Scream  ★★½

GHOSTFACE is the weakest villain of any major horror film franchise.

In every one of his attacks the target always seems to mount a fightback or get the upper hand for a while. Sure, that happens at the end of most horror films, but not every time.

He wouldn’t stand a chance in a smackdown up against Jason, Michael Myers or even the annoying Freddie Krueger.

Ghostface, of course, hasn’t always been the same person across the five Scream films, starting with the original in 1996 which remains the best instalment by a long shot.

The fifth film, also confusingly titled Scream, tries hard to replicate the style and approach of the late Wes Craven’s original but ends up being an uneven affair.

This starts with the marketing which has caused the 2022 film to be considered as a re-boot by some but a direct sequel to 2011’s Scream 4 by others.

I think it’s more of a sequel to part four which also brings back three of the best known original characters and the actors who played them.

I’m jumping all over the place here but that’s kind of in keeping with the overall impression this new film leaves you with.

The original is best known for bring one of the firm major horror films that poked fun at the genre and some of its constant tropes that defy every aspect of common-sense.

The new film starts in the same vein, with characters referencing the Stab films which is used as a stand-in for the actual Scream series. The meta-approach also extends, somewhat confusingly at times, to some of the characters from previous films who were meant to be based on real-life characters.

So, for example, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette’s returning appearances are referenced both by the real-life people they play and the actual real-life people. Make sense? I didn’t think so.

Anyway, part-way through proceedings the film seems to jettison this approach and it becomes pedestrian as a result until the final act where the approach is re-introduced for the final twists in the story and reveal of the killer’s (or killers’) motivations.

The jump scares are telegraphed so far in advance that they don’t have the planned impact when they eventually arrive but there are some pretty good kills and a fair amount of blood for those inclined.

Not a bad film by any stretch, but the over-riding impression it leaves is why did they bother.