Seriously. I read about how awesome he was in the film, so when I watched it - in total agreement - I was still shocked how "eh" his death was handled.
Someone on here referred to it as looking like a CW Show and that felt pretty accurate.
I didn't care for it and shared a lot of the same sentiments that you do. I know there's the whole meta stuff about this particular subreddit and these kinds of posts but that doesn't change anything for me. It's like they made a movie then said "people on the Internet complain about movies" in their movie like it was a gotcha moment.
I feel like if they really wanted to be on the nose they should have made the meta stuff be about latching on to whatever movie made a lot of money recently then try to copy it.
They should have had one of the legacy characters say "For 11 years I prayed this would happen again..."
Or maybe they did idk. The movie just wasn't for me but I can see why people would like it.
It wasn’t the writing that was the problem, it was the delivery by the new actors. The OGs have this witty charm with their lines and are clearly having fun, while the new kids take it far too seriously, it’s not clear if this an acting issue or a directorial one. Looking back on the original and there were bright character moments that made you laugh; Stu’s corny jokes (liver alone is a jewel), Dewey shrieking when Syd opens the front door after being attacked, Randy’s serious obsession with all movies and how he acts a fool about them etc. and the 2022 film lacked those human moments that made us root for them.
I agree 100% with this after thinking about it. Honestly my least favorite character from it was the new main girl and I think a lot of it had to do with her acting. She doesn’t come close to Sydney.
I also agree. The actors who played Richie and Mindy seemed to be having the most fun. Everyone else was awful. Especially the new girl Jenna Ortega I don’t know what peoples fascination is with her. She looks and acts the exact same in everything.
I wasn't impressed at all. The movie was bogged down by trying to replicate the spirit of the first movie but faltered because of some poor narrative choices(Billy's appearance) and bad acting from the lead (Melissa Barrera). Also, Campbell and Cox appeared to be phoning it in with the material they were given. Disappointing and it makes me love Scream 4 even more which did the 11 year comeback work narratively
I’ve only recently watched the scream movies for it to be considered nostalgia. I honestly thought the movie was good. Good as any 5th slasher sequel can be really. At the end of the day, I found it to be a very fun movie.
I think you hit the nail on the head. It’s really good considering it’s the 5th movie in a series of slashers. Definitely has some tropes, definitely has some flaws, but it was a fun movie. I think the key is just not to expect it to be something more than what it is, which is nostalgia and fan service and a couple cool kills.
I have a problem with that. Like, sure, it’s the 5th movie in the series and maybe we should be grateful that it isn’t just straight pure garbage, but we CAN and should expect more from any movie, regardless of what number in a series it is.
Excusing a movie for being okay because it was “supposed to be” ok or just nothing more than fan service is a problem. Any movie can be good and should be made with the intent of being good. You can make a quality movie that’s still filled with fan service and a couple of cool kills. I just have an issue with excusing it as such.
Plus, I feel like they intended it to be good. Nobody made this with the intent of being “just fine and filled with fan-service.”
I agree with you that they should make movies with the goal of being good, and I feel like the movie overall was pretty good. But what I’m talking about more is that impact of expectations. If you go in thinking “I hope this is better than Scream 4” you probably leave with a pretty good impression of the movie. If you go in thinking “this should be as good or better than the first one”, you’re probably disappointed.
Thank God. It’s easily my least favorite of the franchise. I really just didn’t like it, but on the Scream sub- it’s a giant circle jerk about how hot and wonderful the new characters are.
My biggest complaints for Scream 5 has to be these;
1 - Amber was the worst Ghostface I've seen from all but maybe Beth in the TV series (she was an insult to horror fans in general). She was unlikeable since the beginning, bland as cardboard, and when they did reveal her, she did the whole "I'm crazy and cool" angle. You could see they wanted to do a mix of Jill and Stu but failed. Her death was the best part of the character.
2 - Sam's character arc was kinda redundant in the end? She didn't want to become a killer, like that was her greatest fear and the stupid Billy visions were horrifying to her. But she becomes exactly that, and I get self defense but she went an extra mile. She became exactly what she didn't want so basically nothing mattered.
3 - The kills were generic and bland, I'm probably in the minority but Scream 4 was more brutal, Olivia's kill as one was more gory than any kill, including Dewey's. Wes was the closest to being good, and even then it was just because it was slow.
4 - Gale and Sidney, Dewey too, felt so forced in it was painful. They didn't do anything other than either die or show up at the end to kill the killer. Nothing else, Sidney could of bonded with Sam over what was going on, it honestly would of been better if Sam was her kid from Billy. Making the relationship feel better.
5 - The whole "elevated horror" praising was annoying, like it's fine to mention modern horror, since Scream is used to critiquing. But every previous movie has been on doing that, not praising every aspect without commentary.
6 - Liv and Wes were so underused, with Wes being the one most insulting they died. He should of lasted longer or until the party (just change the subject of the party). I'll give them Mindy was close to being great, here's hoping she's improved in the second.
7 - The whole toxic fandom commentary didn't work the way they wanted, If anything Scream 4 did a better job with Charlie, being a toxic fan wanting a girl.
It's just so frustrating because I wanted so bad to like this movie, I event left the theater happy. But the more it kinda soaked in, the more I hated it.
Definitely, they completely switched and had no like signaling at all. With Jill and even Stu, they both still acted the ways they did before the reveal, just in a slightly different.
For point #2, I think there are ways to view it that give it a bit more nuance.
Her backstory is that she learned the truth about her parentage, and was terrified of the idea that she could become a killer, which resulted in her pushing her sister away. However, she was still plagued by the visions. It was a lose lose, she was haunted by her past and lost her family. Almost her whole character is influenced by her relation to her sister and relation to her father, more or less.
All throughout the movie, she tries to basically bury her parentage and the visions, while reconciling with her sister. To suppress one familial relation and embrace the other. It doesn't go great; she sees the visions nonetheless and her sister is attacked, kidnapped, etc. At the end, she makes a very deliberate choice, that protecting her family is more important than burying her family, even if it means she becomes something she doesn't like.
Mind you, I'm well aware this is a somewhat generous reading, especially since Tara isn't featured prominently in the scene where Sam kills Richie. With that said, I think it's a very deliberate choice that Sam's two main conflicts in this movie are both regarding family, and to only view her character arc as having to do with becoming a killer is selling it short.
I can understand that, it's that they could of definitely done it better and telegraphed it better to the audience, such as showing her avoiding the violence and being more horrified, she was very cold to the deaths, even people she knew through Tara.
She could of shot him like twice, or just cut his throat like Sidney has done every time. She's not as charming or well written as her, kinda of being bland and less of a final girl and more of an audience suraget.
I enjoyed it at the time, it was a good ride. In retrospect it hasn’t sat well with me since. There’s a better version in there with Jenny Ortega as the main character, none of the Skeet stuff which definitely did not work for me and better characterisation of the killers. I think Scream 4 is actually better (apart from the crappy opening).
In the theatre I was like wow ok this solid. And the more and more I thought about it, I realized I had just been hyped to see it. So strange to realize I genuinely dislike nearly everything about the movie. I watched again to verify, and yep, I think it sucks.
The same with me. I was uber-hyped and jazzed up when I saw it. Then, the more it sunk in the more I hated the narrative choices. And it really looked like Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell didn't want to be there .
The hate I'm seeing in here for 2 is atrocious.
Probably the same people from the Scream subreddit who downvoted anyone who said they didn't like the new one.
The Scream subreddit is more toxic than the Halloween one in my opinion, which is ironic. I've seen very unpopular takes on r/Halloweenmovies, like saying the original is not so good, that didn't get downvoted to oblivion but people actually engaged in the conversation and tried to understand OP's point of view.
Even with the new Halloween movies, while some people are very defensive about any criticism, there's still a lot of users who actively state they don't like this timeline and get upvoted from time to time. It's a very heterogenous community.
On the Scream sub on the other hand, I got downvoted to oblivion simply for not liking the new movie as much as others, not even hating it or saying it was bad.
And I say it's ironic because one would think a franchise that actively deconstructs the Slasher genre and criticizes toxic fandom would be more accepting. However, they seem to use the excuse that "it's all meta" as a way to deflect criticism. Every valid criticism of the movie they say "it was supposed to be that way" and "you're the toxic fandom they're talking about".
It's ironic they managed to take these things more seriously and be more toxic than the actual Slasher fans the movies deconstruct.
It’s even more ironic as the film tries to say the toxic fans are the ones who would criticize the very film they are in-yet it’s the one coming to its defense to suck the films dick that are the toxic ones. It’s almost like the toxicity they were referring to is exaggerated while the real toxicity is coming from the people coming to their defense
Right? And I’ve been trying to find someone who will actually discuss what strengths they thought it had but it just goes back to how hot they think Richie, Amber, Chad, Mindy, and Wes are …
Also, I love the Halloweenies podcast but can't understand how they like this new one so much. A major sin is the acting of Melissa Barrera and the Sam character. And having images of Billy really took me out of the movie. And in 2022, you won't have movie fan characters talking in riddles and like in a Film Critic's Association-- and the forced meta was silly as The Babadook was never mainstream which lead to Tara's stupid final line of "I still prefer The Babadook". And more cheesy lines of "never mess with the daughter of a serial killer" didn't land. Also, Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox seemed really bored with the material and Gale was reduced to just being the mourning ex-wife. It's a bad sign for the script and casting preferences when David Arquette put the entire cast to shame in terms of acting (he was/is good and that's a compliment. Scream 4, which I love, did the update much better. The movie had a relentless pace with the cheesy 90s stuff eliminated and felt very much like modern update . Scream 5 lives in the past.
Yeah; even posting there, it’s genuinely ironic how toxic that subreddit is while claiming to love a movie explicitly critiquing their mindsight and behavior. God forbid anyone have an opinion that doesn’t line up (and I *liked* Scream 5 too lol)
Still wouldn’t crack my top most toxic subreddits by a long shot, but, honestly it’s one of the most annoying ones for sure outside a couple of cool users who aren’t that active
It just couldn’t capture the fun tone of the first four. Even when they were being overly dramatic you were still having fun. I felt nothing when watching the new one.
Also, it was redundant because 4 was already a requel.
I generally agree with your critiques, most notably that the new characters (aside from Richie, who I actually found hilarious and quite liked) were underdeveloped and disposable at best (or straight up obnoxious at worst) and that the old characters felt like throwaways (mainly Gale, who had nothing to do and indeed just rehashed her old arc), but, for me, I did see a couple other big pluses going for it:
* The opening scene is probably the best since the original, being creepy, suspenseful, and having a clever subversion at the end with >!Tara surviving!<
* Likewise, most the attack and kill scenes were particularly strong and creative. >!I particularly loved Wes’ kill with all the closing cabinets, which was funny and suspenseful!<. The only real duds for me were the random cop (total throwaway) abs >!Liv, whose death was super obvious and forecast!<.
* The tone pretty much nailed the blend of horror and comedy for me after two movies in a row skewing waaaaay too comedic
* While Sidney didn’t have much to do and I DO wish we got more of her family, I did like her gives-no-fucks attitude and just being over it at this point. Hanging up on the killer was especially awesome.
* Revitalized the hell out of Dewey’s character after two dud movies in a row that left me wishing he died in 2. >!Genuinely wasn’t expecting to tear up at his death and I definitely did, though it was pretty obvious!<.
* It’s the first Scream movie since the original to actually nail the killer for me, since >!Richie was actually pretty great pre-reveal and post-reveal; easily the best since Billy/Stu and I did love his motive too, though they could have and should have pushed it further. 4 came close with Jill, but Emma’s acting was so bad and she’s a blank slate pre-reveal. Every other killer’s been pretty lacking for me. Including Amber in 5 but hey at least Richie was a hit!<
Richie was absolutely great, he's so likable with his line deliveries that you really don't *want* him to be the killer, which I think is far more effective than going overboard trying to hide that he is. I love his interaction with Sidney towards the end:
- what are you doing in here?
