History Film / Scream2022

* HateSink:
** Vince is a [[AbhorrentAdmirer grownup creep stalking]] [[{{Ephebophile}} a teenage girl]], harassing and threatening her friends in the process. [[spoiler:It's hard to pity him when Ghostface murders him.]]
* IfICantHaveYou: Suggested by Mindy as a potential motive if Wes were the killer. [[spoiler: He isn’t]].
* IfItBleedsItLeads: Dewey isn't particularly surprised to see that Gale brought her news crew with her to the latest murders. She insists her producers demanded it, and she's "90%" here out of genuine concern. He isn't impressed. [[spoiler:In the end, Sidney and Gale both declare that the killers can "rot in anonymity", and any story should focus on Dewey instead]].

** A lot of the promotional material featured the slogan "For Wes", a clear reference to initial series director Creator/WesCraven. But it also has a strong InUniverse presence in the film, as [[spoiler:the character Wes, Craven's namesake, is killed, and the third-act massacre takes place at a party masquerading as his memorial, with "For Wes" banner and toasts featuring heavily.]]

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome:
** Because she's faced over half a dozen psychotic killers in the last twenty years or so, Sidney's apparent preparation for the situation shouldn't come as much of a shock. She's also been able to dispatch the various prior killers.
** The film reveals that fighting copycat killers took a major toll on Dewey’s health; being stabbed and beaten so many times has left him with severe nerve damage, and the bottles in his house imply he’s become an alcoholic due to the pain of that and his divorce from Gale. Because of all this, he was forced to retire from being sheriff.
** The fact that [[spoiler:many people survive attacks from Ghostface]] due to several circumstances such as police arriving or nearby witnesses. Regardless of how close the victim is to death, if Ghostface gets caught by the police, their entire plan will be ruined.
** Despite [[spoiler:Ghostface already killing Judy]] and Mindy's reassurances, [[spoiler:Wes is still killed when Ghostface stabs him through the throat only minutes after his mother's death]]. No matter the rules of the series, a crazed serial killer isn't going to pass up the chance to [[spoiler:claim an extra victim]].
** The film is less violent than other installments, though for good reason. Security is far tighter around Woodsboro compared to a couple of decades prior, which means a swifter reaction from police. When not in places such as a locked-down hospital, Ghostface aims for areas that would most likely prove fatal, such as quick stabs to the heart and throat.
** When Tara is forced to answer trivia questions about ''Stab'' at the beginning of the film, she has the advantage of using the Internet to answer them. [[spoiler: Not that it stops Ghostface from attacking her when she only answers a question half-right.]]
** While Tara is able to get the drop on [[spoiler: Amber]], a petite woman just out of the hospital and with a leg in a cast is automatically at a disadvantage in a fight.
*** The only reason the fight is as even as it is is because [[spoiler:Amber is just as slight and petite as Tara. Had she jumped the much taller Richie, it would have been a complete CurbStompBattle.]]
** After the second attack and [[spoiler: Dewey's death]], Sam promptly does what any sane person being chased by a serial killer would do and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere tries to get the hell out of town with Tara and Richie]]. She is only sidetracked by Tara's lost inhaler, which [[spoiler: Richie]] took to lure them to the planned finale at the original house.
** Firing a gun right next to someone’s head is a good way to disorient them.
** [[spoiler: Richie]] tries to plant the idea of Tara being the killer in Sam's head as a [[spoiler: way of turning them against one another.]] Sam not only doesn't believe him, but [[spoiler:his attempts to do tip her off that he is behind everything]]. As fractured as their relationship has been, Sam and Tara are still sisters, and there's no way Sam is going to trust [[spoiler: her boyfriend of only a few months]] over the sister she's known her whole life. [[spoiler:Besides that, purely from a logical standpoint, Tara's wounds could not have been faked, given the amount of time she's spent in the hospital. It would be extremely unlikely for Tara to be so committed to the killing spree to suffer so much for it, and her battered condition means she couldn't have participated in any of the attacks, not even her own.]]
** [[spoiler:Just because every Ghostface with a personal connection to Sidney or her family is dead (Billy, Stu, Nancy, Roman, Jill), that doesn't guarantee random psychopaths wouldn't get the idea to orchestrate their own Ghostface sprees without personal incentives, it just took 25 years for this to happen.]]

** Legacy, or how the past affects the present. Fitting for a film about "re-quels".

* RevisitingTheRoots: Frequently discussed as part of what the characters refer to as a "re-quel", a sequel that borders on a remake through exploited nostalgia and copied beats, down to exploiting connections to characters from the original and replicating its scenes.

* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler:Dewey bites the dust in this one. Ghostface even lampshades this by stating "It's an honor" when killing him.]]

** Both movies are literal sequels and metaphorical {{remake}}s of ''Film/Scream1996''; however, in ''Scream 4'''s case, this was a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] in a time when remakes like ''Film/FridayThe13th2009'' and ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet2010'' were in a [[ContinuityReboot different continuity from the original films]], whereas this movie came out in a time when [[UnReboot "re-quels"]] like ''Film/Halloween2018'' were the new trend. [[spoiler:Both films also differ greatly in their ruleset and {{Plot Twist}}s. ''Scream 4'' states that remakes need to subvert the original films to shock an audience familiar with the latter, which is why the boyfriend is the victim rather than the killer; on the other hand, this movie states that exploiting nostalgia is the key, which is why the boyfriend is once again the killer. On a meta level, Jill could be seen as a representation of a remake cynically attempting to be the original film whilst not understanding how it worked just for the sake of attention, whilst Richie and Amber can be seen as representations of a re-quel forcefully trying as hard as possible to pay love to the original film at the expense of doing anything new, whilst showing a disdain for it through their murderous ways and petty motive. This is why they lure the main characters to Stu's house, why they mostly target relatives of original characters, and why they even kill Dewey and plan to kill Sidney and Gale. One is the worst representation of a remake, the other is the worst representation of a "re-quel".]]

* TakeThatAudience: The film has one to a specific type of audience as opposed to ''Scream'' fans specifically, but the trope still qualifies. [[spoiler:The movie skewers the idea of toxic fandoms and fandom entitlement, especially those who want controversial endings and installments re-done. Richie and Amber launch a new wave of Ghostface killings as part of a "re-quel" to inspire a new ''Stab'' film after a divisive eighth installment.]]

* YouDoNotWantToKnow: In the scene where Mindy explains the rules of a "re-quel" to the group, she notes that one of the main points of criticism people had towards ''Stab 8'' was "how the main character’s a Mary Sue". Richie asks what a Mary Sue is, and Wes responds, "You really don't want to know."

** [[spoiler:Just because every Ghostface with a personal connection to Sidney or her family is dead (Billy, Stu, Nancy, Roman, Jill), that doesn't mean random psychopaths wouldn't get the idea to orchestrate their own Ghostface sprees without personal incentives, it just took 25 years for this to happen.]]

** [[spoiler:Just because every Ghostface with a personal connection to Sidney or her family is dead (Billy, Stu, Nancy, Roman, Jill), that doesn't mean random psychopaths wouldn't get the idea to orchestrate their own Ghostface sprees without personal incentives, it just took 25 years for there to this to happen.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: [[spoiler:[[Film/TheLastJedi Rian Johnson directing the divisive eighth installment of a long-running series.]]]]

** [[spoiler: Richie]] tries to plant the idea of Tara being the killer in Sam's head as a [[spoiler: way of turning them against one another.]] Sam not only doesn't believe him, but [[spoiler:his attempts to do tip her off that he is behind everything]]. As fractured as their relationship has been, Sam and Tara are still sisters, and there's no way Sam is going to trust [[spoiler: her boyfriend of only a few months]] over the sister she's known her whole life.

** Both of these film's Ghostfaces also have an interesting subtextual parallel to internet culture, with this film's Ghostface being more overt but still having a representational/satirical/symbolic element that one could miss. [[spoiler: Jill's desire for stealing the (practically forced upon) spotlight from Sidney has had the interesting effect of predicting famous [=YouTube=] influencer culture, especially since it's made clear that she doesn't need to be talented or a good person to become well-known. She just needs to make sure all the Ghostface killings (that she caused/planned) are uploaded to the web and that she comes across as an innocent victim, therefore instantly gaining the fame she wanted. The amount of people who have become internet famous in spite of or even because of doing reprehensible things, not to mention social media fame being a gateway to bad actions in real life, should both make it clear that ''Film/Scream4'' was both of its time and ahead of its time. This film's Ghostface is the duo of Richie and Amber, who, through their desire to see another ''Stab'' film, end up killing and harming multiple people, including the real-world characters that were portrayed in the very first ''Stab'' that they love. The parallels to modern toxic fandom are clear and even invoked (the fact that these two take up the mantle of a fictional/real-in-their-world villain could be read as invoking MisaimedFandom), but these two's killings could be swapped out with any form of internet cyberbullying or even outright physical harmful behaviour, and it would be more clear that they represent those kinds of internet fans: the ones who will do more harm than good in favour of honouring the franchise they love, whether it be pushing people off social media, sending death threats, making inflammatory videos, creating lies and conspiracies, attacking others, all of that. Not to mention doing it to both new characters and old represents the kind of harassment that can befall both anyone creatively new to a franchise that wants to do anything different, and those who have been a part of it for a long time. The killing of Dewey is even preceded by Ghostface saying "It's an honor", showing how fundamentally backwards they and many fans who behave in a similar manner are.]]

