Scream

The fifth Scream movie, simply (and not confusingly at all) titled Scream, takes dead aim at toxic fan culture and makes constructive points about the type of behavior that’s proven destructive for Star Wars and other popular IP.

One can practically picture screenwriters James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) and Guy Busick (Ready or Not) sitting around with a few beers, tossing around such observations and contemplating how they might be applicable to the Scream series and horror movies at large. Though occasionally witty and — far more rarely — provocative, their writing fares poorly under the direction of Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (Ready or Not), who don’t have a clue how to film the material.

This lack of vision is evident from the opening, purposefully familiar sequence in which home-alone teen Tara (Jenna Ortega, The Fallout) is terrorized, first by an anonymous, altered voice over the phone and then by a knife-wielding maniac in a Ghostface costume. Whereas late, great series helmer Wes Craven was careful to employ a mix of shots to heighten tension yet clearly depict the space in which his characters’ operate, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett stick with bland, extreme close-ups that drain their scenes of sustained terror.

Still, this Scream has its moments, doling out a fair amount of suspense in the build-up to some creative, gory kills, and generally succeeds at balancing surviving series mainstays Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), and Dewey Riley (David Arquette) with Tara, Sam (Melissa Barrera, In the Heights), and other Woodsboro Gen-Zers with ties to the Ghostface saga.

High schooler Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown, Yellowjackets) dubbing this intergenerational synthesis a “re-quel” — amidst a head-spinning monologue about what’s right and wrong with modern horror — is likewise intriguing, but without the filmmaking to back it up, these self-aware, winking musings feel out of place, destined for a more deserving vessel.

Along with the lack of personality in their direction, the filmmakers lose track of time itself in the build-up to the finale as day becomes night and vice versa without warning, suggesting that their Scream takes place on another planet entirely. Though the prospect of Ghostface in space is amusing, if the likes of Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett remain at the helm, this series seems destined for precisely the type of duds that motivate this latest batch of villains to murderous ends. 

Heartfelt dedication to Craven aside, he would not be proud of where his series has gone.

Grade: C-minus. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande

(Photo: Paramount Pictures)