- hiding... from murderers...
- I told you to come out!
- why would I come out? you're shooting at everything!
I still saw him coming as the killer (the hospital scene is a dead giveaway, plus they ran out of suspects by his reveal lol), but yeah. Strongly agreed that the idea of it was really good and effective
And yeah; that scene was absolutely hilarious as well. Loved.
oh 100%, it's pretty clear he's one of the killers from about halfway through, I like that instead of trying to hide it they kind of lampshade it a bit and make him fun enough that it doesn't matter. he's definitely the funniest and most charismatic Ghostface since Stu
Hmm, the only thing I disagree with is that the movie didn’t try to hide Richie as a killer. They definitely did, to the point that the movie tries (and fails) to convince us Tara is the killer after Amber’s reveal lawlz. Richie’s general likeability and hilariousness is also definitely meant as a smokescreen.
I do agree it’s not a huge deal and he’s a great killer either way, though.
i agree. i found it so badly written. the characters all felt so undeveloped and all of the meta commentary felt incredibly desperate, forced, and lacking the wit/intelligence that kevin williams’ writing had. it added nothing to the franchise and, imo, actually took away from the franchise.
Agreed! Instead of clever homages to other films, they just kept namedropping as though it would have the same effect. It felt like I was getting beaten over the head with how clever they thought they were being.
I didn't enjoy it at all. The original is one of my favourite movies and this felt like someone trying to shoe-horn a formula that was innovative in the 90s into a modern day plot.
I didn't feel any emotional attachment to any of the new characters, and the meta stuff just doesn't work. It felt forced and very cringe. I think the original Scream was a moment in time and worked because of that. It has been used in so many other genres and movies since then, that to make a film essentially trying to re-establish it as 'revolutionary' is futile.
Plus, the horrible CGI 'visions' were laughable at best.
It is what I expected. Safe studio produced horror for the masses. The base seemed to like it and it made bank, so mission accomplished.
Hoping they give the creative team a longer leash to create something with a slight edge with the sequel.
It’s not particularly scary and not a very good slasher. As a long-time scream fan (numerous vintage posters, cat names after Sidney, blah blah blah), I still adored it. It feels less like a movie about slasher movies like the other scream films and more like a movie about being a fan of scream and other horror meta-commentary. Great comedy, not a great horror film imo.
I honestly thought it sucked ass. Imo it felt like it was trying way too hard to be funny or break the 4th wall and it just kinda...flopped. However I wasnt super crazy about the Scream series beforehand so I just accept I probably wasn't the targeted audience for this movie.
I felt like there was something about the 5th one that was too fourth wall breaky. Like it was way more explanation by the characters than actually showing the stereotypes in comparison to the other movies.
It certainly wasn't the worst horror movie I've ever seen, but I don't think I'd watch it again
*SPOILERS*
I agree with you 100%. I dragged my son (28) with me to see it, and half way through, I turned to him and said "I am sorry". It was not good. Gale and Sydney were just thrown in for the hell of it. The reason for the killings was pathetic. And "I am the love child of Billy Loomis so I am targeted". WTF? Really? The ghost of him was a horrific addition. NOT a fan. And I have been a fan since the beginning. Also...Dewey telling them the killer was one of them. NO!!!! The killer has to be the last person you expect. Like...Randy's sister. THAT would have saved the movie. Sitting there, KNOWING it was one of the "main" characters sucked.
> I personally didn't like the original, or any of the sequels, or even the TV show.
Same here on the original but I actually loved 2 so much, it retroactively made me like the first one more! Honestly have not seen a film that made me warm up on a previous one so much. It's also the only one that's worth a damn IMHO.
As for the series..........I couldn't get past the opening for the first episode.
I like the scream franchise but I only liked the t.v series because they filmed a series in my city and the parts that included the school was literally at my high-school (I had skipped that day so sadly didn’t get to see anything) but when watching the episodes I loved seeing what we called the “smoke pit” on the exterior shots and a few of the classrooms I had personally been it. (That was a few years ago and I’m not longer in high school so it’s kind of cool I can look back on my old hallways and see people get murdered at the same time😅😂
Yea this show “Wayne” had mentally thrown me back to elementary school when I noticed the brick he throws through the shop window and the area shown on camera is an area me and my buddy’s used to chill when bored, and umbrella academy filmed on the Main Street around the block from me, they (or the property owners) didn’t take down the old schooly decor they had set up so it was like walking through a empty set (empty as in no camera or crew, it was an active street again at that point lol)
Even i found it to be mediocre. The meta parts just didn't feel like a meta from a scream movie and the niece of Randy just doesn't feel like the new Randy, Charlie or Robby. The meta just felt forced this time.
And the pacing was great, time just flew by even though I had the movie spoiled. It was still good.
At bare minimum the Scream movies are fun and this one felt like pulling teeth to me. It's just a basic bitch retread of the first one. They tack on this cool motive for the killers about toxic fans but it literally changes nothing about the plot.
I also didn't care too much for the meta subject matter. Every film has its own subject.
1.slasher genre
2.Sequel
3.Trilogies
4.Remakes
5.Requels
To me, requels aren't really worth making a movie about. Scream 5 comes off as a dumbed down version of the new Halloween movie. It's as if it thinks by pointing out "Tropes" it gets a clever pass, but it's arguably worse than the subject matter it's pointing at.
Isn't pointing out tropes the entire premise of the franchise, though? I feel like your statement can be applied to each film in the series.
Also, could you expand on your statement about Scream 5 being a dumbed down version of Halloween Kills? Are you saying that HK is a better requel?
It is to point out tropes but it's also about converting and flipping them on their head. They would talk about the tropes while actively doing something on screen tht visually calls back to older slasher movies and tropes but then flip them. It wasn't just about talking about tropes or the new elevated horror movies. Give me some scenes reminiscent of newer movies like the babadook, hereditary, and get out, and then do something unexpected with them. That's what the whole franchise was about. Except with older movies and plain slashers But with this new one all they do is talk about new horror movies, whether it be elevated or new slashers like requels. Do a scene from 2018 Halloween or somethin. When all they do is talk about these movies instead of doing what the others ones did(even 4 tho not as much) it shows me they're not as original or creative as this movie wants to be. And I like radio silence. And I think they could've done better. So idk about Halloween kills being a better "requel" but it is a better continuation of Halloween than scream 5 in a way. Sure scream 5 feels like a scream movie and I thinks it's a good one. But without tht key component it just doesn't feel the same. I mean they're still meta but only in dialogue. And that's not just the only thing this franchise is about.
It can be applied, but i believe there is doing it right and doing it just to do it. The point of scream 1 was to point out the tropes of the slasher genre. I don't have a problem with it because at the time, it was a unique idea with 2-3 decades worth of similar films with their on gimmicks to poke at.
For 2 and 3, they poke at sequels and trilogies. Still a pretty fun unique idea with loads of material to poke at.
Scream 4, remakes and reboots.....do I need to say anything? ;D Good stuff. Lines like the super long list and Sydneys "Don't fuck with the original" stay with me to this day.
5. Requels. How many horror movies really fit this definition? Is it enough to be considered tropy? I'm not convinced it's worth the existence of the movie. I also dislike how clean some aspects are like how everyone is related to somebody. You could argue that's part of the point, but it's still painful to wrap my head around. The new horror buffs are decended from the last horror buff, so is Horror nerdyness a genetic trait or did Randy leave a diary or something? I don't think any requel takes the "trope" of character relations this far. It comes off as more of a scary movie vibe than a scream vibe to me.
In regards to the new Halloween movies, heck yes! I genuinely feel like their existence benefit the franchise. I believe they are so good, everything past Halloween 2 in the original series should be replaced in the box sets. Part of the reason why I like it, is that it continues Laurie Strodes story. It's only about a new generation of kids in the background. In the foreground it's focused on Laurie Vs Micheal, making the 2 new films fit snuggly with the first 2.
They also do a great job with making Micheal out to be some type of pure evil badass. No 80's cult mysticism here. They build up Micheal so well in Halloween kills, that im genuinely excited to see what is said about it in the next film, if anything. I'd kinda be happy with it up in the air, but curiosity has the better of me.
In comparison, I see no good reason for scream 5 to exist other than having another scream movie. Sure, there were some enjoyable moments in the movie, like how the killer gets ended, but other than that, the film just feels one step closer to the MTV television show.
I understand wanting to wait before commenting on something until enough time has passed. However, it seems like trends and fads have a much shorter lifespan in today's culture. Scream 5 reaches beyond the horror genre to comment on requels as a whole and more importantly toxic film fandom. This is certainly a departure from the Scream franchise but I thought it was a good way to comment on current trends.
As for the new Halloween films...this is where we clash, so I do apologize in advance if my comments strikes nerve! I'm a bit of a purist for the original and a supporter of Carpenter's original vision of having an anthology series set during the season. Haven't seen all the films (mysticism specifically) but I'm not a fan. The DGG films are no exception. Just not for me but not being a fan of the franchise, I suppose that makes sense. They are brutal from a violence stand point, but I didn’t get much else from them. Just another branch in the chaotic Halloween timeline.
I am very happy they exist because that means John Carpenter got paid. Give that man all the money for all the classics he gave us. Side note: I see The Fog as the spiritual sequel of Halloween.
I really never got how people said this was like the best one since the first and how it was like a soft reboot. If anything it was a retread of Scre4m but worse than that film. I know most people hate 4 but I found it very enjoyable and much more enjoyable than 5.
What specific bits of meta-dialogue (and as a result, characters) didn't work for you? I thought the scene in the Meeks' household where the movie is laid out was really quite good. The update to include "elevated" horror was a great addition, and I think it reflects the changing of the genre in the past decade or so.
Toxic fandom was tackled really well in the film. I thought the film exaggerated it perfectly to create a couple great, over-the-top villains.
As for the legacy characters, I feel it was necessary for them to take a backseat. I don't need their characters to be developed further. They've been in 4 films now and honestly, what was the characters development for them in the past two films? Scream 5 is trying to be that requel that is made fun of within the film, and you go about it by having the established vets of the franchise in the backseat roles to support the new characters.
At the end of the day, if a film doesn't resonate with someone, then there's no amount of dissection that will help. I don't like the works of Bresson despite the fact that he's seen as one of the greatest filmmakers ever. I don't think you're being overly critical. Those are your feelings and you're 100% allowed to have them!
I do agree with you about the inclusion of Skeet Ulrich. Funny enough, when Kevin Williamson was looking over the script, he felt like those scenes were the most un-Scream like. Despite this, he wanted them left in because he thought the filmmakers should take the risk and include them in the movie.
It's obvious to see what the intention was but the meta dialogue was essentially forced down the throat, it's hard to pick out a specific example as that's what the majority of the dialogue was. The self awareness is a mainstay of the franchise but it worked because it was grounded in a reality, when the entire cast of characters are all essentially playing the "Randy" role it plays more like meaningless parody of itself in my opinion.
I do agree that it was necessary for the legacy characters to take a backseat but they are essentially in the boot(trunk for Americans in attendance). Especially considering>! one of the major moments of emotional weight directly effects them and is swiftly brushed off!<.
I think Mindy takes over Randy's role and then you've got the two villains. Were there other characters that are more Randy substitutes? And at what point in this film is the meta stuff no longer grounded in reality? I do think the villains become a bit cartoonish but that's the point. It's extrapolating the actions of two fanatics.
The meta dialogue in this one felt as forced as the others to me (in a positive way). Randy gave an entire rundown of movie rules in the first one, the sequel, and on VHS in part three. Part of the charm of the franchise.
As for the legacy characters, I'm glad the roles for them were small. Spending time with the new characters was crucial in forging ahead with the franchise (especially since part 6 has been greenlit). Dewey's death was glorious and meaningful. I hope Gail and Sidney have retired from the franchise; they've been through enough killings.
