Running time: 1 hour, 54 minutes
MPAA Rating: R

The Scream franchise is one of the most well-known horror movie franchises in America. With big names in them like Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, and Courtney Cox, you can’t not watch these movies. Even Drew Barrymore, a teenage star at the time, is in the original. The original story is centered around 17-year-old Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) whose mother was murdered the year before. The young teen lives in Woodsboro, California which is experiencing a spree killing— a string of murders in a short period of time.
The newest installment of the slasher movies, “Scream 5,” was released on Jan. 14, 2022. This is their first one without their beloved director Wes Craven, who passed away in 2015. Viewers are prepared to see some fresh faces along with some of the originals. Everybody seems to be somehow connected to a character from the past. The return of Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette mixing with new faces like Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera and Dylan Minette.
The movie starts with an iconic scene from the first movie but is reworked to fit Jenna Ortega’s character Tara Carpenter and the time change as the first was made in the mid-nineties. The ominous phone call that changes everything puts you on the edge of your seat. The thrilling first five minutes extend into the adrenaline of the entire movie. The kids rehash the Slash movies, which are the movies within the Scream universe that tell the story of the movie. They figure out that the new murderer is trying to create a requel as everyone who has either been attacked or killed up to this point are connected to some of the original characters. A major plot twist connects Melissa Barrera’s character to someone unexpected, making her look more suspicious than ever. A few heartbreaking kills later, the movie had a stomach twisting reveal to who the killer is.
To be honest, I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about the new set of characters in the franchise. Overall, I enjoyed the movie and the characters within. Every character’s different approach to ghostface was funny and intriguing to watch. It was nice to get to know the new storylines and honor the old. There was a complexity to this movie that I hadn’t seen before in the other movies. The movie took on a new concept of a requel, which is a redo and sequel for a movie in within the movie. Sounds confusing? It definitely is!
Although I don’t think that this was the best movie in the franchise, it ranks pretty high on the list. I would say it was third best in the franchise. Nothing could top the original and the second one. It was the perfect mix of gore and winding storylines. The bloody kills are almost comical on how predictable and well thought out they are. They fit into the storylines and character arcs very well. Trying to figure out who the killer was from the clues gained from the characters was intriguing. To the audience, everybody was a suspect. The overall suspension left me on the edge of my seat and wanting to see the movie all over again.