After watching the new Scream film, it is without a doubt my favorite since the original and the best horror movie I’ve seen in a long time. I knew that it wasn’t going to come close to, or even be better than the original, and it wasn’t, but the movie was so entertaining and such a well crafted modern day horror film. I feel that it’s hard to find a movie like this nowadays.

This movie delivers in a great way because it actually feels like the kind of horror movie we would watch in the 90’s but feels updated to match modern day society. The legacy characters return here but they’re not the main focus. We are introduced to a group of high school students and the original cast, Sidney, Gale, and Duey, are brought in to play their part in protecting these people since they’ve lived through being attacked by a dangerous ghostface killer several other times. 

I think what makes this movie so great is that there was so much love put into making it, which is rare to find today. The filmmakers cared about making a great Scream movie and what motivated this idea was the death of the original director, Wes Craven. It is a love letter to Craven’s original film and gives us something that he would be proud of. 

From the opening scene, I was already in love. It brought a twist that we weren’t expecting that affected the course of the movie and at the same time, provides a sense of realism that only expands upon the terror. There aren’t many throw away characters; meaning we could sympathize with plenty of the characters to where we are fully invested in them and their own survival. This is the first Scream movie since the original where there was real suspense that actually kept me on the edge of my seat. This can make any horror movie great when delivered correctly and it really made the killer more frightening.

There is especially one plot point included that really connected to the original in terms of a connection between the new main character here and the original killer.  I wish this idea was explored more throughout the film and made more sense, but it was still a clever way to reintroduce characters that tie into the legacy of the franchise. 

One of the reasons it feels so much like the original is because it has this meta commentary that deals with the horror genre and other issues that happen in real life. This was such a clever way to follow up thirty years later and still feel like the same world. The directing was great and had that Wes Craven feel. The only major problem that I had with the movie was the writing. There are certain decisions that are made that are severe, but don’t really add much to the story. The weakest part was the ending. I was expecting the killer to have a more serious connection to Sidney but that didn’t happen. The killer’s motivation wasn’t very believable and the killer itself wasn’t very intimidating once revealed. 

I do think that on more watches I will buy into it more because it does go along with a certain commentary and overall message that the film tries to convey. The whole ending by itself was very disappointing because it’s supposed to be the most compelling moment where everything is brought together. The last fifteen minutes could have been cleaned up and done so much better. With that said, it is almost a perfect horror movie. What makes Scream great is you don’t have to love horror to appreciate. It is a mystery that always keeps you engaged and this movie is just that.