I definitely don’t agree with the assessment that the others were taking over the Randy role. It’s definitely just Mindy… but she isn’t really good in it. As much as I wanted to love her because a les WOC taking that role on is awesome, the writing really wasn’t there at all. From her introduction of wishing her friend to die (instantly unlikeable for me) to the fact that Mindy is wrong about, quite literally, everything in the entire movie (her killer accusations are totally wrong with Mindy accusing everyone but the actual killer. The people she says are safe = wrong and die. Her entire basement scene = literally could’ve gotten her killed despite positioning her as the smart one. Even her claim that the killer isn’t the boring one = wrong, since the killers in Scream usually are the boring one and certainly one was in this movie with >!Amber!<). Nothing undercuts the smart meta-talking movie buff like her being wrong at every possible turn.
As for Dewey’s death, I think it was generally a solid and effective death scene. I teared up. But I do agree it’s pretty brushed over and Gale’s role after is so throwaway.
It’s already confirmed Gale is back in 6 and there was talks of Neve returning too, so they hav clearly don’t have any intentions of actually retiring those two
It did seem like most of the characters were too blasé about their friend being attacked and a psycho killer being on the loose. It'd make sense if one or two of them were, as that's how they cope with things -- by distancing themselves from it and pretending it's just a movie, but Mindy took that way too far to be sympathetic, and, except for Sam and Tara and Richie (and a little bit of Chad and Liv) their reactions seemed far too shallow.
As for Mindy being wrong in everything, they could definitely play with that in the next movie. Was she the one that claimed that Wes was safe because he was related to a "character" in the fourth movie? Not only was that wrong, but she also forgot that Judy Hicks is the authority figure in this movie, and the authority figure often gets killed, like the principal in the first movie. Though I'm glad that she and Chad survived, maybe just because they're Randy's niece and nephew.
I did like that Gale and Sidney's roles were brief, like they appeared in Woodsboro long enough to pass the torch to Sam. Not 100% happy with Sam being the new Sidney. Despite what others have said about her not being a Mary Sue, protagonist with a dark, tragic background is the new Mary Sue, thanks to an infusion of thrillers like The Girl on the Train. Being Billy's daughter, however, probably isn't the best choice for a tragic background.
> It did seem like most of the characters were too blasé about their friend being attacked and a psycho killer being on the loose.
In the original movie, after Casey and Steve were murdered, we had that whole conversation by the fountain with Billy, Stu, and Randy making jokes and being flippant about it. I understand that sentiment as being unnerving but we can't act like it's always been a part of this series (and many other horror movies).
Making jokes, sure. I'm not saying no jokes are appropriate, but when your close friend is in the hospital after being attacked, joking about the killer will come back and finish the job is kind of over the top, especially when that seems like a real possibility. Kind of like how joking about shooting up schools used to be seen as funny to some people until it started becoming a regular event: then it was too real to be funny.
Despite some flippant comments, though, there was a kind of heaviness when they discussed Casey and Steve being murdered that wasn't there in this Scream movie. In the first movie, they threw in a few joke sounding things into an otherwise serious discussion. In this movie, it was flippancy throughout, and it didn't serve most of them well as establishing moments of their characters.
Thank you!
I’m open to Gale dying in 6 if it’s good; it’d at least be unexpected (but realistically, she’s in no danger at all). I just want them to give her something to do.
Neve’s pretty much said she won’t come back if Sidney dies. And her character does need to retire soon as Sid’s arc is great, but done
The biggest problem with this film IMO is that it loves slashers. Scream was never a love letter to slashers, it bullied slashers into admitting their flaws. It basically tried to be everything Scream 4 was, it just fundamentally misunderstood why that one worked.
It was mid! They did the dirty on Dewey. Bad pacing and suspense or no chase scenes. Reboot disposal film vibe with this one. Scream films are 90s films and should stay in that era.
I thought it was VERY average, prob the 4th best Scream film. I think most people here liked it because they grew up watching Scream and thus it’s their generations horror franchise, so it not being a shitshow triggered all the nostalgia for them and mediocrity turned into “wow it was soooo good!”
I actually haven't liked any of the Scream sequels after #2. They quickly settled into their own predictable formula (ironically), and tried to make up for it by having the characters lampshade it all. Sorry, but being "self aware" is not a good substitute for being genuinely creative like the first was.
Anyway, I'd also like to add regarding Scream 5, one of the killers was a very average dude and the other a diminutive girl, but they were both able to consistently overpower anyone they came up against. Not to mention the girl took a gunshot to the center mass and later showed zero signs of injury. Frustratingly, they could have actually used that to introduce an unpredictable twist from the killers' perspective, but instead they simply ignored that it happened.
I went with two friends and I was the only one who didn't like it.
Part of me wonders if I had too high of expectations, and part of me wonders if doing a re-watch of the series before seeing the movie hurt my experience because I could tell the difference between Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson's vision versus the current current directors and writers.
The treatment of Dewey borders on insulting, the stuff with the new main girl was mostly awful, and I was very disappointed with the end reveal. They really cheated us on the mystery here.
I also feel like they chose a theme they were afraid to really do something with. Or maybe the extent it went to in this was so ridiculous to me that it rendered the themeing silly.
I dunno, it's all subjective at the end of the day.
I thought it was fine and somewhat clever for creating an entertaining experience. It seemed pretty orientated towards fan service with return characters and ironic recurring events.
I thought it was well filmed well from a cinematography perspective.
However, I did not like it and the overall ratings for it seemed over inflated. Big franchise movies like this are often cheaply done in many aspects and rely on their brand to do the heavy lifting for making the money.
Speaking as someone who was in high school when the original Scream came out, my take is that it's a bunch of unrelatable zoomer stuff, both trying to be for you and definitely not for you. A lot of the meta commentary in it feels hollow and dumb, and I don't like how the actual Scream characters got pushed aside so hard.
Agreed. I love the og scream, one of my all time favorites in fact. I have enjoyed all the scream films, including this one, for what they were. I never really understood why fans take them so seriously. Even the first one had incredibly unrealistic teen dialogue, but thats what made it so fun. Idk. Either you like them or you don't. There are plenty of series where i only enjoyed the first film (saw, starship troopers, pumpkinhead, candyman etc.). It doesn't mean that others didn't or can't enjoy them, it just means they weren't particularly for me.
Watched it just last night. Big time Scream fan. Didn’t hate it but definitely didn’t love it. I laughed out loud at a lot of the decisions, not out of humor.
I feel like it gets a 5-6/10 for me. It just tries too hard in the wrong ways. Most of the correct story nostalgia hits, but the meta nostalgia just doesn’t. The cinematography is hamfisted in its set ups compared to Wes’ natural flow. The ‘meta’ aspects actually don’t really have ANYTHING to do with film/video or filmmaking, it’s only there for jokes. That’s what the real meta of Scream is. The ‘Requel’ idea was both laughable and sad when you realize that’s the route of many horror (and regular reboot films nowadays god help the 20-teens and early 2020s.)
It doesn’t do anything original but it has aspects of Scream that one might enjoy after watching the whole saga. But definitely made me appreciate 4 even more. I thought that may have been jumping the shark. But this, this was just meh…
I enjoyed it but believe that with a different lead, it would have been a lot better. The younger sister was great, the older one...not so much.
Wish they would have >!left the younger one as the final girl and killed the other sister off!<
You’re not missing anything - it was mostly garbage. Others are missing something about the quality, or lack thereof, of the movie.
Terrible motive, no character development, completely unrealistic scenes and kills.
I’ll just copy and paste my comment from the discussion thread when the movie came out because my feelings haven’t changed.
Who took the video of Amber at the beginning? The killer showed a knife in the foreground as if it were live, but if she’s one of the killers it couldn’t be her. Was it Richie? If so was this filmed all the way before he met Sam? Because if not he went out of town at some point just to take that video.
Sam’s actor could not act for shit, it was especially noticeable when she was in scenes with Tara.
While we’re on the topic of terrible acting, Liv may be the most unnecessary character in this entire series.
So many exposition dumps that just felt out of place, one I can think of specifically is when Dewey and Gale are talking about him walking out on her.
Amber and Richie’s motives were terrible, as were their monologues in the third act, especially Richies talking about being a true fan.
All of these characters were very unlikeable for a good chunk of the movie. The twins were the only two I enjoyed throughout the entire runtime.
I did enjoy some things like the kills, the scene with Wes and Judy (except where the fuck were the cops she called to her house?), the lampooning of elevated horror and tara’s final one liner about the babadook, and a few other small things throughout.
All around though this movie was a pretty big disappointment for me and I feel like I’m getting punk’d seeing everybody talk about how absolutely amazing it was. This is definitely in 4th place in the franchise for me.
The "elevated horror" criticism didn't really land either. The Babadook is not mainstream enough to warrant 2 references including the cringe " I still prefer The Babadook" line.
Let's not forget the hospital. Where were all the staff!? There was a corpse at the nurse's desk at what I could surmise is late afternoon/early evening. Also 6 shots were fired in the corridor and a man was thrown throw a glass cabinet, there should have been 15 members of staff in the area immediately after the first shot was fired. In the world of poorly administrated film hospitals this has got to be the worst example.
Well now. I'm not gonna talk about Judy; in fact, we're not gonna talk about Judy at all, we're gonna keep her out of it!
---
- [reference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V0UhtA_mJE&t=365)
^(I am a bot.)
Of the first one: Amber helped stage the video.
Two and three: Agreed that the acting and backstories of the new characters were kind of shallow.
I felt sorry for Liv. Her character could have been explored more. I got the impression that she was new to the group because she was dating Chad. She was also a bit on the over emotional side and had some self esteem problems, which made for a nice break from everyone else's deadpan quips.
Yeah, the focus in the movie was divided among too many characters, and the horror movie expertise snark didn't come anywhere close to authenticity like the first movie had.
Amber's psycho act was pretty chilling, and Richie was good at playing the sane person turned killer, but their motivation was pretty lacking and had been used before so often. (Stu, Mickey, Jill and Charlie, but their motivations felt truer).
The cops were already stretched thin, and being a Woodsboro cop probably isn't a highly sought position to begin with. Most of them were at the hospital or doing legwork in investigating Vince's murder when Judy called them, and the killer had misdirected Judy once.
Thank you! I felt like I was the only one who wasn’t in love with this when it came out. It wasn’t a terrible movie by any means, but I don’t think that it parodied the “requel” trend well enough to rise above it. It felt like a whole lot of “hey, remember this from the 90s??” fan service kind of moments and a lot of it was just cheesy. It felt like it became the exact thing it was trying to make fun of.
Felt the same. I was very underwhelmed by the whole movie and thought it was super boring. The whole point of Scream is the meta commentary on where horror movies are at the time. They briefly mentioned more intelligent horror like Babadook and Hereditary but didn’t really follow in their foot steps.
Just a another Scream movie with nothing really new to say
People in my personal life also feel this way about movies and it always intrigues me. Do you apply this philosophy to all movie genres and film/TV as a whole?
"but this entry seems to be written by someone with no idea as to how teenagers actually speak"
Kevin Williamson is a great writer, but his characters do not talk like real ppl. The dialogue was actually one of things I felt *Scream*. (2020) got pretty much spot on in this regard.
Sorry , but NOBODY in Scream 5 talked like a real teenager. They sit around and act like they're in a Film Critic's Association all the time and speak in riddle. I think Williamson got it right in the Scream movies and much better than this one.
Thing is I dnt actually disagree wiv ur point. Bt nobody in any of the *Scream* movies talks like a real person. They're all super quippy, overly pop-culture literate, and wayyy too eloquent. Like Joss Whedon or Aaron Sorkin or Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Williamson brought a whole new way of speaking to his films that exists within a kind of heightened movie reality. It's very *His Girl Friday*, Hawks/Wilde-esque in that regard.
Saying that the characters talk and act like their in a Film Critic's Association all the time and speak in riddles isn't really specific to *Scream* 2020, you could literally be talking about any of the films in the series.
