Killing Our Expectations: “Scream 5” Review

The phone rings. It’s an unknown number.

Should you answer? Probably not.

Do you answer? Absolutely.

It’s Ghostface on the other line. A figure that has been gone for 12 years has come back to torment the people of Woodsboro yet again. In the epic “requel,” “Scream 5,” we go back to where it all began. Only this time the victims are related to the original friend group from “Scream.” The beginning of the movie starts off the way every “Scream” movie starts, with the iconic kill scene. Poor Tara (Jenna Ortega), alone in her house late at night, gets an unfortunate phone call, and no amount of modern security can keep this masked killer away. However, the audience is shocked whenever it is revealed that Tara survived her attack, immediately setting it apart from every other “Scream” movie. Now Ghostface is back and no one is safe, not even the series’ original final girl, Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell). Along with the help of everyone’s favorite retired cop and anchor woman, Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), respectively, as well as a new and dynamic group of characters, Sydney must figure out who has put back on the mask and put them down for good. 

Considering our absolute love for this movie franchise, we had to go see it, and I hate to say that we were very disappointed. Initially, after leaving the theater, we were satisfied with the film. But upon further discussion, we realized that it could’ve been so much better. The murderers were flat characters with no real motive except being super fans of the “Stab” films, which are movies within the movie that are based around the original Woodsbro murders. In the past few movies, the plot seems to center around “Stab,” which is very different from the first movie. Viewers fell in love with the murderous Ghostfaces, complex plots, well-developed characters, humor, and original ideas. In any movie franchise, the sequels are almost always destined to get worse and worse, but it seems like the writers this time around have almost thrown the original plot out the window. Granted, it is very difficult to continue to come up with new and creative motion pictures, especially without it coming across as a money grab, which is kind of what this felt like.

Despite our problems with the film, there were many redeeming qualities that would make any “Scream” fan pleased. There were many nods to the first movie, and you get to see many familiar faces, such as Judy Hicks and Martha Meeks, side characters that are always good to have around. Even a line as simple as “I’ll be right back” brings a smile to any “Scream” enthusiast. The best nod has to be the return of Stu’s lovely home, where the infamous party took place in the original. Overall, if you are a lover of these movies, it’s worth the watch just to be able to say you have seen it. Of course, we expect Ghostface to return back to the big screen because directors never know when to stop. Let’s just hope “Scream 6” will live up to our high expectations of hot murderers and killer plots.