Scream (2022) 4K Ultra HD Review

THE MOVIE — 3½/5

Plot Synopsis: Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a terrifying new killer resurrects the Ghostface mask. As the deaths mount, Woodsboro’s new targets must seek help from the survivors of the original Ghostface attacks. Now, only Sidney Prescott (NEVE CAMPBELL), former sheriff Dewey Riley (DAVID ARQUETTE), and reporter Gale Weathers (COURTNEY COX) can find a way to stop the killer when everyone is a suspect.

Review: 1996’s Scream brought back the slasher horror back from the dead, poking fun at the genre without going into full-on spoof territory, a self-aware film that was both funny and scary at the same time. The film would go on to gross $173 million off of a $15 million budget and spawn four sequels and a television series. The franchise also gave us a great villain or villain costume with Ghostface, a fantastic and iconic look.

This latest, going with the trend of no number or subtitle, just titled Scream (which the film does try to undercut criticism) and while I did have some issues with the film, mainly the motives behind the killings which felt old (at least to me, perhaps it’s still something that prevails on Twitter and Reddit, neither platform I really use), however the kills go into overdrive and the young newcomers along with the three legacy actors all pretty much worked well.

One of the elements that I liked about all of the Scream films, even the inferior Scream 3 which always felt off to me for some reason (maybe it was that screenwriter Kevin Williamson had exited the series, so stark contrast to the first two films), is the mystery element that kept me glued, trying to look for the clues on the killer or killers and, of course, the motives at the end.

On the plus side, the performances from most of this cast were rather good. Of course, albeit their parts were smaller compared with the other entries, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette were wonderful, Arquette in particular had a few nice scenes and all three look absolutely amazing even all these years later. The new cast meanwhile has their moments. Melissa Barrera is a delight as pretty much the lead with an interesting past. The others are fun with two characters playing the Randy’s niece and nephew, the former a movie buff like her uncle; and Jenna Ortega, who most recently co-starred in X shows some promise and you have Jack Quaid showcasing his family’s talents quite well, good combination of the charm between Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan.

With the passing of series’ creator and horror maestro Wes Craven in 2015, the directing duties were picked up by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, a duo who came onto the scene, as one of many with the V/H/S anthology film and really impressed with the amazing Ready or Not (we’ll just assume the dreadful Devil’s Due was an anomaly).

SPECIAL FEATURES – 3½/5

This release comes with a glossy slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. As with Paramount releases of late, there is no Blu-ray disc included.

Audio Commentary with Directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpen, Writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick and Executive Producer Chad Villella.

Deleted Scenes (2:57) — There’s only a few scenes that aren’t important to the plot or characters.

New Blood (7:33) introduces us to the new cast members and their characters. Includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with both new and old actors, plus the writers, producer and directors.

Bloodlines (8:33) explores the legacy of the franchise with homage to the old movies and bridging it for a new generation.

In the Shadow of the Master (7:22) is a tribute to the late Wes Craven with old footage and the legacy he brought to the genre.

And last is the Trailer (1:31) for the 1996 original.

VIDEO – 4¾/5

Paramount releases Scream onto 4K Ultra HD presented in its original theatrical 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and a 2160p high-definition transfer. The picture here looks as good as one would expect from any new movie. The transfer is clean, detail is sharp and colors fairly well balanced although it does veer toward the darker spectrum even in the daylight scenes. Black levels is stark without appearing crushed, and as an example, I can see the threads in the Ghostface costume, along with the white in the mask itself. The natural film grain/noise is still present and gives the transfer some good texture.

AUDIO – 4½/5

The movie comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track and it’s kind of odd they didn’t go with the Dolby Atmos or DTS:X alternative but even so, it’s a good sounding lossless track with dialogue, or bloody-curdling, screams coming across the center channel with clarity or any off-camera action making use of the front and rear channels, along with Brian Tyler’s score which I found to be a tad unremarkable outside of, if I recall, Sydney’s theme creeping in.

OVERALL — 4/5

Scream 2022 is a decent entry into the now vaunted franchise. The kills are gorier than ever and the new cast actually mostly work and it’s nice to see the three legacy cast members back one more time even if their roles are on the limited side. The motive behind the killings isn’t great but sort of in-line with Scream 4 and they do delve into the rules of the “requel”.