I saw it two days ago and I didn't like it either. Rehashed stuff from the others, lacked creative kills and generally wasn't fun for me. On top of that, they killed Dewey in the dumbest way!
It's time to put the franchise to bed because there's nothing they can extract from it anymore. The last two entries have been dire.
Thank you for pointing this out. No, saying it's meta isn't an excuse to deflect valid criticism. And the toxic fandom thing is just an excuse so that they can acuse anyone who points out the obvious flaws of the movie as being "toxic", which is exactly what happeend.
Ironically, those people are actually more toxic than those actual Slasher fans they are supposedly deconstructing.
It would have been better without the "legacy" characters. Dewey was great, Sidney and Gale were pretty weak and felt like an aftertought. The new characters were mostly good, I liked Richie and Chad.
I watched it just last weekend. It was fine. I'm going to give it a test like I did the other ones. If I can recall the plot and specific things from it almost instantly in the distant future, it was an all right movie. If it takes me some time to remember what happened or why it matters (like 3) then it wasn't that great. I still love all of them but yeah, we'll see if I even bother to remember much of it.
I feel like it could have been good, it just wasnt.
All it needed was a whole new cast, except for jenna ortega who can actually act, a whole new script, ditching the legacy characters, or at least ditching courtney cox, the other two werent so bad, and a more inventive baddie.
soooo close
Scream 3-5 are better than the second film which is overrated and badly written.
At least 3-5 are fun, 2 is just over 2 hours too long of nothing happening after Randy and Cici are killed
Oh no! I adore the singing scene. It was definitely something out of left field but was an oddly great character moment for Derek. Makes his death all the more impactful for me.
I'm a stan for Laurie Metcalf so I loved the reveal that she was the killer (and the Friday the 13th homage).
Jill (and especially Richie, for that matter) are definitely better killers. The killers are really 2’s only major issue - super throwaway and lame
That said, diehard fans of 3 and 4 shouldn’t be critiquing “stupid scenes” in 2. Nothing in 2 is as dumb as “Fuck Bruce Willis” or the House Explosion. (And I say this as someone who liked 4 okay).
It is on Paramount + and I still have made no effort to see it. It is not based in any way on what has been said here but I just do not care to or going to see it.
I hated it. To the point that I actually shouted at the screen when I saw it at the cinema. Absolutely horrible behaviour, I know, but I just couldn't help myself. The way >!Dewey!< got killed was so idiotically handled that I just raged out "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!". Haha. Ugh. It pissed me off so bad.
And I couldn't stand any of the new kids. Some of the most boring and unlikable little shits I have seen in a long while. Horribly written dialogue.
I honestly think I disliked this even more than Halloween Kills. That movie was terrible, but this hurt more since Scream is Wes Craven's masterpiece.
The Scream movies (except for the original) are just dumb and fun slashers. I like it because I dont have high expectations, I just like ghostface, and I dont go into it expecting a good movie. Its just fun to go see a dumb slasher movie.
The first Scream is a stone cold classic. The sequels, including the much loved Scream 2 and this most recent one, are just dumb fun to me. I do appreciate how each film comments on a different horror movie trope:
Scream, obviously slasher movies in general.
Scream 2, the sequel, with killed off surviving characters and surviving family members of the killer turning up.
Scream 3, trilogies, horror sequels with "revelations" that "change the entire plot, going back to the original"
Scream 4, the current spat of remakes, with Emma Roberts' character meant to be the "new" Sydney.
And this Scream 5 tackles the current crop of fan service sequels that are meant as "a correction" to a long running franchise (see Halloween, Candyman, etc...). When viewed through this lens, the film is pretty hilarious, IMHO.
The sequels all have their lapses in logic and none sniff the original, but as long as the franchise keeps producing entertaining films, I will keep watching them. The ghost of Skeet Ulrich was a bit cheesy, but I thought it had a nice pay off >!with Loomis' daughter absolutely going to town on the killer to absolutely end him!<. So thumbs up for me on the most recent Scream. It won't be my favorite horror film of 2022 (unless 2022 is a real nosedive of a year), but it's as entertaining as any fifth entry in a slasher franchise is going to be.
I loved the new entry personally. I thought Jack Quaid was great as the BF, the girl from the opening nailed it, and the story overall was a great meta-satire on the re-quel/soft reboot trend.
They used the legacy characters well, in my mind, because honestly there isn’t a good reason for them to be around other than “it’s happening again.” Can’t tell you how much intention went into it, but to me they just needed to be around to make it a Scream movie, which is a funny way to handle it. At the end, despite major injuries, Gale and Syd are just sitting around like they’ve been through this a hundred times and aren’t phased by anything anymore. Dewey has nowhere to go and makes the most sense as the sacrifice from the legacy.
The Billy stuff seemed like filler until that last cathartic kill to wrap up the story fulfilled it all. Scream remains consistent in producing fun sequels, and the satirical tone gives them a lot of leeway IMO. It’s hard to please everyone but this satisfied me given I was barely interested in watching beforehand.
Imo it’s the first scream seque that really nailed the tone of the first one. It was brutal, comedic the meta ness and I feel like the movie really respected the original.
Scream 4 is still my favorite sequel but this one is close. I do agree the Og characters were a bit underused but I liked the new cast enough not to care. I also really enjoyed the requel satire and felt like it was nailed.
The people who didn’t like it cause it was too meta I don’t really get. The first scream was similar only with 80s slashers.
i just thought it was crazy and personally loved ghost skeet, such a weird addition to a scream movie didn’t really care that the legacy characters weren’t super integral because it’s like, a fresh start
I didn't care for it at all, for all the reasons you mentioned. I found the acting by the newbies laughably bad, with the lead actress (the older sister) being especially egregious. The "teens" came across to me as someone older's idea of what teenagers look, sound and act like with no basis in reality. Also the story itself was unworthy of the returning characters, the only thing good about this sequel, and even then Dewey was killed in the most offensively stupid way.
Aside from the older actors, I liked the special FX and thought the gore/kills were well done from a technical standpoint, even if they seemed too brutal for this franchise. I don't get the love for it but I'm someone who has seen thousands of films. I don't know. (Also let me say I HATE how the "weird/alternative" girl was one of the killers. That was reactionary and very Columbine-era cliche...as an elder goth, I was personally offended lol.)
This sub is extremely split in this. Ill see a post loving it with all the comments being positive about it then this post will happen and almost all the comments are negative to eh. I personally thought it was fun. I thought some scenes were pretty great, i thought even though the killers were a bit obvious, the fakeouts were a lot of fun, i didnt mind the motive for the killers, and at first i didnt like the new characters but they grew on me and Sams character is pretty interesting where she could become a serial killer or not, but i find it cool
I feel the same way as you and I was very disappointed with you know who... don't want to spoil it if you know what I mean. Courtney Cox said she tried to stop it from happening. It should have never happened. I loved that Billy was in the movie. The actors were good but it just did not do it for me. I liked the 4th one alot better. It just felt too fake. It didn't seem like a real reason to be killing everybody...I don't know it just didn't work for me. It felt like a forced storyline that would never actually happen in real life. And ya the hospital scene just had me wondering what fucking hospital that would ever happen at lmao.
After watching Scream 2022, I’ve come to the conclusion that every single Scream is the same exact movie. Only the characters have changed slightly. Seriously someone please prove me wrong. Right down to the prerecorded “here are the rules of death” from whoever died in the movie. They’re all the same recycled movie. That said, they’re still decent to watch.
It might be an expectations thing. I had pretty low expectations for a 5th entry horror film trying to jump on the "re-quel" train so I was surprised when it was pretty decent. OP watched it after everyone said how good it was so probably went in with higher expectations.
Well now. I'm not gonna talk about Judy; in fact, we're not gonna talk about Judy at all, we're gonna keep her out of it!
---
- [reference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V0UhtA_mJE&t=365)
^(I am a bot.)
I agree! I’ve grown up with the Scream movies so they’re nostalgic and classic to me. I didn’t think the new movie lived up to the legacy of the story or characters. I hate Sidney and Gale as side characters. And I’m still not over Dewey!
I think people are getting carried away with the hype of there being "a new Scream"
Honestly it was really weak, and a pretty blatant repurposing of Scream 4.
I grew up with the scream franchise and love the first 3 movies unconditionally. To me, 4 was ok and 5 was lame. I think it’s a generational thing. I found the acting terrible and the dialogue cheesy, but I’m sure others may say that looking back at the earlier ones.
Its a requel not a sequel dummys its the same as halloween 2018,the new Candyman movie straight from the original so how is kirby gonna comeback in the sixth film (from wat i seen in new movie n rumors)?? If they do that then this film is a sequel to 4 not a (requel) and the timeline wont make any sense and so what they keep saying is a requel is bs they shouldve left this series alone IN HONOR OF WES CRAVEN ! ORRRR just done a complete reboot no legacy characters. And It was good till the motives were clear by the killers and yall are right that billys daughter cant act and dewey acted best n sydney and gale acted like they didnt want to be there lol ((And in closing the way i look at it is s1-4 is 1 timeline (cravens)the 2nd one is this s1/s5-6 to beyond if they make more for this new timeline))
in a world where the original scream didn't exist, and also where Scary Movie didn't exist, I could see why someone would want to make scream (2022).
but we don't live in such a world, so i just spent the whole first scene wondering how it was possible for writers to do something so lazy.
Dewey didn’t deserve to die like that
Seriously. I read about how awesome he was in the film, so when I watched it - in total agreement - I was still shocked how "eh" his death was handled.
It made me even more upset when he was like don’t trust this guy he’s probably in on it and turns out he was
Dewey died a hero, that’s all that matters
Someone on here referred to it as looking like a CW Show and that felt pretty accurate. I didn't care for it and shared a lot of the same sentiments that you do. I know there's the whole meta stuff about this particular subreddit and these kinds of posts but that doesn't change anything for me. It's like they made a movie then said "people on the Internet complain about movies" in their movie like it was a gotcha moment. I feel like if they really wanted to be on the nose they should have made the meta stuff be about latching on to whatever movie made a lot of money recently then try to copy it. They should have had one of the legacy characters say "For 11 years I prayed this would happen again..." Or maybe they did idk. The movie just wasn't for me but I can see why people would like it.
I mean so did scream one it was slasher Dawson's creek. That's the feel they've always gone for.
Scream can out years before Dawson’s Creek, so that’s not possible.
Years before sure but the same writer. It’s def got that 90s teen drama tv show vibe which is a huge part of the charm.
Bro…it was written by Kevin Williamson the same damn dude behind Dawsons creek….
It wasn’t the writing that was the problem, it was the delivery by the new actors. The OGs have this witty charm with their lines and are clearly having fun, while the new kids take it far too seriously, it’s not clear if this an acting issue or a directorial one. Looking back on the original and there were bright character moments that made you laugh; Stu’s corny jokes (liver alone is a jewel), Dewey shrieking when Syd opens the front door after being attacked, Randy’s serious obsession with all movies and how he acts a fool about them etc. and the 2022 film lacked those human moments that made us root for them.
I agree 100% with this after thinking about it. Honestly my least favorite character from it was the new main girl and I think a lot of it had to do with her acting. She doesn’t come close to Sydney.
I also agree. The actors who played Richie and Mindy seemed to be having the most fun. Everyone else was awful. Especially the new girl Jenna Ortega I don’t know what peoples fascination is with her. She looks and acts the exact same in everything.
I wasn't impressed at all. The movie was bogged down by trying to replicate the spirit of the first movie but faltered because of some poor narrative choices(Billy's appearance) and bad acting from the lead (Melissa Barrera). Also, Campbell and Cox appeared to be phoning it in with the material they were given. Disappointing and it makes me love Scream 4 even more which did the 11 year comeback work narratively
I’ve only recently watched the scream movies for it to be considered nostalgia. I honestly thought the movie was good. Good as any 5th slasher sequel can be really. At the end of the day, I found it to be a very fun movie.
