This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
MovieGoer20’s review published on Letterboxd:
This review may contain spoilers.
One could argue that the Scream movies have gone on too long. However the problem is that they keep finding ways to be good movies. Scream is one of the only horror franchises where I can say that I think all of the movies are at least decent. I definitely got worried with this film taking place in New York City that it would feel too big and over saturated and I was also a bit speculative with Sidney not returning for this movie. However I still had confidence that this film would be great because Scream is just full of surprises and surpassing expectations.
I can definitely say that Scream always knows how to make a statement right off the bat with its opening kill. It once again uses horror tropes to its advantage and plays with your expectations right away. I think it might be one of the best openings since the original film to be honest. I definitely think that the new character additions from the last movie even improved more in this film. Jenna Ortega is becoming more and more of a breakout star with each performance and she’s once again brilliant here as Tara. We see Tara trying to move past the trauma of the last movie and break away from her sister and while it’s stuff we’ve seen before, the dialogue is so well written that it feels like a fresh dynamic between these two sisters. Melissa Barrera is also still brilliant as Sam too and we see more of her potentially being like her father especially with the Internet doing its thing and making her look like the killer from the last film due to her father. We do see Billy make a few more appearances which could’ve gotten old but luckily it’s still done well with the conversations between them only seeming to happen in reflections. The only original cast member left it seems would be Courtney Cox as Gale who is still just as great as ever. She might be the only legacy character left right now but Gale is still a very well written character all of these years later. We also see Kirby make her return to the franchise so that was a satisfying moment to see a character who we never thought would be seen again. Sidney might not be in this but I’m glad they at least mentioned her character instead of just not acknowledging her at all. In typical Scream fashion, it is very self aware of making fun of the horror tropes and how sequels need to be bigger like in a bigger city or a bigger kill count. There was also a line said about Letterboxd users and I feel attacked after that to be honest but it was still funny. The kills and violence are just as great as ever and Ghostface wielding a shotgun was just hilarious to me. It’s just a sight I never thought I’d see but it’s even better than how the trailers show it. The comedic moments are even pretty strong here because the satire is once again so good. The Ghostface shrine was even bigger and more detailed than you would expect in this movie as it pretty much has something from every movie showing how layered this franchise really is. Even the movie that isn’t as well received got a reference here. The guessing game as to who the killer was as great as ever. Any one of them could’ve been the killer and you probably would’ve understood why. It’s always a brilliant reveal and this was honestly no exception. We get an entire family of Ghostface killers this time with the dad being the main cop throughout the whole movie and the daughter seemingly being dead for most of the movie. The son was the only obvious killer but I honestly didn’t see the others coming. It really was a brilliant reveal and we get the typical explanation and monologue but it turns out they’re the family of the boyfriend from the last movie who turned out to be the killer again brilliantly linking these movies together. The climax all taking place in the midst of a Ghostface shrine was a sight to behold and I couldn’t get enough of it. We even see Sam wielding her father’s weapon of choice from the shrine so that twisted part of her family definitely came through here. It’s a brilliant character arc for her that I’m sure will continue but it once again shows how great Scream’s writing is because every single character in this movie is memorable and the new characters are really starting to shine as bright as the originals in my opinion. It truly feels like a new generation of Scream is breaking out and I’m all here for it. These movies never feel repetitive and I’d be perfectly fine if they keep making them to be honest. This was just so brilliant and I think it might be up there with the original as one of the best in this franchise.
Conclusion: Absolutely loved it once again. I already had high expectations and once again Scream blew them out of the water. Scream is one of the best horror series ever and I’ll die on that hill. Please go see this if you’re a Scream fan because it’s just fantastic and in my opinion the best one since the original.
LE
