Scream (2022) 4K UHD Review
2022’s “Scream” takes the franchise in a new direction.
In 2022’s “Scream” (it really should have been called Scream 5), the town of Woodsboro once again becomes terrorized by a Ghostface killer (or is there more than one?). This time around, the killers are targeting a new crop of characters including Tara and her sister Sam (who has a surprising connection to a past character), Sam’s boyfriend Richie, and Tar’s pals Wes, Amber, Chad and Mindy, and Liv. Of course, one or more of these characters might be the actual killer. Knowing the killers need to be stopped, Sam hopes to recruit a few survivors who know a thing or two about dealing with Ghostface. Enter Dewey, Sidney and Gale.
With the exception of the highly uneven “Scream 3,” the Scream franchise has been rather consistent. A lot of that had to do with the fact that the late Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson made such a dynamic duo together. They perfectly mixed horror and comedy together while also creating stories that were genuinely clever. With 2022’s “Scream,” a new creative team is involved with directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (best known for the horror-comedy “Ready Or Not”) and writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. The good news is these horror creatives are clearly fans of the long-running horror franchise as they pay homage to its past while also expanding upon the meta concepts of the original. This time around the story focuses more on modern elements including social media, reboots, sequels, requels, and toxic fandom. The bad news is that they aren’t Craven and Williamson. Their vision is missed here as the new filmmakers sometimes treat this installment more like a parody than a sequel. Moreover, the legacy characters take a little bit of a backseat here to new characters who largely don’t make much of an impression outside of the sisters and Richie. They’re more like tropes than anything.
Now, that’s not to say the sequel is lackluster because it’s not. The fresh direction mixed with the nasty violence and the callbacks to “Stab” and even a certain legacy character (no spoilers here) make this entry worthwhile. James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick deserve a lot of credit for modernizing the Scream franchise by tackling modern meta elements. Considering “Scream” was meta before meta was a thing, it feels like an appropriate angle to take.
“Scream” (2022) is at its best when Courtney Cox, David Arquette and Neve Campbell are on screen. Not only do we get to see where these characters are in their lives, but we also get to see some moving reunions (again, no spoilers). As mentioned earlier, the new characters were rather forgettable, but Jack Quaid (Richie), Jenna Ortega (Tara) and Melissa Barrera (Sam) stand out. It will be particularly interesting to see what happens with Sam’s character given that a sixth installment is already in the works.
Video/Audio:
Presentation: 2.39:1 2160p. How does it look? Expect a predictably crisp 4K transfer.
Audio Track: 7.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? The 7.1 track is effective from the score on down.
Extras:
* Digital copy
* 1996 “Scream” trailer
* 3 minutes of deleted scenes. Nothing of note here.
* “New Blood” covers the legacy of the original “Scream” and the new cast/characters.
* “Bloodlines”- A featurette about this new sequel. Cast and crew interviews are included.
* “In The Shadow Of The Master”- A touching tribute to Wes Craven.
* An enjoyable and talkative commentary by James Vanderbilt, Guy Busick, Tyler Gillett, Chad Vilella and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin.
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