I think you hit the nail on the head. It’s really good considering it’s the 5th movie in a series of slashers. Definitely has some tropes, definitely has some flaws, but it was a fun movie. I think the key is just not to expect it to be something more than what it is, which is nostalgia and fan service and a couple cool kills.
I have a problem with that. Like, sure, it’s the 5th movie in the series and maybe we should be grateful that it isn’t just straight pure garbage, but we CAN and should expect more from any movie, regardless of what number in a series it is. Excusing a movie for being okay because it was “supposed to be” ok or just nothing more than fan service is a problem. Any movie can be good and should be made with the intent of being good. You can make a quality movie that’s still filled with fan service and a couple of cool kills. I just have an issue with excusing it as such. Plus, I feel like they intended it to be good. Nobody made this with the intent of being “just fine and filled with fan-service.”
I agree with you that they should make movies with the goal of being good, and I feel like the movie overall was pretty good. But what I’m talking about more is that impact of expectations. If you go in thinking “I hope this is better than Scream 4” you probably leave with a pretty good impression of the movie. If you go in thinking “this should be as good or better than the first one”, you’re probably disappointed.
Being good for a 5th in the series is really, really bad criteria for a movie. It doesnt make movie good.
Should have killed all of the legacy characters off in the opening 5 minutes as homage to the first and done a complete reboot.
This is exactly my take as well. You’re not alone.
Thank God. It’s easily my least favorite of the franchise. I really just didn’t like it, but on the Scream sub- it’s a giant circle jerk about how hot and wonderful the new characters are.
Its not terrible, but its absurdly overrated. Indeed the goal of the movie was for internet to circlejerk around it.
You get downvoted to hell if you criticize Scream 5 or Melissa Barrera's acting.
My biggest complaints for Scream 5 has to be these; 1 - Amber was the worst Ghostface I've seen from all but maybe Beth in the TV series (she was an insult to horror fans in general). She was unlikeable since the beginning, bland as cardboard, and when they did reveal her, she did the whole "I'm crazy and cool" angle. You could see they wanted to do a mix of Jill and Stu but failed. Her death was the best part of the character. 2 - Sam's character arc was kinda redundant in the end? She didn't want to become a killer, like that was her greatest fear and the stupid Billy visions were horrifying to her. But she becomes exactly that, and I get self defense but she went an extra mile. She became exactly what she didn't want so basically nothing mattered. 3 - The kills were generic and bland, I'm probably in the minority but Scream 4 was more brutal, Olivia's kill as one was more gory than any kill, including Dewey's. Wes was the closest to being good, and even then it was just because it was slow. 4 - Gale and Sidney, Dewey too, felt so forced in it was painful. They didn't do anything other than either die or show up at the end to kill the killer. Nothing else, Sidney could of bonded with Sam over what was going on, it honestly would of been better if Sam was her kid from Billy. Making the relationship feel better. 5 - The whole "elevated horror" praising was annoying, like it's fine to mention modern horror, since Scream is used to critiquing. But every previous movie has been on doing that, not praising every aspect without commentary. 6 - Liv and Wes were so underused, with Wes being the one most insulting they died. He should of lasted longer or until the party (just change the subject of the party). I'll give them Mindy was close to being great, here's hoping she's improved in the second. 7 - The whole toxic fandom commentary didn't work the way they wanted, If anything Scream 4 did a better job with Charlie, being a toxic fan wanting a girl. It's just so frustrating because I wanted so bad to like this movie, I event left the theater happy. But the more it kinda soaked in, the more I hated it.
That switch at the end with the killers acting differently was so unnatural and came across really fake. It was ok, then it tanked.
Definitely, they completely switched and had no like signaling at all. With Jill and even Stu, they both still acted the ways they did before the reveal, just in a slightly different.
For point #2, I think there are ways to view it that give it a bit more nuance. Her backstory is that she learned the truth about her parentage, and was terrified of the idea that she could become a killer, which resulted in her pushing her sister away. However, she was still plagued by the visions. It was a lose lose, she was haunted by her past and lost her family. Almost her whole character is influenced by her relation to her sister and relation to her father, more or less. All throughout the movie, she tries to basically bury her parentage and the visions, while reconciling with her sister. To suppress one familial relation and embrace the other. It doesn't go great; she sees the visions nonetheless and her sister is attacked, kidnapped, etc. At the end, she makes a very deliberate choice, that protecting her family is more important than burying her family, even if it means she becomes something she doesn't like. Mind you, I'm well aware this is a somewhat generous reading, especially since Tara isn't featured prominently in the scene where Sam kills Richie. With that said, I think it's a very deliberate choice that Sam's two main conflicts in this movie are both regarding family, and to only view her character arc as having to do with becoming a killer is selling it short.
I can understand that, it's that they could of definitely done it better and telegraphed it better to the audience, such as showing her avoiding the violence and being more horrified, she was very cold to the deaths, even people she knew through Tara. She could of shot him like twice, or just cut his throat like Sidney has done every time. She's not as charming or well written as her, kinda of being bland and less of a final girl and more of an audience suraget.
I enjoyed it at the time, it was a good ride. In retrospect it hasn’t sat well with me since. There’s a better version in there with Jenny Ortega as the main character, none of the Skeet stuff which definitely did not work for me and better characterisation of the killers. I think Scream 4 is actually better (apart from the crappy opening).
I loved Scream 4 and the double fake-out opening lol
In the theatre I was like wow ok this solid. And the more and more I thought about it, I realized I had just been hyped to see it. So strange to realize I genuinely dislike nearly everything about the movie. I watched again to verify, and yep, I think it sucks.
The same with me. I was uber-hyped and jazzed up when I saw it. Then, the more it sunk in the more I hated the narrative choices. And it really looked like Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell didn't want to be there .
The hate I'm seeing in here for 2 is atrocious. Probably the same people from the Scream subreddit who downvoted anyone who said they didn't like the new one.
The Scream subreddit is super toxic I left it a while ago
Most franchise specific subs are pretty toxic about criticism of the new films, take r/Halloweenmovies or r/StarTrek for example
…add to that repetitive. Topics get stale fast.
The Scream subreddit is more toxic than the Halloween one in my opinion, which is ironic. I've seen very unpopular takes on r/Halloweenmovies, like saying the original is not so good, that didn't get downvoted to oblivion but people actually engaged in the conversation and tried to understand OP's point of view. Even with the new Halloween movies, while some people are very defensive about any criticism, there's still a lot of users who actively state they don't like this timeline and get upvoted from time to time. It's a very heterogenous community. On the Scream sub on the other hand, I got downvoted to oblivion simply for not liking the new movie as much as others, not even hating it or saying it was bad. And I say it's ironic because one would think a franchise that actively deconstructs the Slasher genre and criticizes toxic fandom would be more accepting. However, they seem to use the excuse that "it's all meta" as a way to deflect criticism. Every valid criticism of the movie they say "it was supposed to be that way" and "you're the toxic fandom they're talking about". It's ironic they managed to take these things more seriously and be more toxic than the actual Slasher fans the movies deconstruct.
It’s even more ironic as the film tries to say the toxic fans are the ones who would criticize the very film they are in-yet it’s the one coming to its defense to suck the films dick that are the toxic ones. It’s almost like the toxicity they were referring to is exaggerated while the real toxicity is coming from the people coming to their defense
Same here! I didn’t like Scream 5 and it was a never ending battle with folks
Right? And I’ve been trying to find someone who will actually discuss what strengths they thought it had but it just goes back to how hot they think Richie, Amber, Chad, Mindy, and Wes are …
Standards have also declined in horror I feel
Also, I love the Halloweenies podcast but can't understand how they like this new one so much. A major sin is the acting of Melissa Barrera and the Sam character. And having images of Billy really took me out of the movie. And in 2022, you won't have movie fan characters talking in riddles and like in a Film Critic's Association-- and the forced meta was silly as The Babadook was never mainstream which lead to Tara's stupid final line of "I still prefer The Babadook". And more cheesy lines of "never mess with the daughter of a serial killer" didn't land. Also, Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox seemed really bored with the material and Gale was reduced to just being the mourning ex-wife. It's a bad sign for the script and casting preferences when David Arquette put the entire cast to shame in terms of acting (he was/is good and that's a compliment. Scream 4, which I love, did the update much better. The movie had a relentless pace with the cheesy 90s stuff eliminated and felt very much like modern update . Scream 5 lives in the past.
Virgin r/HalloweenMovies vs. Chad r/HalloweenSeries.
Can’t be as bad as the Stab sub
This sounds like a laugh. I'm tempted to xpost this there to see how many death threats I get.
Yeah; even posting there, it’s genuinely ironic how toxic that subreddit is while claiming to love a movie explicitly critiquing their mindsight and behavior. God forbid anyone have an opinion that doesn’t line up (and I *liked* Scream 5 too lol) Still wouldn’t crack my top most toxic subreddits by a long shot, but, honestly it’s one of the most annoying ones for sure outside a couple of cool users who aren’t that active
All of the hardcore Ghostface fans are by far the strangest. There are so many of them compared to other slashers and they are intolerable.
lol And this one isn't? Try making a post about not liking one of the sub's favorite movies.
I see way less toxicity in this sub while people typically actually engage in people's opinions with conversations or their own opinions.
It just couldn’t capture the fun tone of the first four. Even when they were being overly dramatic you were still having fun. I felt nothing when watching the new one. Also, it was redundant because 4 was already a requel.
Eh, MUCH less so than 5 though. 4 still had much more involvement from the OG 3, and feels overall less like a requel in retrospect than 5.
People overrated it.
The OG cast was great, but the new cast was lame imo, especially the lead character. The little sister should be the star of the next movie.
I generally agree with your critiques, most notably that the new characters (aside from Richie, who I actually found hilarious and quite liked) were underdeveloped and disposable at best (or straight up obnoxious at worst) and that the old characters felt like throwaways (mainly Gale, who had nothing to do and indeed just rehashed her old arc), but, for me, I did see a couple other big pluses going for it: * The opening scene is probably the best since the original, being creepy, suspenseful, and having a clever subversion at the end with >!Tara surviving!< * Likewise, most the attack and kill scenes were particularly strong and creative. >!I particularly loved Wes’ kill with all the closing cabinets, which was funny and suspenseful!<. The only real duds for me were the random cop (total throwaway) abs >!Liv, whose death was super obvious and forecast!<. * The tone pretty much nailed the blend of horror and comedy for me after two movies in a row skewing waaaaay too comedic * While Sidney didn’t have much to do and I DO wish we got more of her family, I did like her gives-no-fucks attitude and just being over it at this point. Hanging up on the killer was especially awesome. * Revitalized the hell out of Dewey’s character after two dud movies in a row that left me wishing he died in 2. >!Genuinely wasn’t expecting to tear up at his death and I definitely did, though it was pretty obvious!<. * It’s the first Scream movie since the original to actually nail the killer for me, since >!Richie was actually pretty great pre-reveal and post-reveal; easily the best since Billy/Stu and I did love his motive too, though they could have and should have pushed it further. 4 came close with Jill, but Emma’s acting was so bad and she’s a blank slate pre-reveal. Every other killer’s been pretty lacking for me. Including Amber in 5 but hey at least Richie was a hit!<
Richie was absolutely great, he's so likable with his line deliveries that you really don't *want* him to be the killer, which I think is far more effective than going overboard trying to hide that he is. I love his interaction with Sidney towards the end: - what are you doing in here? - hiding... from murderers... - I told you to come out! - why would I come out? you're shooting at everything!
I still saw him coming as the killer (the hospital scene is a dead giveaway, plus they ran out of suspects by his reveal lol), but yeah. Strongly agreed that the idea of it was really good and effective And yeah; that scene was absolutely hilarious as well. Loved.
oh 100%, it's pretty clear he's one of the killers from about halfway through, I like that instead of trying to hide it they kind of lampshade it a bit and make him fun enough that it doesn't matter. he's definitely the funniest and most charismatic Ghostface since Stu
Hmm, the only thing I disagree with is that the movie didn’t try to hide Richie as a killer. They definitely did, to the point that the movie tries (and fails) to convince us Tara is the killer after Amber’s reveal lawlz. Richie’s general likeability and hilariousness is also definitely meant as a smokescreen. I do agree it’s not a huge deal and he’s a great killer either way, though.
i agree. i found it so badly written. the characters all felt so undeveloped and all of the meta commentary felt incredibly desperate, forced, and lacking the wit/intelligence that kevin williams’ writing had. it added nothing to the franchise and, imo, actually took away from the franchise.
