memorable scene sets up a series of faux potential jump-scares before coming through on the payoff. 

And where a lot of films, particularly in this genre, fall apart in the third act, Scream 2022 holds out for a satisfying payoff.  

But Scream 2022 spends more time winking to the audience than building tension. And for a horror film, tension is a trope too significant to be overlooked.  Even if it is just one more requel to add to the list. 

Scream is directed by Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Melissa Barrera, Jack Quaid, Jenna Ortega, Dylan Minnette, Mikey Madison, Liv McKenzie, Sonia Ammar, and Mason Gooding. Scream is currently playing in select theatres.