Scream

La résurrection de la saga Halloween a rapporté une fortune, alors essayons donc de ressusciter Scream ! Le handicap de cette série de films, c’est qu’elle peut faire de n’importe qui un tueur, sans besoin d’un mobile sophistiqué, et qu’il s’agit donc d’une simple partie de cache-cache ponctuée de références qui se veulent « cool » à d’autres films d’horreur et de jeux prétendument sophistiqués avec les clichés du genre. Certes, le premier film de 1996 était novateur à cet égard. Mais ressuscité 26 ans plus tard sans aucune évolution créative, Scream ne satisfait que par une bonne dose de meurtres et par le retour nostalgique à l’écran du trio de stars d’origine. Ne vous attendez pas à de véritables frayeurs, et ne soyez pas surpris si les personnages continuent à fonctionner relativement bien après avoir été poignardés dans l’estomac avec un grand couteau. Ce genre de bêtises, servies avec aplomb, était-il déjà présent dans les précédents volets ? (19/03/2023)

The good-ol’ Scream just like we remember and love it. The new team hasn’t fundamentally changed the functional formula that Scream has been following for decades, just updated it for 2022 and fleshed it out in an remarkable way. The first one poked fun at simple slashers, the second made fun of sequels, the third mocked the last parts of trilogies, and the fourth one was a commentary on the changes that had since taken place in the horror genre. As a de facto reboot, it poked fun at reboots and remakes, added some gore, and brushed up against the once-dominant found footage trend. But another ten years have passed and the fad now is requels/legacy sequels and elevated horror. So it's clear what the fifth Scream had to be and is about. It's a requel, commenting on its requeliness, and it's also a bit of elevated horror, since one of its central themes is the toxic fandom surrounding the Scream film franchise Stab. And I think it's all done really cleverly, entertainingly and in some parts quite boldly. The scene where one of the potential victims walks halfway through a house, filmed to include perhaps ten potential (and unfulfilled) clichéd jump-scares, is hysterical and accurately illustrates the playfulness with which Gillett and Bettinelli-Olphin approached the new Scream. The only small problem I have is with some of the acting, especially the main new character Sam and the family relationship issues attached to her, which I didn't care for. But still, the first good horror flick of 2022. (14/01/2022)

Ghostface is wreaking havoc again in Woodsboro, and the local kids cannot keep up with him. Not only veterans but also a young heroine with a dark secret have returned to the town. Is it possible that people are dying because of it? The new Scream comes with a new creative team and plenty of fresh ideas. Ironically, it's a bit lacking in the horror aspect, and the new characters aren't very engaging, but it makes up for it with a clever script that bends horror clichés in a very interesting way, plays with the genre, and this time even with the viewers and fans themselves. Very clever and very entertaining, probably the best thing we've seen in this franchise since the first one. (13/01/2022)

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are a proven duo (Southbound and Ready or Not were no fluke) and the return of the famous slasher franchise is a great success. Those with knowledge of previous episodes have an advantage, I've forgotten most of it, but thankfully it didn't detract from the viewing experience. New youngsters are introduced and old friends return, Ghostface is in great shape (the high bodycount is a plus) and he definitely knows how to use a knife, he makes his victims uncomfortable and in all different ways and angles, so definitely a nice show. The nice thing about Scream is that it's one of the few slasher films that follows absolutely all the rules of the genre, even shapes and plays with them. The detective-like hunt for the killer, where absolutely everyone is a suspect and nobody can tell with certainty who Ghostface is until the finale works very well here. The various allusions and winks to other horror films and the the occasional wisecrack are nice, and the explanation of why Scream is a Legacy-seqquel and not a sequel or prequel was downright brilliant and very apt. It's not a horror film to be scared at, although the suspense works, but as entertainment it's almost impossible to fault. Story 3/5, Action 4/5, Humor 3/5, Violence 4/5, Fun 4/5 Music 4/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 4/5, Suspense 4/5, Emotion 3/5, Actors 3/5. 8/10. (22/03/2022)

All the participating creators obviously love Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven, so they pay them a hundred and one tributes, dig to the very bottom of the homage and really present a new Scream in all its glory. But the whole time you can tell that it's not exactly right, just like it wasn't right in 2000 when a different screenwriter came for the third installment and the lightness started disappearing immediately. Thanks for the return of all the legends, thanks for the fact that the meta flip of everything is still here, but maybe less would be more. The discussion about the direction of the genre, the point, and the fandom takes up almost half of the running time and undermines the series itself too much. Despite one fitting jump scare and a few nicely tuned moves, I am ultimately disappointed with the lack of tension, freshness, and overall novelty that even the underrated fourth one was bursting with. Additionally, the series resorts to steps it didn't have a reason to take before, and when discussing all possible identities of the killer at the end, it suddenly didn't matter anymore because any potential surprises had already been revealed. I don't welcome the planned sequel, it's terribly early as far as keeping healthy boundaries is concerned. (10/02/2022)

The gap between the fourth and the "fifth" film was filled by the MTV series, but unfortunately, it didn't work. So, after 11 long years, we get another great Scream. The main trio is back - Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, and Marley Shelton (and a few other casting surprises) from the fourth film. Current topics are requels, legacy sequels and elevated horror. Among the new faces, actresses Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Mikey Madison (that girl has Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and The Addams Family in her filmography, unreal), and Jasmin Savoy Brown did great. I also enjoyed it a lot thanks to the perfect atmosphere and the accompanying program in Edison. (25/01/2022)