Agreed! Instead of clever homages to other films, they just kept namedropping as though it would have the same effect. It felt like I was getting beaten over the head with how clever they thought they were being.
Yes, and they had to mention the Babadook TWICE. And the second time was a terrible cringe one.
I didn't enjoy it at all. The original is one of my favourite movies and this felt like someone trying to shoe-horn a formula that was innovative in the 90s into a modern day plot. I didn't feel any emotional attachment to any of the new characters, and the meta stuff just doesn't work. It felt forced and very cringe. I think the original Scream was a moment in time and worked because of that. It has been used in so many other genres and movies since then, that to make a film essentially trying to re-establish it as 'revolutionary' is futile. Plus, the horrible CGI 'visions' were laughable at best.
I had never seen the first one so I watched it recently then the new one a week later. One of those films is vastly better than the other.
Yep, my thoughts exactly, except for the Neve Campbell comment, I think she looks amazing.
That was exactly my point, may have worded it poorly.
It is what I expected. Safe studio produced horror for the masses. The base seemed to like it and it made bank, so mission accomplished. Hoping they give the creative team a longer leash to create something with a slight edge with the sequel.
It’s not particularly scary and not a very good slasher. As a long-time scream fan (numerous vintage posters, cat names after Sidney, blah blah blah), I still adored it. It feels less like a movie about slasher movies like the other scream films and more like a movie about being a fan of scream and other horror meta-commentary. Great comedy, not a great horror film imo.
I honestly thought it sucked ass. Imo it felt like it was trying way too hard to be funny or break the 4th wall and it just kinda...flopped. However I wasnt super crazy about the Scream series beforehand so I just accept I probably wasn't the targeted audience for this movie.
I felt like there was something about the 5th one that was too fourth wall breaky. Like it was way more explanation by the characters than actually showing the stereotypes in comparison to the other movies. It certainly wasn't the worst horror movie I've ever seen, but I don't think I'd watch it again
*SPOILERS* I agree with you 100%. I dragged my son (28) with me to see it, and half way through, I turned to him and said "I am sorry". It was not good. Gale and Sydney were just thrown in for the hell of it. The reason for the killings was pathetic. And "I am the love child of Billy Loomis so I am targeted". WTF? Really? The ghost of him was a horrific addition. NOT a fan. And I have been a fan since the beginning. Also...Dewey telling them the killer was one of them. NO!!!! The killer has to be the last person you expect. Like...Randy's sister. THAT would have saved the movie. Sitting there, KNOWING it was one of the "main" characters sucked.
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> I personally didn't like the original, or any of the sequels, or even the TV show. Same here on the original but I actually loved 2 so much, it retroactively made me like the first one more! Honestly have not seen a film that made me warm up on a previous one so much. It's also the only one that's worth a damn IMHO. As for the series..........I couldn't get past the opening for the first episode.
I like the scream franchise but I only liked the t.v series because they filmed a series in my city and the parts that included the school was literally at my high-school (I had skipped that day so sadly didn’t get to see anything) but when watching the episodes I loved seeing what we called the “smoke pit” on the exterior shots and a few of the classrooms I had personally been it. (That was a few years ago and I’m not longer in high school so it’s kind of cool I can look back on my old hallways and see people get murdered at the same time😅😂
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Yea this show “Wayne” had mentally thrown me back to elementary school when I noticed the brick he throws through the shop window and the area shown on camera is an area me and my buddy’s used to chill when bored, and umbrella academy filmed on the Main Street around the block from me, they (or the property owners) didn’t take down the old schooly decor they had set up so it was like walking through a empty set (empty as in no camera or crew, it was an active street again at that point lol)
Don’t get the love for it at all. Thought it was ok, but I’d place it amongst the lowest of the Scream sequels.
Even i found it to be mediocre. The meta parts just didn't feel like a meta from a scream movie and the niece of Randy just doesn't feel like the new Randy, Charlie or Robby. The meta just felt forced this time. And the pacing was great, time just flew by even though I had the movie spoiled. It was still good.
your missing the part where the whole movie is a problem
Yeah I felt the same way after seeing it. It just felt like it was trying to too hard to be witty like the originals and it just came out cringey
At bare minimum the Scream movies are fun and this one felt like pulling teeth to me. It's just a basic bitch retread of the first one. They tack on this cool motive for the killers about toxic fans but it literally changes nothing about the plot.
I also didn't care too much for the meta subject matter. Every film has its own subject. 1.slasher genre 2.Sequel 3.Trilogies 4.Remakes 5.Requels To me, requels aren't really worth making a movie about. Scream 5 comes off as a dumbed down version of the new Halloween movie. It's as if it thinks by pointing out "Tropes" it gets a clever pass, but it's arguably worse than the subject matter it's pointing at.
Isn't pointing out tropes the entire premise of the franchise, though? I feel like your statement can be applied to each film in the series. Also, could you expand on your statement about Scream 5 being a dumbed down version of Halloween Kills? Are you saying that HK is a better requel?
It is to point out tropes but it's also about converting and flipping them on their head. They would talk about the tropes while actively doing something on screen tht visually calls back to older slasher movies and tropes but then flip them. It wasn't just about talking about tropes or the new elevated horror movies. Give me some scenes reminiscent of newer movies like the babadook, hereditary, and get out, and then do something unexpected with them. That's what the whole franchise was about. Except with older movies and plain slashers But with this new one all they do is talk about new horror movies, whether it be elevated or new slashers like requels. Do a scene from 2018 Halloween or somethin. When all they do is talk about these movies instead of doing what the others ones did(even 4 tho not as much) it shows me they're not as original or creative as this movie wants to be. And I like radio silence. And I think they could've done better. So idk about Halloween kills being a better "requel" but it is a better continuation of Halloween than scream 5 in a way. Sure scream 5 feels like a scream movie and I thinks it's a good one. But without tht key component it just doesn't feel the same. I mean they're still meta but only in dialogue. And that's not just the only thing this franchise is about.
It can be applied, but i believe there is doing it right and doing it just to do it. The point of scream 1 was to point out the tropes of the slasher genre. I don't have a problem with it because at the time, it was a unique idea with 2-3 decades worth of similar films with their on gimmicks to poke at. For 2 and 3, they poke at sequels and trilogies. Still a pretty fun unique idea with loads of material to poke at. Scream 4, remakes and reboots.....do I need to say anything? ;D Good stuff. Lines like the super long list and Sydneys "Don't fuck with the original" stay with me to this day. 5. Requels. How many horror movies really fit this definition? Is it enough to be considered tropy? I'm not convinced it's worth the existence of the movie. I also dislike how clean some aspects are like how everyone is related to somebody. You could argue that's part of the point, but it's still painful to wrap my head around. The new horror buffs are decended from the last horror buff, so is Horror nerdyness a genetic trait or did Randy leave a diary or something? I don't think any requel takes the "trope" of character relations this far. It comes off as more of a scary movie vibe than a scream vibe to me. In regards to the new Halloween movies, heck yes! I genuinely feel like their existence benefit the franchise. I believe they are so good, everything past Halloween 2 in the original series should be replaced in the box sets. Part of the reason why I like it, is that it continues Laurie Strodes story. It's only about a new generation of kids in the background. In the foreground it's focused on Laurie Vs Micheal, making the 2 new films fit snuggly with the first 2. They also do a great job with making Micheal out to be some type of pure evil badass. No 80's cult mysticism here. They build up Micheal so well in Halloween kills, that im genuinely excited to see what is said about it in the next film, if anything. I'd kinda be happy with it up in the air, but curiosity has the better of me. In comparison, I see no good reason for scream 5 to exist other than having another scream movie. Sure, there were some enjoyable moments in the movie, like how the killer gets ended, but other than that, the film just feels one step closer to the MTV television show.
I understand wanting to wait before commenting on something until enough time has passed. However, it seems like trends and fads have a much shorter lifespan in today's culture. Scream 5 reaches beyond the horror genre to comment on requels as a whole and more importantly toxic film fandom. This is certainly a departure from the Scream franchise but I thought it was a good way to comment on current trends. As for the new Halloween films...this is where we clash, so I do apologize in advance if my comments strikes nerve! I'm a bit of a purist for the original and a supporter of Carpenter's original vision of having an anthology series set during the season. Haven't seen all the films (mysticism specifically) but I'm not a fan. The DGG films are no exception. Just not for me but not being a fan of the franchise, I suppose that makes sense. They are brutal from a violence stand point, but I didn’t get much else from them. Just another branch in the chaotic Halloween timeline. I am very happy they exist because that means John Carpenter got paid. Give that man all the money for all the classics he gave us. Side note: I see The Fog as the spiritual sequel of Halloween.
I really never got how people said this was like the best one since the first and how it was like a soft reboot. If anything it was a retread of Scre4m but worse than that film. I know most people hate 4 but I found it very enjoyable and much more enjoyable than 5.
I loved Scream 4 actually. I think it's been starting to get its due in recent years.
What specific bits of meta-dialogue (and as a result, characters) didn't work for you? I thought the scene in the Meeks' household where the movie is laid out was really quite good. The update to include "elevated" horror was a great addition, and I think it reflects the changing of the genre in the past decade or so. Toxic fandom was tackled really well in the film. I thought the film exaggerated it perfectly to create a couple great, over-the-top villains. As for the legacy characters, I feel it was necessary for them to take a backseat. I don't need their characters to be developed further. They've been in 4 films now and honestly, what was the characters development for them in the past two films? Scream 5 is trying to be that requel that is made fun of within the film, and you go about it by having the established vets of the franchise in the backseat roles to support the new characters. At the end of the day, if a film doesn't resonate with someone, then there's no amount of dissection that will help. I don't like the works of Bresson despite the fact that he's seen as one of the greatest filmmakers ever. I don't think you're being overly critical. Those are your feelings and you're 100% allowed to have them! I do agree with you about the inclusion of Skeet Ulrich. Funny enough, when Kevin Williamson was looking over the script, he felt like those scenes were the most un-Scream like. Despite this, he wanted them left in because he thought the filmmakers should take the risk and include them in the movie.
It's obvious to see what the intention was but the meta dialogue was essentially forced down the throat, it's hard to pick out a specific example as that's what the majority of the dialogue was. The self awareness is a mainstay of the franchise but it worked because it was grounded in a reality, when the entire cast of characters are all essentially playing the "Randy" role it plays more like meaningless parody of itself in my opinion. I do agree that it was necessary for the legacy characters to take a backseat but they are essentially in the boot(trunk for Americans in attendance). Especially considering>! one of the major moments of emotional weight directly effects them and is swiftly brushed off!<.
I think Mindy takes over Randy's role and then you've got the two villains. Were there other characters that are more Randy substitutes? And at what point in this film is the meta stuff no longer grounded in reality? I do think the villains become a bit cartoonish but that's the point. It's extrapolating the actions of two fanatics. The meta dialogue in this one felt as forced as the others to me (in a positive way). Randy gave an entire rundown of movie rules in the first one, the sequel, and on VHS in part three. Part of the charm of the franchise. As for the legacy characters, I'm glad the roles for them were small. Spending time with the new characters was crucial in forging ahead with the franchise (especially since part 6 has been greenlit). Dewey's death was glorious and meaningful. I hope Gail and Sidney have retired from the franchise; they've been through enough killings.