** [[spoiler:Richie watching the first ''Stab'' film on his phone]] in the same room as a sleeping Sam and Tara after the latter has been attacked by Ghostface and put in the hospital seems like a shockingly insensitive action for [[spoiler:Sam's supposedly caring boyfriend.]] In hindsight, the character is most likely [[spoiler:mocking the sisters for failing to deduce that he is one of the killers.]] There's also seemingly legitimate reason: [[spoiler:Richie had claimed to have never seen any of the ''Stab'' films, but now that's essentially in one, wants to be prepared. What seems like thorough prep for self-preservation is actually him excusing suddenly having detailed knowledge about a film franchise he claims he's never seen. In actuality, he's not only a fan of ''Stab'' of the highest order, but a total LooneyFan.]]

** [[spoiler:Richie watching the first ''Stab'' film on his phone]] in the same room as a sleeping Sam and Tara after the latter has been attacked by Ghostface and put in the hospital seems like a shockingly insensitive action for [[spoiler:Sam's supposedly caring boyfriend.]] In hindsight, the character is most likely [[spoiler:mocking the sisters for failing to deduce that he is one of the killers.]]

* DaylightHorror: Ghostface kills [[spoiler:Judy]] in broad daylight on the front lawn, then goes inside for [[spoiler:her son Wes]].

** [[spoiler:Richie]] claims to have never seen the ''Stab'' films, which is meant to indicate GenreBlindness in regard to slasher movies. However, [[spoiler:Richie]] also makes meaningful allusions to ''Film/Halloween1978'' and ''Franchise/FridayThe13th'' and watches a Website/YouTube video bashing ''Stab 8'', which foreshadows that the GenreBlindness is an InformedFlaw.

* NotTooDeadToSaveTheDay: A full three movies after [[spoiler:his]] death, [[spoiler:Randy saves the life of his niece Mindy. She's watching his ''Stab'' self talk about the need for characters to look behind them (as he watches ''Film/Halloween1978''), which prompts her to look behind her as Ghostface creeps up on her. She defends herself and lives.]]

* StockAudioClip: When Richie is watching ''Stab'' on Netflix, you can clearly hear audio from the first movie being played. Specifically, it's the clip when Casey knocks the knife out of Ghostface's hands.

** [[spoiler:Their first interaction via phonecall has Tara reveal her favorite scary movie to be ''Film/TheBabadook'', as she's more a fan of "elevated" arthouse horror than slashers, much to Amber (as Ghostface)'s disappointment. Their final interaction, Tara finishing off Amber, contains Tara reinforcing her preference for ''The Babadook'' after the events of the film.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[Main/{{Tagline}} It’s always someone you know.]]'']]

** The Ghostface killer is brutally efficient, using surprise and fear in order to kill their victims. [[spoiler: This because most of the murders were done by Amber, a 5'3" petite high school girl, who can't overpower most of her victims. It would make sense that she would need to sneak up on most of them, as well as take advantage of their fear-stricken states. The only hink in this is with Dewey as she takes him by surprise and overpowers him, but that can at be handwaved by Dewey being practically disabled at this point from surviving many stabbings.]]

** [[spoiler: Chad]], who despite being [[spoiler: stabbed about half a dozen times and left to bleed out]], survives the events of the film.

** Richie suggests [[spoiler:Amber]] could be the killer, because it appears like an obvious solution despite evidence suggesting otherwise. [[spoiler:Of course, Richie is right, since not only is Amber the killer, so is he.]]
** [[spoiler:Richie watching the first ''Stab'' film on Netflix]] in the same room as a sleeping Sam and Tara after the latter has been attacked by Ghostface and put in the hospital seems like a shockingly insensitive action for [[spoiler:Sam's supposedly caring boyfriend.]] In hindsight, the character is most likely [[spoiler:mocking the sisters for failing to deduce that he is one of the killers.]]

