"After tonight, no more books, no more movies, and no more Ghostface!"
Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer dons the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town's deadly past. Scream is the fifth installment in the franchise. I can't say I was too keen on seeing this. The trailer itself looked awful and it's just something that felt like it should be done at this point. However, the positive reactions seemed to say otherwise so I decided to check it out. To my surprise, Scream is actually a pretty decent movie. I'm not completely on board with the rave reviews some have been giving, but I did find myself enjoying it a whole lot more than I initially thought. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett direct this in the same fashion as Wes Craven would have. Even the script is pretty similar to how the original was written. This franchise criticizes horror tropes while utilizing them as well. It's always a fun watch, especially for first time watchers. And this addition is no exception. It's just a plain old good time. The mystery of who the killer might be kept me engaged the whole time. They do an excellent job of diverting who it may be with all the twists throughout. By the end, I was quite satisfied with the outcome. The one aspect of the script that I wasn't too keen on were the characters. Of course, they're meant to be disposable playing along with the trope. But our new leads didn't have me rooting for them much so. When they have the original cast return, their screen time, though more than a cameo, didn't feel like they were needed much other than a fun throwback, especially with Campbell and Cox. I wanted the characters and their stories to come through because the acting is pretty well done.
The movie runs close to two hours, which is a solid runtime. This could be me, but I felt like it could've been trimmed down. Suspense is such a big factor and they will keep it going as long as they need to. I just wanted the third act to come sooner and get us to the conclusion we want. The first act is good and has a fun clinch, and as I mentioned the third is the best of it. Throughout the second act, mainly we're seeing who is going to be killed off next. All of the kill scenes are fun and executed well. There's a lot of exposition for first time watchers and more drama than there needs to be. Again, this plays in with the characters. Cut a chunk out of the middle and it would be better. Besides the kills and suspense, another factor that keeps it going is the comedy. There are so many good jokes that had the theater laughing. I almost feel like this is the most comedic of the series. There's not much else to say other than this is a fun horror flick that defies expectations. Fans of the series will most likely love this and first-timers should as well. I have to admit I've only seen the forts in it's entirety and pieces from the rest. Scream left a mark and has made me want to go back and rewatch all the previous movies for a bit of fun.
Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer dons the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town's deadly past. Scream is the fifth installment in the franchise. I can't say I was too keen on seeing this. The trailer itself looked awful and it's just something that felt like it should be done at this point. However, the positive reactions seemed to say otherwise so I decided to check it out. To my surprise, Scream is actually a pretty decent movie. I'm not completely on board with the rave reviews some have been giving, but I did find myself enjoying it a whole lot more than I initially thought. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett direct this in the same fashion as Wes Craven would have. Even the script is pretty similar to how the original was written. This franchise criticizes horror tropes while utilizing them as well. It's always a fun watch, especially for first time watchers. And this addition is no exception. It's just a plain old good time. The mystery of who the killer might be kept me engaged the whole time. They do an excellent job of diverting who it may be with all the twists throughout. By the end, I was quite satisfied with the outcome. The one aspect of the script that I wasn't too keen on were the characters. Of course, they're meant to be disposable playing along with the trope. But our new leads didn't have me rooting for them much so. When they have the original cast return, their screen time, though more than a cameo, didn't feel like they were needed much other than a fun throwback, especially with Campbell and Cox. I wanted the characters and their stories to come through because the acting is pretty well done.
The movie runs close to two hours, which is a solid runtime. This could be me, but I felt like it could've been trimmed down. Suspense is such a big factor and they will keep it going as long as they need to. I just wanted the third act to come sooner and get us to the conclusion we want. The first act is good and has a fun clinch, and as I mentioned the third is the best of it. Throughout the second act, mainly we're seeing who is going to be killed off next. All of the kill scenes are fun and executed well. There's a lot of exposition for first time watchers and more drama than there needs to be. Again, this plays in with the characters. Cut a chunk out of the middle and it would be better. Besides the kills and suspense, another factor that keeps it going is the comedy. There are so many good jokes that had the theater laughing. I almost feel like this is the most comedic of the series. There's not much else to say other than this is a fun horror flick that defies expectations. Fans of the series will most likely love this and first-timers should as well. I have to admit I've only seen the forts in it's entirety and pieces from the rest. Scream left a mark and has made me want to go back and rewatch all the previous movies for a bit of fun.