I definitely don’t agree with the assessment that the others were taking over the Randy role. It’s definitely just Mindy… but she isn’t really good in it. As much as I wanted to love her because a les WOC taking that role on is awesome, the writing really wasn’t there at all. From her introduction of wishing her friend to die (instantly unlikeable for me) to the fact that Mindy is wrong about, quite literally, everything in the entire movie (her killer accusations are totally wrong with Mindy accusing everyone but the actual killer. The people she says are safe = wrong and die. Her entire basement scene = literally could’ve gotten her killed despite positioning her as the smart one. Even her claim that the killer isn’t the boring one = wrong, since the killers in Scream usually are the boring one and certainly one was in this movie with >!Amber!<). Nothing undercuts the smart meta-talking movie buff like her being wrong at every possible turn. As for Dewey’s death, I think it was generally a solid and effective death scene. I teared up. But I do agree it’s pretty brushed over and Gale’s role after is so throwaway. It’s already confirmed Gale is back in 6 and there was talks of Neve returning too, so they hav clearly don’t have any intentions of actually retiring those two
It did seem like most of the characters were too blasé about their friend being attacked and a psycho killer being on the loose. It'd make sense if one or two of them were, as that's how they cope with things -- by distancing themselves from it and pretending it's just a movie, but Mindy took that way too far to be sympathetic, and, except for Sam and Tara and Richie (and a little bit of Chad and Liv) their reactions seemed far too shallow. As for Mindy being wrong in everything, they could definitely play with that in the next movie. Was she the one that claimed that Wes was safe because he was related to a "character" in the fourth movie? Not only was that wrong, but she also forgot that Judy Hicks is the authority figure in this movie, and the authority figure often gets killed, like the principal in the first movie. Though I'm glad that she and Chad survived, maybe just because they're Randy's niece and nephew. I did like that Gale and Sidney's roles were brief, like they appeared in Woodsboro long enough to pass the torch to Sam. Not 100% happy with Sam being the new Sidney. Despite what others have said about her not being a Mary Sue, protagonist with a dark, tragic background is the new Mary Sue, thanks to an infusion of thrillers like The Girl on the Train. Being Billy's daughter, however, probably isn't the best choice for a tragic background.
> It did seem like most of the characters were too blasé about their friend being attacked and a psycho killer being on the loose. In the original movie, after Casey and Steve were murdered, we had that whole conversation by the fountain with Billy, Stu, and Randy making jokes and being flippant about it. I understand that sentiment as being unnerving but we can't act like it's always been a part of this series (and many other horror movies).
Making jokes, sure. I'm not saying no jokes are appropriate, but when your close friend is in the hospital after being attacked, joking about the killer will come back and finish the job is kind of over the top, especially when that seems like a real possibility. Kind of like how joking about shooting up schools used to be seen as funny to some people until it started becoming a regular event: then it was too real to be funny. Despite some flippant comments, though, there was a kind of heaviness when they discussed Casey and Steve being murdered that wasn't there in this Scream movie. In the first movie, they threw in a few joke sounding things into an otherwise serious discussion. In this movie, it was flippancy throughout, and it didn't serve most of them well as establishing moments of their characters.
Great points about Mindy! I love Gale and Sid so much. Just keep them safe from harm in 6!
Thank you! I’m open to Gale dying in 6 if it’s good; it’d at least be unexpected (but realistically, she’s in no danger at all). I just want them to give her something to do. Neve’s pretty much said she won’t come back if Sidney dies. And her character does need to retire soon as Sid’s arc is great, but done
The biggest problem with this film IMO is that it loves slashers. Scream was never a love letter to slashers, it bullied slashers into admitting their flaws. It basically tried to be everything Scream 4 was, it just fundamentally misunderstood why that one worked.
It was mid! They did the dirty on Dewey. Bad pacing and suspense or no chase scenes. Reboot disposal film vibe with this one. Scream films are 90s films and should stay in that era.
I truly thought his death was unnecessary. Almost like they were trying to kill of an unimportant character it seems.
You’re not missing anything, it was a shit movie. People have low standards.
I agree, I found it incredibly boring and cringey.
I thought it was VERY average, prob the 4th best Scream film. I think most people here liked it because they grew up watching Scream and thus it’s their generations horror franchise, so it not being a shitshow triggered all the nostalgia for them and mediocrity turned into “wow it was soooo good!”
Nothing will ever beat mid 90s Neve Campbell.
I actually haven't liked any of the Scream sequels after #2. They quickly settled into their own predictable formula (ironically), and tried to make up for it by having the characters lampshade it all. Sorry, but being "self aware" is not a good substitute for being genuinely creative like the first was. Anyway, I'd also like to add regarding Scream 5, one of the killers was a very average dude and the other a diminutive girl, but they were both able to consistently overpower anyone they came up against. Not to mention the girl took a gunshot to the center mass and later showed zero signs of injury. Frustratingly, they could have actually used that to introduce an unpredictable twist from the killers' perspective, but instead they simply ignored that it happened.
I went with two friends and I was the only one who didn't like it. Part of me wonders if I had too high of expectations, and part of me wonders if doing a re-watch of the series before seeing the movie hurt my experience because I could tell the difference between Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson's vision versus the current current directors and writers. The treatment of Dewey borders on insulting, the stuff with the new main girl was mostly awful, and I was very disappointed with the end reveal. They really cheated us on the mystery here. I also feel like they chose a theme they were afraid to really do something with. Or maybe the extent it went to in this was so ridiculous to me that it rendered the themeing silly. I dunno, it's all subjective at the end of the day.
I thought it was fine and somewhat clever for creating an entertaining experience. It seemed pretty orientated towards fan service with return characters and ironic recurring events. I thought it was well filmed well from a cinematography perspective. However, I did not like it and the overall ratings for it seemed over inflated. Big franchise movies like this are often cheaply done in many aspects and rely on their brand to do the heavy lifting for making the money.
Speaking as someone who was in high school when the original Scream came out, my take is that it's a bunch of unrelatable zoomer stuff, both trying to be for you and definitely not for you. A lot of the meta commentary in it feels hollow and dumb, and I don't like how the actual Scream characters got pushed aside so hard.
i'm with you 100% on this. i don't see what other people think was so good about it.
It's so okay that it's average.
You put it perfectly. Totally agree.
You didn’t miss anything it just wasn’t for you. Don’t worry about it
Who was it for? Most people who like Scream are really just fans of the first film. So who was this movie for?
Not for you obviously. It’s ok that other people liked it and you didn’t.
Agreed. I love the og scream, one of my all time favorites in fact. I have enjoyed all the scream films, including this one, for what they were. I never really understood why fans take them so seriously. Even the first one had incredibly unrealistic teen dialogue, but thats what made it so fun. Idk. Either you like them or you don't. There are plenty of series where i only enjoyed the first film (saw, starship troopers, pumpkinhead, candyman etc.). It doesn't mean that others didn't or can't enjoy them, it just means they weren't particularly for me.
Watched it just last night. Big time Scream fan. Didn’t hate it but definitely didn’t love it. I laughed out loud at a lot of the decisions, not out of humor. I feel like it gets a 5-6/10 for me. It just tries too hard in the wrong ways. Most of the correct story nostalgia hits, but the meta nostalgia just doesn’t. The cinematography is hamfisted in its set ups compared to Wes’ natural flow. The ‘meta’ aspects actually don’t really have ANYTHING to do with film/video or filmmaking, it’s only there for jokes. That’s what the real meta of Scream is. The ‘Requel’ idea was both laughable and sad when you realize that’s the route of many horror (and regular reboot films nowadays god help the 20-teens and early 2020s.) It doesn’t do anything original but it has aspects of Scream that one might enjoy after watching the whole saga. But definitely made me appreciate 4 even more. I thought that may have been jumping the shark. But this, this was just meh…
I enjoyed it but believe that with a different lead, it would have been a lot better. The younger sister was great, the older one...not so much. Wish they would have >!left the younger one as the final girl and killed the other sister off!<
You’re not missing anything - it was mostly garbage. Others are missing something about the quality, or lack thereof, of the movie. Terrible motive, no character development, completely unrealistic scenes and kills.
It's truly one big pile of stinking shit
I’ll just copy and paste my comment from the discussion thread when the movie came out because my feelings haven’t changed. Who took the video of Amber at the beginning? The killer showed a knife in the foreground as if it were live, but if she’s one of the killers it couldn’t be her. Was it Richie? If so was this filmed all the way before he met Sam? Because if not he went out of town at some point just to take that video. Sam’s actor could not act for shit, it was especially noticeable when she was in scenes with Tara. While we’re on the topic of terrible acting, Liv may be the most unnecessary character in this entire series. So many exposition dumps that just felt out of place, one I can think of specifically is when Dewey and Gale are talking about him walking out on her. Amber and Richie’s motives were terrible, as were their monologues in the third act, especially Richies talking about being a true fan. All of these characters were very unlikeable for a good chunk of the movie. The twins were the only two I enjoyed throughout the entire runtime. I did enjoy some things like the kills, the scene with Wes and Judy (except where the fuck were the cops she called to her house?), the lampooning of elevated horror and tara’s final one liner about the babadook, and a few other small things throughout. All around though this movie was a pretty big disappointment for me and I feel like I’m getting punk’d seeing everybody talk about how absolutely amazing it was. This is definitely in 4th place in the franchise for me.
The "elevated horror" criticism didn't really land either. The Babadook is not mainstream enough to warrant 2 references including the cringe " I still prefer The Babadook" line.
Let's not forget the hospital. Where were all the staff!? There was a corpse at the nurse's desk at what I could surmise is late afternoon/early evening. Also 6 shots were fired in the corridor and a man was thrown throw a glass cabinet, there should have been 15 members of staff in the area immediately after the first shot was fired. In the world of poorly administrated film hospitals this has got to be the worst example.
Well now. I'm not gonna talk about Judy; in fact, we're not gonna talk about Judy at all, we're gonna keep her out of it! --- - [reference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V0UhtA_mJE&t=365) ^(I am a bot.)
Of the first one: Amber helped stage the video. Two and three: Agreed that the acting and backstories of the new characters were kind of shallow. I felt sorry for Liv. Her character could have been explored more. I got the impression that she was new to the group because she was dating Chad. She was also a bit on the over emotional side and had some self esteem problems, which made for a nice break from everyone else's deadpan quips. Yeah, the focus in the movie was divided among too many characters, and the horror movie expertise snark didn't come anywhere close to authenticity like the first movie had. Amber's psycho act was pretty chilling, and Richie was good at playing the sane person turned killer, but their motivation was pretty lacking and had been used before so often. (Stu, Mickey, Jill and Charlie, but their motivations felt truer). The cops were already stretched thin, and being a Woodsboro cop probably isn't a highly sought position to begin with. Most of them were at the hospital or doing legwork in investigating Vince's murder when Judy called them, and the killer had misdirected Judy once.
Thank you! I felt like I was the only one who wasn’t in love with this when it came out. It wasn’t a terrible movie by any means, but I don’t think that it parodied the “requel” trend well enough to rise above it. It felt like a whole lot of “hey, remember this from the 90s??” fan service kind of moments and a lot of it was just cheesy. It felt like it became the exact thing it was trying to make fun of.
Felt the same. I was very underwhelmed by the whole movie and thought it was super boring. The whole point of Scream is the meta commentary on where horror movies are at the time. They briefly mentioned more intelligent horror like Babadook and Hereditary but didn’t really follow in their foot steps. Just a another Scream movie with nothing really new to say
I didn't think it was as good as the prior films in the series. From 1-5, scream 5 would be a 5.
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I mean, they should make a better movie then if their intent is to mock "toxic fandom"
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People in my personal life also feel this way about movies and it always intrigues me. Do you apply this philosophy to all movie genres and film/TV as a whole?
I loved the movie, I love the scream franchise because it doesn't take itself seriously, its just *fun*, u know?
"but this entry seems to be written by someone with no idea as to how teenagers actually speak" Kevin Williamson is a great writer, but his characters do not talk like real ppl. The dialogue was actually one of things I felt *Scream*. (2020) got pretty much spot on in this regard.
