The A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. However, in the 1990s, he brought something completely different to the horror genre with Scream, written by Kevin Williamson, and which spawned a franchise that is now being revived with a new movie.
Scream is credited with revitalizing the slasher genre in the 1990s and is notable for how it addressed horror clichés and the awareness of its characters of real-world horror movies, even taking notes from them on how to survive their own nightmarish situation. Scream introduced the audience to Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a high school student in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California, who was haunted by a masked killer known as Ghostface. Sidney became the final girl of the Scream franchise and has been aided through it by antagonist-turned-ally Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dwight “Dewey” Riley (David Arquette), sheriff of Woodsboro and brother of one of Sidney’s friends who was killed by one of the original Ghostface killers.
The Scream franchise is formed by four movies, all directed by Wes Craven, and while the release of Scream 4, fans of the franchise will reunite with Sidney, Gale, and Dewey in Scream, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Scream will see Sidney returning to Woodsboro after a new wave of murders begins, and the victims are all related somehow to the past killers. Scream is scheduled for a January 14, 2022 release, and the first trailer has now been released – and here’s what it reveals about the story and its connections to past Scream movies.
21. Scream 2022 References Drew Barrymore's Casey From The Original Scream
The Scream trailer begins in a very Scream style: with the death of a young woman. The original Scream famously killed Drew Barrymore’s character, Casey Becker, in the first 10 minutes after Barrymore’s image was used in posters and more. Casey’s death established the killer’s modus operandi and showed that they had everything carefully planned, as they not only terrorized Casey on the phone but also kidnapped and killed her boyfriend Steve Orth in front of her. The opening of the Scream trailer references Casey’s death by having a new victim, home alone, getting a call from the killer.
20. Ghostface's First Victim In Scream 2022
The aforementioned victim is Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), one of the new characters in the franchise. Tara had been talking to her killer for a while as they had been posing as her friend Amber, with Tara telling “her” she was home alone, allowing the killer to continue with their plan. The new Ghostface killer doesn’t want to know what Tara’s favorite scary movie is: they want to play a game, even if she doesn’t want to.
19. How Scream 2022 Is Updating Ghostface's Methods
Even Ghostface has to adapt to the modern world, and the killer updated their methods to add more fear and also make the chase a bit more fun (to them and viewers, of course). Ghostface is not only calling its victims but also texting them, posing like people they know in order to better plan their next move. However, the biggest change in the killer’s methods is how they hacked the security system of Tara’s house, through which they could unlock all doors while she tried to lock them back. It’s a fun twist and exchange between killer and victim, but obviously a very stressful one for Tara.
18. Neve Campbell Is Back as Sidney Prescott
After Tara’s death, viewers are reunited with Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, who has been living a much more calm life since the events of Scream 4, but she’s about to be pulled back into a new murder spree at Woodsboro. Sidney is seen running when she gets a call from a very familiar character, and this is the audience’s first look at Sidney in this new story.
17. David Arquette Returns As Dewey
The call is from none other than David Arquette’s Dewey Riley, who is letting Sidney know that “it’s happening again” and there have been three attacks so far. Dewey doesn’t look like he’s the sheriff of Woodsboro anymore, and he might not be with Gale anymore either, as he’s seen living in what looks like a trailer, while in Scream 4, he lived with Gale in a big house. Dewey is understandably shaken, as a decade has ed since they had to deal with killers wearing the Ghostface costume.
16. Why Sidney Prescott Always Carries A Gun
During that conversation, Dewey asks Sidney if she has a gun, to which she replies “I’m Sidney Prescott, of course I have a gun”. In Scream, Randy told Sidney and Gale that the supposedly dead killer always comes back for one final scare, with Sidney shooting Billy in the head as soon as he does so. Sidney did it again in Scream 2 when Mickey “came back”, and in Scream 3, she told Dewey to shoot Roman in the head. Sidney knows well that the killer can have many ways to survive and protect themselves, but they can’t escape a bullet to the head.
15. Ghostface's Attacks In Scream 2022 "Feel Different"
In a voiceover, Dewey says that these new kills and killer “feel different”. This might have something to do with the methods Ghostface is using now, as they’re not only using technology in their favor but they also seem to be a lot more brutal, as seen with Tara’s death at the beginning of the trailer. Sidney and Dewey have experience with different killers, but they surely aren’t ready for what this new one has planned.
14. Ghostface Stalks Another Victim
As Dewey says that this new wave of murders feels different, the trailer shows Ghostface going after another victim. This time, it’s a man in what looks like the back of an establishment, perhaps a bar or club given the graffiti on the door and the many cans scattered on the floor. Ghostface lures this new victim in by turning on the lights of a car, pointing at him, leading him to approach the car and see that no one’s inside – but the killer, in very slasher fashion, is right behind him. Ghostface is getting creative and doesn’t care about killing its victims in open spaces.
13. Sidney Meets With Sam
Sidney then approaches a young woman named Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), who is quick to tell her she knows who she is. Sam seems to be Tara’s sister, which explains why Sidney would meet her, as she will surely want to learn more about the victims to anticipate the killer’s next move and keep others safe. Sam appears a couple more times throughout the Scream trailer, so she will surely be one of the main characters out of the new cast, and she could be the new final girl in the franchise.
12. Sidney Acknowledges Her Final Girl Status
While talking to Sam, Sidney tells her that she has “been through this. A lot”, acknowledging her status in Woodsboro as the final girl. Surely, Sidney has gone through hell and back even before the events of the first Scream movie, as her mother was killed and she was later haunted by different killers wearing the Ghostface mask. Just like she did in Scream 4, Sidney will use all that experience to help the new, potential targets of the Ghostface killer and keep them safe, while also discovering who’s behind the mask and what their real motivations are.
