Warning: This article contains spoilers for Scream (2022).
Like any franchise, the Scream series has a well-worn formula. Each movie is a whodunit with multiple killers who are revealed in a shocking climactic twist. But since the Scream franchise is defined as a meta deconstruction of the slasher genre, the sequels are also painfully aware of the familiar formula that they follow.
The franchise’s recent reboot/sequel, dubbed a “requel” by the movie itself, aptly named Scream, has explored this formula in some depth. In many ways, 2022’s Scream adheres to the established franchise formula. But in other ways, it subverts that formula.
Sticks To The Formula
Self-Awareness
The most obvious way that the new Scream movie sticks to the franchise’s formula is its self-awareness. From the very beginning, the Scream series has been defined by its meta-ness. In the Scream universe, there’s a slasher franchise about the events of the movies called the Stab series.
In the opening scene of the 1996 original, the Ghostface killer calls Casey and asks her, “Do you like scary movies?” In the opening scene of the 2022 “requel,” Ghostface calls Tara and asks her, “How well do you remember the original?”
Whodunit
A meta deconstruction is just one of the ways that Kevin Williamson’s original Scream script subverted the usual tropes of the slasher genre. Williamson also brought a whodunit angle to the proceedings. When the killings start in a Scream movie, everyone’s a suspect.
In most slashers, it doesn’t matter who the killer is – Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers are just faceless embodiments of murderous rage – but Scream movies keep the audience guessing, because the killer is secretly lurking among the protagonists.
Don’t Trust The Love Interest
When Sam and Richie arrive at Dewey’s trailer in the fifth Scream movie, he immediately suspects Richie because “you can’t trust the love interest” in a Ghostface investigation. Billy Loomis, one of the original Ghostface killers, was Sidney Prescott’s boyfriend.
At the time, Richie provides a seemingly airtight alibi and complains that Dewey is being too accusatory toward him. After the twist reveal, Richie revels in the fact that Dewey called it instantly and Sam didn’t believe him.
The Same House
The finale of 2022’s Scream takes place in the same house as the original. When Sidney receives a call from the killer on her way into the house, she criticizes their lack of imagination: “The same house!?” Not only does the reboot’s final set-piece take place in the same house; it has the exact same setup, as teens throw a big party while being stalked by a masked killer.
This time, the party is a memorial service in honor of Wes (one of many meta nods to original Scream director Wes Craven). Richie makes a meta comment on the use of a party scene: “Who would have a party in the middle of a killing spree?”
Two Killers
In Hot Fuzz, when Nicholas Angel is struggling to piece the murder mystery together, he overhears his partner Danny Butterman say, “It’s just the one killer, actually,” and realizes that several killers are in cahoots. This calls back to the original Scream, which shocked audiences with the reveal of two different killers, Billy and Stu, who could give each other alibis.
This has since become a running joke in the Scream franchise, and the new movie is no different: both Amber and Richie are revealed to be responsible for the string of murders.
Deviates From The Formula
Requel
In true Scream fashion, the term for the kind of sequel that the new movie is – a “requel” – is defined in the movie itself. The previous Scream follow-ups were all traditional sequels, but the new one is sort of a cross between a sequel and a reboot.
Like 2018’s Halloween or 2021’s Candyman, it’s both the beginning of a new incarnation of the franchise and a direct continuation of the original version. Even the confusing title is a reference to this modern horror phenomenon, addressed in the movie through a YouTuber’s angry reaction to a Stab sequel called Stab.
Surviving The Opening Phone Call
Like the original Scream and a few of its sequels, the 2022 “requel” opens with an obligatory phone call from the Ghostface killer that leads to the killer himself popping out and attacking a startled victim. The original movie pulled off this twist spectacularly by killing off one of the biggest stars in the world, Drew Barrymore, within a few minutes.
But in the new movie, Tara Carpenter receives a frightening phone call, confronts the Ghostface killer, gets stabbed several times, and surprisingly manages to survive. She spends the rest of the movie recovering from the wounds inflicted by Ghostface.
Direct Ties To The Original Movie
Unlike the other Scream sequels, the new one doesn’t just repeat the familiar meta/whodunit storyline. It comes as close to following the original movie as it can get without becoming a full-blown remake.
The story of the “requel” revolves around a pair of psychotic villains who want to loosely recreate the events of the original film in a modern context to take the franchise back to its roots.
Toxic Fandom
Toxic fandom has presented a new facet of the horror fan base to explore. The response to some recent movies has proven that a fan base can become so toxic that there’s a substantial number of signatures on a petition to get a certain sequel remade from scratch. Although it was addressed as far back as Misery, toxic fandom is a relatively new phenomenon.
Movies like The Last Jedi and Captain Marvel have attracted a lot of toxicity from their respective franchises’ fan communities. In the new Scream film, Jack Quaid’s Richie both embodies toxic fandom and denies that it exists: “How can fandom be toxic? It’s about love!”
Sidney Isn’t The Main Protagonist
Sidney was the undisputed protagonist of the first four Scream movies. Every sequel brought in new characters, but Sidney led the charge against Ghostface in all of them. In the “requel,” she features prominently as a supporting player, but she’s not the main protagonist.
While Sidney makes a crucial appearance in the finale to help in the fight against the killers, the new heroes of this franchise are the Carpenter sisters, one of whom is the illegitimate daughter of Billy Loomis (and apparently shares his bloodlust).