*** As Dewey is carrying [[spoiler:Richie]] to the elevator, [[spoiler:Richie]] turns around to look back at Ghostface. Initially, it seems that [[spoiler:Richie]] is being ProperlyParanoid by making sure Ghostface is actually down for the count but in reality, it's actually because he is worried that Dewey may have killed [[spoiler:Amber]].

** The ''Stab'' franchise, an InUniverse analogue of the ''Scream'' franchise, is past its prime at this point and should have ended a long time ago. More pointedly, Richie states that the ''Stab'' franchise went off the rails with the fifth film -- in the middle of the fifth film of the ''Scream'' franchise.

** "Enjoy that torch." [[spoiler:Said by Sidney as she and Gale watch Amber burn alive, as a response to Amber telling Gale to "pass the torch". Subverted, as Amber initially survives and tries to kill again before Tara finally finishes her off, which leads to the example below.]]

* IShallTauntYou: [[spoiler:When cornered by Sidney and Gale in the climax, Amber begs for mercy by claiming she was merely a "dumb kid" radicalized by message boards. When Gale yells at her for killing Dewey, who she calls her best friend, Amber's face immediately switches from panic to a smug smile as she says, "Yeah, and he died like a pussy."]]

** [[spoiler:Sam’s first hallucination of Billy Loomis at the hospital immediately leads to the revelation that Billy is her biological father]].
** [[spoiler:Richie]] limps down the stairs like Billy immediately before revealing himself as the killer.
* {{Foreshadowing}}

* WouldYouLikeToHearHowTheyDied: [[spoiler:When cornered by Sidney and Gale in the climax, Amber begs for mercy by claiming she was merely a "dumb kid" radicalized by message boards. When Gale yells at her for killing Dewey, who she calls her best friend, Amber's face immediately switches from panic to a smug smile as she says, "Yeah, and he died like a pussy."]]

** [[spoiler:Their first interaction via phonecall has Tara reveal her favorite scary movie to be ''Film/TheBabadook'', as she's more a fan of "elevated" arthouse horror than slashers, much to Ghostface's disappointment. Their final interaction, Tara finishing off Amber, contains Tara reinforcing her preference for ''The Babadook'' after the events of the film.]]

** [[spoiler: Richie]] tries to plant the idea of Tara being the killer in Amber's head as a [[spoiler: way of turning them against one another.]] Sam not only doesn't believe him but his attempts to do tip her off that he is behind everything. As fractured as their relationship has been, Sam and Tara are still sisters and there's no way Sam is going to trust [[spoiler: her boyfriend of only a few months]] over the sister she's known her whole life.

* TechnologyMarchesOn: In-Universe; in the opening, Ghostface forces Tara to go through the movie trivia game the original killers made Casey go through in the first movie. However, unlike Casey, who lived during the late ‘90s, Tara lives in the 2020s and has access to a smartphone and websites with the information she needs to answer the questions she doesn’t know the answers to. However, [[HistoryRepeats just like Casey]], her overconfidence and fear gets the best of her when she falls for a trick question, only getting it half right.

** The "it's an honor" line sounded like it was directed toward Sidney in the trailer, but in the movie, [[spoiler:Ghostface says it after killing Dewey]].

** The ColdOpen is switched up heavily here. First, there really is only one victim as the others had them in pairs with the bigger-named star being the second one dead. Second, the DeadStarWalking actually survives the first scene, the next scene revealing she was able to be rushed to the hospital and that the surgery went well. [[spoiler:Not only that, she survives the whole movie, becoming the FinalGirl the original audience probably assumed Creator/DrewBarrymore was going to be.]]

** [[spoiler:Dewey's PlotArmor finally fails him, after he survived ''multiple'' attacks in previous movies that, by all rights, should've killed him.]]

** [[spoiler:Dewey]] is stabbed both in the chest and the back and has both knives dragged up through the stomach, resulting in a very bloody death.
** [[spoiler:Amber]] is shot twice, has a sanitizer bottle broken over the head, and is shoved onto a stove and set ablaze. [[spoiler:However, not even that kills her until she gets another bullet to the head.]]
** [[spoiler:Richie]] gets it almost as bad as [[spoiler:Amber]], being stabbed numerous times all over, and then, as he's bleeding out from the stab wounds, his throat is slashed and he's shot in the head.

