{"id":5482,"date":"2022-04-18T13:48:20","date_gmt":"2022-04-18T13:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mattshorroraddiction.com\/?p=5482"},"modified":"2022-04-18T13:48:20","modified_gmt":"2022-04-18T13:48:20","slug":"the-new-scream-doesnt-cut-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/?p=5482","title":{"rendered":"The New Scream Doesn’t Cut Deep"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Warning: This post contains spoilers! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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By Frank Pittarese <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I went into the new Scream<\/em> with low expectations, but wanting so badly to love it. It wasn\u2019t the most necessary of sequels, but knowing that the original cast was returning was exciting. If nothing else, I was looking forward to checking in with their characters again. But since this was the fifth film in the series, the stakes needed to be high. This one needed to matter. We\u2019ve already had four films with essentially the same plot, so if this \u201crequel\u201d didn\u2019t level up, it would be a pointless. In my mind, that meant one of two things had to happen: Sidney Prescott had to die in a blaze of glory \u2014 or Sidney Prescott had to be the killer. But whichever way it went, it was time to close the door on Sidney\u2019s too-long arc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scream 5<\/em> is, unfortunately, a half-baked regurgitation of what has come before. Self-referential? Check. Multiple killers? Check. Killers motivated by fame? Check. It\u2019s fair to say that we want some familiar touchstones \u2014 the template for every Friday the 13th<\/em> is practically the same and I never get sick of those. But with the Scream<\/em> franchise \u2014 thanks to Wes Craven\u2019s genre-defining launch \u2014 there\u2019s an expectation of something better\u2026a level of quality that should rise above a by-the-numbers, lazy, cash-grab<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s what we got. Oh, all our favorites are back \u2014 but every one of them is here strictly for fan service. The \u201cold school\u201d characters are hollow window-dressing in a story that disrespects every one of them. Apart from a phone call with Dewey, Sidney is sidelined for the first hour. Dewey and Gale have, for no justifiable reason, divorced between films \u2014 and to really drive a nail in the coffin, Dewey is killed off at the halfway point. He dies like a chump before ever reconciling with Gale. They barely even share screen time. Were you a Randy fan? Well, his teenage niece and nephew have been created for the sole purpose of name-dropping him multiple times. How about Billy? Well, one of the newbies is Billy\u2019s daughter, retconned for the sole purpose of \u2014 what did I say? Fan service, and insulting fan service, to boot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mystery, such as it is, is rendered pointless when, in the final act, the main killer simply whips out a gun and starts shooting people. It\u2019s like the screenwriters grew tired of their own laziness and gave up. Sidney and Gale, two strong women with a history of conflict, arrive on the scene and for a brief flash, I had hope. Maybe this was the point for Sidney and Gale to bond, work together, and save the day. But no, Gale is shot within seconds of meeting the killer. She survives, but the possibility of seeing something different or interesting play out evaporated at that moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lead actress \u2014 playing our new Sidney, I suppose \u2014 is a bland, blank slate. Neve Campbell is the embodiment of the word \u201cpersonality,\u201d and gave us a character we could invest in for decades. This new girl, Sam, is just a CW character gone astray. She brings nothing to the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The one surprise is the second killer. Not that there IS a second killer, because that\u2019s pretty apparent early on. It\u2019s their identity that was a surprise. Somehow, they managed to structure the story and cast a performer who worked so well that I was honestly taken aback in a good way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Word is, there\u2019s another sequel coming. Nobody is asking for it, but we\u2019re getting it. Perhaps they\u2019ll redeem themselves, but given the mess Scream 5<\/em> left behind, I wouldn\u2019t count on it. D<\/strong>+ <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Frank is a Brooklyn native, comic book editor, and horror fanatic. You can follow him on Twitter<\/a> and Instagram <\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warning: This post contains spoilers! By Frank Pittarese I went into the new Scream with low expectations, but wanting so badly to love it. It wasn\u2019t the most necessary of sequels, but knowing that the original cast was returning was exciting. If nothing else, I was looking forward to checking in with their characters again. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4,17,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-releases","category-reviews","category-scream","category-slashers"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matt.doppiavvu.it\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}