The newest film in the Scream series released to theaters January 14th. Dubbed just “Scream”, but more accurately known as Scream 5, Ghostface returns for 2 hours of mystery and murder.

This was the first film in the series not directed by Wes Craven after his tragic passing in 2015, but the directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett made it clear that they did not want to disrespect his memory, as they both looked up to him. It seems like they were successful, as both critics and audiences have left great reviews. 

With an interesting mix of some of the classic conventions seen in Scream, such as meta-commentary, fake tension to keep the scares unexpected, and “The Rules” of horror movies, Scream 5 is another great addition to the series. 

The main theme this time centered around it being a “re-quel”, or a cross between a reboot and sequel. This involves many things, including the return of some big characters from earlier in the series. 

Sidney, Dewey, and Gale are arguably the biggest three, as they have been a part of every movie already, but we also saw Judy Hicks, the deputy from Scream 4, and Martha Meeks, from 3.

Throw in a splash of new characters, tied together by connections made since the very first movie 25 years ago, and you have a winning formula.

Is Scream 5 a little cliche? Can you take a reasonable guess at the identity of Ghostface in the first half of the movie? Of course, but at the end of the day, it’s the little things like this that make Scream such a successful series.