5cream — Review Thread

The main actress is laughably bad.

The direction is poor, the story sucks, and the third act thinks it's much more clever than it really is. Why certain elements were treated as big reveals is beyond me.

I've never seen #4, but this is easily the worst of the other 4, and even my AMCstubs doesn't justify going to see this tonight.

+1 for Jack Quaid's performance
+1 for well executed jumps.

2/10.

If I judged all movies by my erection, my 1980s-1990s list would have looked much different.

I liked this.

That’s the only judgment that matters.

you should really see a doctor about that

As fresh, fun and innovative as the original Scream was back in 1996, the sequels (while at the very least enjoyable on some level) have kind of been all over the place. Scream 2 was fun, 3 felt bogged-down in its formula and kind of lacking, and 4 was mostly fine. So, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from Scream 5 -- or, just Scream again, as it's pretty stupidly-titled (and of course, the movie itself makes fun of that very thing) -- but what I got was honestly pretty enjoyable; certainly the best Scream sequel since 2. How much that statement means to you will depend on your mileage with the franchise.

A core key to the original's success was having a cast of fun and likable characters, and this new Scream continues that tradition. I'd hesitate to say that there are any true new Sydney Prescotts or Deweys within this new cast in terms of memorability, but they're all reasonably solid. Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega in particular provide the film with its driving emotional hook, and both are quite good. The family issues with them that are at the core of the film prove to be interesting and compelling enough as well as providing them with an effective amount of personality. Plus, the two really sell the sisterly dynamic. There's also Jack Quaid, who's honestly a lot of fun in this and in terms of entertainment value, easily the most memorable of the new characters, if not for his zippy one-liners alone. In fact, you know what -- let me back it up a little bit. Barrerra, Ortega and Quaid are ehandily the highlights out of the new cast and while the rest are certainly serviceable, none of them may prove to be as memorable. But that's okay, because Ready or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett prove that they understand the fundamentals of the Scream franchise, which are meta humor and bloody kills, and utilize them well. The directors actually do a fairly credible job of tapping into the tone/spirit that the late great Wes Craven established for this series. Because they kind of expertly lean into all the meta double-talk about horror movie tropes while simultaneously building a legitimately fun horror experience around them. While much like its predecessors, this film cannot be called scary by any means, there's still very much that joy inherent in these specific types of slasher films that contributes to the kind of fun atmosphere we're used to with these movies. Another wise thing they do is that they don't overexploit or let the returning cast overshadow the new ones. Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courtney Cox are in this just the right amount, and they even get in some legitimately emotional moments that feel well-earned. On the other side of the fence, for all the film's metaness, it probably ironically relies on formula a bit too much to ever really break through its trappings and there's a particular twist/connection that a new character has to a past one that feels strange and maybe even unearned.

But overall, this new Scream fulfills its purpose well and proves to be a good time if you're a fan of the franchise. I think Wes would be pretty proud.

***/****

You haven’t watched About Schmidt?

I have, and I stand by my statement. 

That's about right

He's got some weird kinks

This was absolute trash.

I didn't know Billy Loomis was Latino.

Terrible flick, not saying I'd skip a sequel but this was low effort. The beginning meta-ness of it was an okay nod but it fell in on itself quickly

4/10

Dracula has entered 2022. Can’t wait for his Uncharted review.