The Stream: Obvious, derivative with no good scares.

The Big Screen: It is nice to see Sidney, Gale and Dewey again, I guess.

The Final Bill: More of the same without enough scares or laughs to be worthwhile.

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Director: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett
Writers: James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick
 Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Rating: R for strong bloody violence, language throughout and some sexual references
Runtime: 1 hour 48 minutes
Production Companies: Paramount Pictures, Outerbanks Entertainment, Spyglass Media Group, et al
Trailers: Morbius, Marry Me, The Lost City
Platform: In Theaters

Why does it seem like horror franchises just keep going on and on and on, sequel after sequel after sequel? I guess action franchises do the same thing. Ugh, aren’t there any original ideas!?! Okay, Streamers, I’m not going to complain anymore because I rushed out to see Scream (2022) in the theater this weekend or as I like to call it “Scream 5.” Is it a sequel, a reboot, a re-quel? Let’s see whether this re-quel killed.

Do you really need to know the plot of Scream (2022)? Have you seen any of the previous 4 Scream movies? It’s that. Fine! A new set a teen idiots in Woodsboro are getting killed by a person in a Ghostface mask. Sidney, Gale and Dewey get dragged back into this mess because there is some connection to the murders from the original Scream 25 years ago. Serial killings with sharp knives ensue.

The Scream franchise is supposed to be filled with outrageous killings, humor and movie lore. Of course, this movie has to be updated for the current moviegoing audience. Scream (2022) can’t retread what was already told to us about scary movies 25 years ago or can it? Nevertheless, the writers have found a new angle to justify the resurgence of a Ghostface killer. It is ridiculous, but what do you really expect from a fifth movie in a series? Unfortunately, very few of the killings are memorable, the humor is lacking or doesn’t land (there’s one really good LOL moment), and the movie lore aspect is a basically a retread or completely insane – and not in a satisfying way. The tropes that are used to keep the story going are frustrating especially when smart characters like Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers are brought back. They should know better!

On a side note: the new set of teen idiots are terrible. They are just fodder for the killer – walking, talking meat shields that exist just to die. It’s a waste of time to put any effort into connecting with them. They’re not even funny enough to lament once they’re gone. The other sequels introduced better side characters.

Scream (2022) was a disappointment. It feels like a cash grab. It has weak commentary on the current state of movies and movie fandom. It has weak new characters that exist just to be killed and are neither funny nor memorable. Everyone in this movie does dumb things that should be eradicated from scary movies, especially these Scream sequels. This movie is just entirely too frustrating to invest time in. When it comes on a streaming service, stream if bored – one popped kernel.