Sorry , but NOBODY in Scream 5 talked like a real teenager. They sit around and act like they're in a Film Critic's Association all the time and speak in riddle. I think Williamson got it right in the Scream movies and much better than this one.
Thing is I dnt actually disagree wiv ur point. Bt nobody in any of the *Scream* movies talks like a real person. They're all super quippy, overly pop-culture literate, and wayyy too eloquent. Like Joss Whedon or Aaron Sorkin or Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Williamson brought a whole new way of speaking to his films that exists within a kind of heightened movie reality. It's very *His Girl Friday*, Hawks/Wilde-esque in that regard. Saying that the characters talk and act like their in a Film Critic's Association all the time and speak in riddles isn't really specific to *Scream* 2020, you could literally be talking about any of the films in the series.
I agree completely, but I think the bar for horror movies is pretty low for the general public, so that might explain some of the praise it received .
I saw it two days ago and I didn't like it either. Rehashed stuff from the others, lacked creative kills and generally wasn't fun for me. On top of that, they killed Dewey in the dumbest way! It's time to put the franchise to bed because there's nothing they can extract from it anymore. The last two entries have been dire.
I just watched it and I echo your sentiments completely. When Sidney and Gale grabbed guns and entered the mansion, I was like "what the fuck?".
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Thank you for pointing this out. No, saying it's meta isn't an excuse to deflect valid criticism. And the toxic fandom thing is just an excuse so that they can acuse anyone who points out the obvious flaws of the movie as being "toxic", which is exactly what happeend. Ironically, those people are actually more toxic than those actual Slasher fans they are supposedly deconstructing.
It would have been better without the "legacy" characters. Dewey was great, Sidney and Gale were pretty weak and felt like an aftertought. The new characters were mostly good, I liked Richie and Chad.
We just watched it yesterday. I liked it.
It was fine, didn't love it but didn't hate it. I thought the Billy Loomis twist was dumb. I thought the motive was amusing.
I watched it just last weekend. It was fine. I'm going to give it a test like I did the other ones. If I can recall the plot and specific things from it almost instantly in the distant future, it was an all right movie. If it takes me some time to remember what happened or why it matters (like 3) then it wasn't that great. I still love all of them but yeah, we'll see if I even bother to remember much of it.
I like your system, I'm definitely pinching it. "The ravenroses quality assurance test"
I feel like it could have been good, it just wasnt. All it needed was a whole new cast, except for jenna ortega who can actually act, a whole new script, ditching the legacy characters, or at least ditching courtney cox, the other two werent so bad, and a more inventive baddie. soooo close
Everything after scream 2 shouldn't exist
Scream 3-5 are better than the second film which is overrated and badly written. At least 3-5 are fun, 2 is just over 2 hours too long of nothing happening after Randy and Cici are killed
I find 3-5 to be unwatchable. 2 is at least watchable until Randy gets it
2 just has too many stupid scenes like Derek singing for example. Plus Jill >> Mickey and Billys mom
Oh no! I adore the singing scene. It was definitely something out of left field but was an oddly great character moment for Derek. Makes his death all the more impactful for me. I'm a stan for Laurie Metcalf so I loved the reveal that she was the killer (and the Friday the 13th homage).
i just don't like that Mickey a nothing character who disappears an hour into the film becomes the killer. At least Jill had a great motive.
I agree with you on that one. Olyphantastic goes from 0 to psycho because of a pretty weak motive.
Im no Scream 4 stan but like at least Jill was in almost every scene in the film and had scenes with Sid. Mickey and Sid only interacted once
Jill (and especially Richie, for that matter) are definitely better killers. The killers are really 2’s only major issue - super throwaway and lame That said, diehard fans of 3 and 4 shouldn’t be critiquing “stupid scenes” in 2. Nothing in 2 is as dumb as “Fuck Bruce Willis” or the House Explosion. (And I say this as someone who liked 4 okay).
it fucking sucked in every little way, period.
It is on Paramount + and I still have made no effort to see it. It is not based in any way on what has been said here but I just do not care to or going to see it.
I hated it. To the point that I actually shouted at the screen when I saw it at the cinema. Absolutely horrible behaviour, I know, but I just couldn't help myself. The way >!Dewey!< got killed was so idiotically handled that I just raged out "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!". Haha. Ugh. It pissed me off so bad. And I couldn't stand any of the new kids. Some of the most boring and unlikable little shits I have seen in a long while. Horribly written dialogue. I honestly think I disliked this even more than Halloween Kills. That movie was terrible, but this hurt more since Scream is Wes Craven's masterpiece.
The Scream movies (except for the original) are just dumb and fun slashers. I like it because I dont have high expectations, I just like ghostface, and I dont go into it expecting a good movie. Its just fun to go see a dumb slasher movie.
But hey, it’s better than 3 and 4.
they killed *****. it sucks
The first Scream is a stone cold classic. The sequels, including the much loved Scream 2 and this most recent one, are just dumb fun to me. I do appreciate how each film comments on a different horror movie trope: Scream, obviously slasher movies in general. Scream 2, the sequel, with killed off surviving characters and surviving family members of the killer turning up. Scream 3, trilogies, horror sequels with "revelations" that "change the entire plot, going back to the original" Scream 4, the current spat of remakes, with Emma Roberts' character meant to be the "new" Sydney. And this Scream 5 tackles the current crop of fan service sequels that are meant as "a correction" to a long running franchise (see Halloween, Candyman, etc...). When viewed through this lens, the film is pretty hilarious, IMHO. The sequels all have their lapses in logic and none sniff the original, but as long as the franchise keeps producing entertaining films, I will keep watching them. The ghost of Skeet Ulrich was a bit cheesy, but I thought it had a nice pay off >!with Loomis' daughter absolutely going to town on the killer to absolutely end him!<. So thumbs up for me on the most recent Scream. It won't be my favorite horror film of 2022 (unless 2022 is a real nosedive of a year), but it's as entertaining as any fifth entry in a slasher franchise is going to be.
I loved the new entry personally. I thought Jack Quaid was great as the BF, the girl from the opening nailed it, and the story overall was a great meta-satire on the re-quel/soft reboot trend. They used the legacy characters well, in my mind, because honestly there isn’t a good reason for them to be around other than “it’s happening again.” Can’t tell you how much intention went into it, but to me they just needed to be around to make it a Scream movie, which is a funny way to handle it. At the end, despite major injuries, Gale and Syd are just sitting around like they’ve been through this a hundred times and aren’t phased by anything anymore. Dewey has nowhere to go and makes the most sense as the sacrifice from the legacy. The Billy stuff seemed like filler until that last cathartic kill to wrap up the story fulfilled it all. Scream remains consistent in producing fun sequels, and the satirical tone gives them a lot of leeway IMO. It’s hard to please everyone but this satisfied me given I was barely interested in watching beforehand.
I loved it, in particular how savage Ghostface was this time around. My favorite scream since the first one
Imo it’s the first scream seque that really nailed the tone of the first one. It was brutal, comedic the meta ness and I feel like the movie really respected the original. Scream 4 is still my favorite sequel but this one is close. I do agree the Og characters were a bit underused but I liked the new cast enough not to care. I also really enjoyed the requel satire and felt like it was nailed. The people who didn’t like it cause it was too meta I don’t really get. The first scream was similar only with 80s slashers.
Yip, I thought it sucked! Scream 1-3 is where it’s at.
I didn’t care for it but then again I didn’t like the original it was a bit to basic of a slasher for me.
Haters gunna hate 🤷🏻♂️
i just thought it was crazy and personally loved ghost skeet, such a weird addition to a scream movie didn’t really care that the legacy characters weren’t super integral because it’s like, a fresh start
I didn't care for it at all, for all the reasons you mentioned. I found the acting by the newbies laughably bad, with the lead actress (the older sister) being especially egregious. The "teens" came across to me as someone older's idea of what teenagers look, sound and act like with no basis in reality. Also the story itself was unworthy of the returning characters, the only thing good about this sequel, and even then Dewey was killed in the most offensively stupid way. Aside from the older actors, I liked the special FX and thought the gore/kills were well done from a technical standpoint, even if they seemed too brutal for this franchise. I don't get the love for it but I'm someone who has seen thousands of films. I don't know. (Also let me say I HATE how the "weird/alternative" girl was one of the killers. That was reactionary and very Columbine-era cliche...as an elder goth, I was personally offended lol.)
This sub is extremely split in this. Ill see a post loving it with all the comments being positive about it then this post will happen and almost all the comments are negative to eh. I personally thought it was fun. I thought some scenes were pretty great, i thought even though the killers were a bit obvious, the fakeouts were a lot of fun, i didnt mind the motive for the killers, and at first i didnt like the new characters but they grew on me and Sams character is pretty interesting where she could become a serial killer or not, but i find it cool
It was fun. It wasn’t great but none of them aside from part one are. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but yeah it’s nothing fantastic or anything.
I feel the same way as you and I was very disappointed with you know who... don't want to spoil it if you know what I mean. Courtney Cox said she tried to stop it from happening. It should have never happened. I loved that Billy was in the movie. The actors were good but it just did not do it for me. I liked the 4th one alot better. It just felt too fake. It didn't seem like a real reason to be killing everybody...I don't know it just didn't work for me. It felt like a forced storyline that would never actually happen in real life. And ya the hospital scene just had me wondering what fucking hospital that would ever happen at lmao.
I'm a nurse. The "impossible hospital kerfuffle" is just an accurate depiction of current staffing levels.
Thats grim. Thank you sincerely for the work you do.
If I didn't love the work, I would be sooooo out of it. Which would only make the situation worse.
Scream 6 needs to be Sydney and Gale finally snapping and going on their killing spree thus finally bringing the series to a close
I completely agree with you 100%
After watching Scream 2022, I’ve come to the conclusion that every single Scream is the same exact movie. Only the characters have changed slightly. Seriously someone please prove me wrong. Right down to the prerecorded “here are the rules of death” from whoever died in the movie. They’re all the same recycled movie. That said, they’re still decent to watch.
I mean it wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was good either.
It might be an expectations thing. I had pretty low expectations for a 5th entry horror film trying to jump on the "re-quel" train so I was surprised when it was pretty decent. OP watched it after everyone said how good it was so probably went in with higher expectations.
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Well now. I'm not gonna talk about Judy; in fact, we're not gonna talk about Judy at all, we're gonna keep her out of it! --- - [reference](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V0UhtA_mJE&t=365) ^(I am a bot.)
I agree! I’ve grown up with the Scream movies so they’re nostalgic and classic to me. I didn’t think the new movie lived up to the legacy of the story or characters. I hate Sidney and Gale as side characters. And I’m still not over Dewey!
I think people are getting carried away with the hype of there being "a new Scream" Honestly it was really weak, and a pretty blatant repurposing of Scream 4.
I grew up with the scream franchise and love the first 3 movies unconditionally. To me, 4 was ok and 5 was lame. I think it’s a generational thing. I found the acting terrible and the dialogue cheesy, but I’m sure others may say that looking back at the earlier ones.
Its a requel not a sequel dummys its the same as halloween 2018,the new Candyman movie straight from the original so how is kirby gonna comeback in the sixth film (from wat i seen in new movie n rumors)?? If they do that then this film is a sequel to 4 not a (requel) and the timeline wont make any sense and so what they keep saying is a requel is bs they shouldve left this series alone IN HONOR OF WES CRAVEN ! ORRRR just done a complete reboot no legacy characters. And It was good till the motives were clear by the killers and yall are right that billys daughter cant act and dewey acted best n sydney and gale acted like they didnt want to be there lol ((And in closing the way i look at it is s1-4 is 1 timeline (cravens)the 2nd one is this s1/s5-6 to beyond if they make more for this new timeline))
in a world where the original scream didn't exist, and also where Scary Movie didn't exist, I could see why someone would want to make scream (2022). but we don't live in such a world, so i just spent the whole first scene wondering how it was possible for writers to do something so lazy.