A Look Back at Scream 5 (2022)

With Scream 6 arriving in theaters this weekend (I already have my ticket for a 3D showing), it occurred to me that I never got around to doing a post about the most recent entry in the series, last year's Scream 5 (a.k.a. Scream '22). I have already written posts about the original Scream trilogy and Scream 4, so I might as well share a few thoughts about the movie that brought the franchise back and put the pieces in place for the entry that will soon debut. 

Please keep in mind that I am writing this post from the perspective of a fan of the Scream franchise, not as a film reviewer. As such, if you know little or nothing about the Scream movies, this post probably won't interest you and will spoil a few plot points if you aren't familiar with them already. If you're a Scream junkie like me, then by all means keep reading.

First, I love Scream 5. It's well-written, well-directed and well-cast. It stays consistent with the themes and ideas of the previous films while exploring new territory that moves the legacy of Ghostface forward in unexpected ways. In particular, Scream 5 understands that this series isn't just about Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette); it's also about what would drive a person to go on a slasher-themed killing spree and how the media sensationalizes real-life crimes.

The call is coming from inside the house in Scream 5.

The motive of the killers in Scream 5 ranks as one of the most insane motives provided in the series. The killers in the previous four movies were connected directly to Sydney Prescott in some way and were motivated by revenge, the thirst for fame, or some twisted combination of the two; in contrast, the Scream 5 killers commit their murders to "improve" the quality of the in-universe Stab franchise. While I understand that this motive served as a way to provide commentary about how toxic fan communities have become in recent years, it's still incredibly bonkers to consider. It would be like die-hard fans of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise getting upset with its many disappointing sequels, prequels and "requels" and deciding to hunt down and kill people who are connected to the real-life Ed Gein murders to inspire better Chainsaw movies. The Scream movies have poked fun at the media's fixation with true crime since the first entry, but adding hyper-obsessive fans into the mix takes the franchise's already dark sense of humor to a whole new level.

Putting the fake Stab franchise into a real franchise that built its narrative around satirizing slasher film cliches was a stroke of genius but Scream 5 reshapes it by turning it into THE motive for the killers. Essentially, the success of the Stab franchise validates the motives of the original Ghostface killers Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) and Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), as well as the other Ghostface killers by extension. This could be inferred from the previous movies but Scream 5 places it at center stage. The sequel makes this point explicitly when Gale says to Sydney that she never should have written a book about the Woodsboro murders in the first place, the book that started the Stab movies. By doing this, the Scream franchise comes full circle, with the Ghostface persona assuming a life of its own due to the in-universe media that profited greatly from Ghostface killing sprees.

Sam (Melissa Barrera) talks to a voice from the past in Scream 5.

There's an interesting duality between Scream 4 and Scream 5. They both take place in Woodsboro and both introduce new sets of characters that become the focal point of the story. Mostly, this is due to what each film satirizes: Scream 4 pokes fun at remakes and Scream 5 pokes fun at requels, the murkier film category that consists not of remakes but alternate sequels to original films. Since the Scream franchise never felt the need to do a remake or a requel, it fittingly took jabs at these notorious means Hollywood uses to keep franchises going (particularly when they shouldn't). These sequels also add new layers to the recurring Scream theme of intergenerational conflict, between Syndey and her cousin Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) in Scream 4 and between Billy and his daughter Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) in Scream 5. Jill wants to be like Syndey but in the worst possible way, while Sam wants to get as far away as possible from her father's legacy but winds up embracing it when circumstances leave her with no other choice.

(Speaking of Scream 4, I couldn't help but to think of it when Dewey tells Sydney not to come back to Woodsboro after Ghostface reappears in Scream 5. Odds are that Sydney no longer has any need to return to Woodsboro, since all of her remaining family in Woodsboro died in Scream 4.)

Since the same creative team that made Scream 5 also made the new sequel, I'm looking forward to seeing where they take the franchise next. In particular, I'm curious to see how much the public in the Scream universe actually knows about the Ghostface killers outside of Billy and Stu, and if Sam knows that both her dad AND her paternal grandmother were both Ghostface killers. One of the promotional posters also included a suggestion that the late Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) might play a role in the new story, so I'm wondering where that thread will go. Regardless, if Scream 6 is as good as Scream 5, I'll be a very happy slasher fan.