Il fallait bien que Scream revienne un jour ou l’autre même sans Craven, alors pourquoi pas dans une telle version ? Dans l'ensemble, ce film est une continuation solide de la franchise, même s'il n'apporte pas grand-chose de nouveau et que certains choix créatifs m’ont quelque peu fait grimacer, l’un d’entre eux m’ayant même fait décider de le mettre hors course par rapport aux autres volets (ce que je ne manquerai pas de faire). Ça reste quand même clairement un slasher très amusant avec un chouette côté méta. Certains dialogues sont hilarants et on se régale de quelques nouveaux personnages solides, en particulier celui de Jack Quaid. Par contre, Kyle Gallner dans son rôle de white trash redneck aurait dû recevoir beaucoup plus d’espace ! Pour le prochain volet, il faut que les créateurs se lâchent dans un truc totalement fou, histoire de sortir des sentiers battus. J’espère donc, à tout le moins, le retour de Matthew Lillard (car après tout, la télévision qui lui est tombée sur le crâne n’a dû lui laisser que quelques cicatrices mineures). (04/02/2022)

Dans une certaine mesure, les héros du film excusent le cinquième volet de Scream d'être un simple un recyclage de schémas et de motifs déjà utilisés plusieurs fois (ce qui est le cas), car c'est ce que les fans dévoués veulent. Et il est possible que cela suffise vraiment aux fans du genre et en particulier aux fans de cette série. Cependant, un film aussi usé, qui sert pratiquement la même chose aux spectateurs que ses prédécesseurs et n'a pas besoin de se démarquer en quoi que ce soit, aura du mal à sauver le fait que ses créateurs sont conscients de son usure et le soulignent parfois de manière amusante. De même, les héros du film peuvent plaisanter indéfiniment sur les différentes règles du genre de l'horreur et sur toutes les erreurs que commettent les personnages de ces films, mais à quoi bon s'ils ne peuvent pas éviter eux-mêmes ces erreurs. Dans une certaine mesure, le jeu qui consiste à deviner qui, parmi les personnages, est le tueur, tout en réduisant progressivement les possibilités, peut encore être amusant, mais par ailleurs cela ne permet pas vraiment de susciter l'intérêt ni pour les nouveaux (et pas particulièrement sympathiques) personnages, ni pour les anciens, ni pour les meurtres sanglants (mais sans imagination). (20/02/2022)

(Spoiler alert!) For the fifth time, we hear "What's your favorite scary movie?" on the phone, and right at the beginning you ask yourself the question: Does a film, built on the same genre structure as its four predecessors, even have the potential to surprise and lure audiences into the theater anymore? The fifth Scream, and also the first without the late Wes Craven, has that potential. It should be mentioned beforehand that those who have not seen all the previous episodes cannot appreciate the latest outing of ghostface. The creators managed to artfully incorporate moments referring to the first four films into the story, while playing with genre expectations in a great way (close a door – nothing, close a closet – nothing, close another door – still nothing ... and suddenly you are stabbed), so despite the template-like structure, the latest Scream doesn't feel formulaic and manages to surprise. The identity of the two killers was not so surprising and you basically discover it during the attack in the hospital, which unfortunately convinces us that everyone is deadly. Yes, a couple of the murders really hurt! But the shocking revelation of the killers wasn't so much the point as paying homage to Craven and his legacy. Plus, it was good to see the old trio back together (the Gale-Dewey line really had an "onion" vibe), without which the younger and half-unseasoned cast couldn't have pulled off the film. Last but not least, I was surprised by the return of a character from "the other side". Three and three-quarters stars! PS: "Don't f*ck with the original!" PS2: Anyone who has seen Once Upon a Time in Hollywood will experience déjà vu at the end. (15/01/2022)

It laughs out loud at The Babadook, The Witch, and Hereditary for being pretentious bore and then lets us spend two thirds of the film watching close-ups of uninteresting people dealing with family relationships. It comes across as XXX-parody, because the film comes across as terribly cheap (like there's no money for extras at a high school or hospital) and the actors look like porn actors. And I don't mean that as an insult – they do really look like that. (12/04/2022)

La nostalgie jouera toujours un rôle par rapport à cette franchise et à mon évaluation. Je n'oublierai jamais l'enthousiasme et l'euphorie du premier film, qui n'ont jamais été dépassés par les volets suivants, mais cela ne m'empêche pas de regarder tous les films de la série, laquelle a sombré dans la troisième saison. L'ancienne bande rencontre la jeune génération, dominée par Jenna Ortega qui est de plus en plus populaire. En gros, on regarde la même chose encore et encore et, tout comme dans le cas de Fast & Furious, on me verra encore regarder le 55e épisode… (27/06/2023)

Without hesitation the second best installment in the series. It's tremendously appealing the grace with which the creators of Ready or Not took on this (for me, anyway) legendary franchise. Logically, most of their references are to the best (first) installment and they work with all the characters and themes with the utmost respect while being unafraid to add a considerable amount of new elements. The fifth Scream works on many levels – whether as a mere reflection on endless film series, or again as a very thought-provoking education in what the actual slasher rules are, or as a simple yet extremely entertaining gore spectacle. What I appreciate most is the actual production itself, which feels old-school in the best sense of the word, yet manages to work perfectly in today's ultra-modern age thanks to the imaginative talents of the new filmmakers. In short, it's a beautiful textbook example of how to dust off a now classic 90s work without completely emasculating it. It's retained a huge heart and added some serious balls. A beauty. [80%] (14/01/2022)