You can safely add another honour to ‘Halloween’s slasher legend, Michael Myers…..I think he just bullied Ghostface out of retirement.
Not that the new ‘Scream’ is a TOTAL knock off of the recently rekindled ‘Halloween’ franchise; but I’ll be darned if the gist ain’t there. I mean, c’mon….a gutsy heroine, still haunted by a ghoul from her past, with a shot at redemption? A cast of fresh faces, combined with series vets, that ALL have a chance to take a shot at the same blade-wielding antagonist? This isn’t exactly meadow fresh..
But I digress. And apologies to fans of ‘Scream’ and its sequels, for I was never big on this brand. If you loved the 1996 original and its follow-up’s, you WILL probably get a kick out of this jaunt down memory lane. Me? I think for all the marketing bravado that late director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson put behind the fact that they were breathing new life into the exhausted horror genre, they simply beat the same tired drum 25 years ago. Sure, it added a dash of self-referential sarcasm and youthful flash – but I still don’t believe this gang changed the game to the point that they feel they did; and ‘Scream 2022′ (I know, the year isn’t part of the title, but I gotta find some way to separate the films, ’cause the plot sure doesn’t do that) arrives like another hunk of recycling.
One character describes ‘Scream 5’ (…better?) as a ‘requel’, a remake of the original that uses beloved players to help initiate and establish a new brand and new characters with the audience, a “passing of the torch” – which, I will admit, isn’t a horrible route to take. But oh, what an unsurprisingly predictable path it turns out to be.
Neve Campbell is back as Sydney, Courtney Cox returns as Dale and David Arquette reprises his role of Dewey. Past that, we have a new slate of new victims…er, characters….with another dude in a mask on a killing spree. (This one IS a lot more grisly, by the way, if that’s your bag). And there’s more to it, yes. But not enough to re-invent any kind of horror wheel…..not that I think the ardent supporters wanted that anyway.
