\n<\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThat discussion around Stab <\/em>does lead to a more interesting, fruitful one surrounding the concept of \u201celevated horror\u201d. If you haven\u2019t heard this term, it\u2019s essentially a way for snooty horror fans to attempt to appear more intelligent than they are. It\u2019s a distinction to draw between movies like The Babadook<\/em>, which relies more on atmosphere and tension than jump scares and gore (and which is invoked in Scream 2022<\/em>), and old-school slashers like Halloween <\/em>or Friday the 13th<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nNow, the discussion of elevated horror vs. regular horror isn\u2019t really one we need to worry about; after all, even the so-called \u201ctired tropes\u201d of old slasher movies had a point to make during their creative heyday in the 1980s. What\u2019s important is whether Scream 2022 <\/em>gets this right or not. Honestly, it\u2019s hard to say. On the one hand, the movie does make some important points about the ways in which horror has become rarefied, but it doesn\u2019t ever really do anything with those points on a narrative level.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn a nutshell, this is Scream 2022<\/em>\u2019s problem; it comments without taking a stand. It\u2019s a slightly cowardly move on the part of the movie\u2019s creators to say \u201chey, look, we\u2019re creating a \u2018requel\u2019 (a sort of reboot-slash-sequel), isn\u2019t that funny\u201d and then essentially filling in all the prerequisite narrative beats in order to make Scream 2022 <\/em>a fairly by-the-numbers requel. It thinks that simply pointing out what it\u2019s done will make you think it\u2019s clever, even though it doesn\u2019t really have many intelligent or original ideas in its head.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s not to say there are no pleasures at all to be had in Scream 2022<\/em>. While it\u2019s nowhere near as clever as it thinks it is, the gore and visceral horror elements work well, as they always have in this franchise. Character deaths land with a splattery, satisfying crunch, and although the effects can occasionally be a little over-the-top, they do a good job in paying off the adequate tension the movie builds up. If you\u2019re in this for the murderin\u2019, then you\u2019ll get a good experience here.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s perhaps the most ironic thing about Scream 2022<\/em>; it works best when it\u2019s playing it straight, delivering a standard slasher-style horror experience without trying to be too clever-clever. The original Scream <\/em>was a paradigm shift, but it never really resulted in a wave of movies using its brand of smart, knowing, and satirical horror. 2012\u2019s Cabin in the Woods <\/em>evoked the spirit of Scream <\/em>successfully, but for every Cabin<\/em>, there is a Scary Movie<\/em>, and that\u2019s Scream<\/em>\u2019s legacy, unfortunately.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPerhaps the most frustrating thing about Scream 2022 <\/em>is that it\u2019s a little too pleased with itself. In 2022, it is not enough simply to say \u201clook, we understand horror tropes and so do our characters\u201d. Wes Craven\u2019s 1996 original already explored that idea and took it as far as it could go, after all. Perhaps this is an issue with sequels to horror satires in general; they can\u2019t just make the same point, but updating the humour without updating the theming as well just comes across as hollow and tired.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re looking for a solid, straightforward horror movie with a few knowing nods and winks to the genre (albeit slightly insufferable ones at times), Scream 2022 <\/em>will deliver. However, if you want something that\u2019s as genuinely clever and subversive as Craven\u2019s 1996 original, then you\u2019ll have to keep waiting. Revisit Cabin in the Woods<\/em>, watch the original Scream <\/em>again, or just check out some of the \u201celevated horror\u201d movies that are part of the discussion around this film. They\u2019ll all likely result in more satisfying experiences than Scream 2022<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scream has to be one of the most misunderstood horror franchises of all time. These films started as an ironic deconstruction of the slasher genre; the characters in the movie actively talk about cliches and tropes endemic to the genre, and in the original 1996 Scream, the killer is someone who\u2019s clearly au fait with … <a title=\"Is The New Scream Movie Worth Watching?\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/movies\/scream-movie-22\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Is The New Scream Movie Worth Watching?\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7684,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"close","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[171],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7683"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7683"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7694,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7683\/revisions\/7694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nerdleaks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}