''Scream'', or as it's colloquially known, ''Scream 5'' or ''Scream V'', is a 2022 {{Meta|Fiction}} SlasherMovie directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett, from the filmmaking collective known as Radio Silence (''Film/{{VHS}}'', ''[[Film/ReadyOrNot2019 Ready or Not]]''), and written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. It is the fifth film in the ''Film/{{Scream}}'' franchise, and the first to not be directed by Creator/WesCraven after his death in 2015, as well as the first film not to be distributed by Creator/DimensionFilms, with {{Creator/Paramount}} taking over distribution following the collapse and liquidation of Creator/TheWeinsteinCompany.

** "I know." [[spoiler:Amber moments before putting a bullet in Liv's head after the latter desperately tells the group she is not the killer, thus revealing herself as Ghostface.]]
** "It’s all yours, [[ThisIsForEmphasisBitch bitch]]!" [[spoiler:Gale to Amber after she taunts her with the line "Time to pass the torch!", and before enacting a plan with Sidney to [[KillItWithFire set her on fire.]]]]

* AffectionateParody: ''Stab 8'' parodies elements of ''Film/TheLastJedi'', since both of them are divisive eighth installments of a series directed by Rian Johnson. Radio Silence stated in an [[https://www.thewrap.com/scream-2022-directors-interview-radio-silence-the-last-jedi/ interview]] that they liked ''The Last Jedi'', so the jokes made about ''Stab 8'''s controversial reception are clearly done in good fun.

** Both movies are literal sequels and metaphorical {{remake}}s of ''Film/Scream1996''; however, in ''Scream 4'''s case, this was a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] in a time when remakes like ''Film/FridayThe13th2009'' and ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet2010'' were in a [[ContinuityReboot different continuity from the original films]], whereas this movie came out in a time when [[UnReboot "re-quels"]] like ''Film/Halloween2018'' are the new trend. [[spoiler:Both films also differ greatly in their ruleset and {{Plot Twist}}s. ''Scream 4'' states that remakes need to subvert the original films to shock an audience familiar with the latter, which is why the boyfriend is the victim rather than the killer; on the other hand, this movie states that exploiting nostalgia is the key, which is why the boyfriend is once again the killer. On a meta level, Jill could be seen as a representation of a remake cynically attempting to be the original film whilst not understanding how it worked just for the sake of attention, whilst Richie and Amber can be seen as representations of a re-quel forcefully trying as hard as possible to pay love to the original film at the expense of doing anything new, whilst showing a disdain for it through their murderous ways and petty motive. This is why they lure the main characters to Stu's house, why they mostly target relatives of original characters, and why they even kill Dewey and plan to kill Sidney and Gale. One is the worst representation of a remake, the other is the worst representation of a "re-quel".]]

** After the second attack and [[spoiler: Dewey's death]], Sam promptly does what any sane person being chased by a serial killer would do and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere tries to get the hell out of town with Tara and Richie]]. She is only sidetracked by Tara's lost inhaler, which [[spoiler: Richie]] took, to lure them to the planned finale at the original house.

* VillainBasedFranchise: Invoked by the new Ghostface, who states that the problem with the ''Stab'' franchise is that it doesn't have a consistent villain like [[Franchise/{{Halloween}} Michael Myers]] or [[Franchise/FridayThe13th Jason Voorhees]], [[spoiler:hence they went after Sam, who is the daughter of one of the original Ghostfaces]].

** Amber [[spoiler: getting lit ablaze and coming back to life for a final scare is reminiscent of when Mikey Madison played Susan Atkins in ''Film/OnceUponATimeInHollywood'', where her character was also set on fire and had a drawn-out death sequence.]]

* AmbiguousSituation: Wes says that his mom was a character in one of the ''Stab'' movies. ''Stab 8'' isn't based off the actual events of ''Film/Scream4'' (though that doesn't mean she couldn't have appeared in Stab 8), so either a fictional version of Judy Hicks appeared in a ''Stab'' film between ''Stab 3'' and ''Stab 8'' or Wes was using a metaphor to describe how his mother was a survivor of a prior Ghostface killing spree.

* MythologyGag: An early draft of Scream 4 revealed Kirby was an occupant of a renovated 261 Turner Lane, the former Macher residence, in keeping with the "remake" theme. [[spoiler:Amber not only becomes the occupant of Stu's old house, but is also one of the killers, just like him.]]

* WoundedGazelleGambit: Subverted. [[spoiler:Amber]] tries to lure in [[spoiler:Gale and Sidney]] by feigning a heavy injury, limping out onto the porch and crying for help. It’s practically PlayedForLaughs as [[spoiler:they both immediately realize it’s a trap]], after which [[spoiler:Amber gives up the act and a small shootout commences]].