Do you like scary movies? How about scary sequels with the same name as the original movie? Then Scream, which is technically Scream 5 but is just called Scream, is the movie for you—and now we have a trailer! Like the original Scream, it opens with a Ghostface murder (now complicated by the existence of smart house technology and text messaging)—and then expands to take in familiar faces and tropes.
“I’m Sidney Prescott, of course I have a gun.” It’s good to see some things don’t change. In 1996, Scream was the highest-grossing slasher movie ever, the story of poor Sidney (Neve Campbell), her doomed friends, and the mask-wearing killer who terrorized them. The film’s meta and clever script—from Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson—paired with Wes Craven’s experienced direction made the movie irresistible to a broad moviegoing base, even those of us who are usually too scared for scary movies. (Me. I’m talking about me.)
Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette all return in this sequel, which finds Ghostface terrorizing a new group of teens, a quarter-century later. The official summary says, “Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer has donned the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past.”
But now these kids don’t just have their presumably internet-fueled understanding of horror movies; they also have the experience of the people who went through this before them. Will it help? Will Ghostface once again be revealed to be someone’s boyfriend? Is there anyone who can fill Matthew Lillard’s shoes?
Scream (5) also stars Melissa Barrera; Jenna Ortega (our new Wednesday Addams); Jack Quaid (The Boys); Dylan Minnette (13 Reasons Why); and Kyle Gallner (Veronica Mars). Scream creator Williamson is an executive producer, but this one’s written and directed by a new team: co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not) and writers James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) and Gary Busick (Ready or Not, Castle Rock).
Because the ’90s are everywhere, Scream is not the only of that decade’s popular slasher tales making a comeback; later this week, Amazon premieres their series adaptation of I Know What You Did Last Summer. The Craft already got a remake. Perhaps The Faculty: The Grad School Years will be next.
Scream shrieks into theaters on January 14, 2022.
