After five years I have returned, is this the legacyquel we've really all been waiting for? I mean, this doesn't even really fit the umbrella term of what a "legacyquel" might entail, but perhaps that's part of the charm, it's meta... maybe...? I don't know.
Basically I watched Scream 2022 last night, wrote about it on my Letterboxd (of course I've got a Letterboxd), then this morning I had more to say, so updated my Letterboxd review with my ideas for an alternative ending to Scream 2022, because I can.
So now, in an act of snake-eating-its-own-tail self-indulgence, I'm dusting off Uncredited Rewrites to basically cut-n-paste my Letterboxd review for anyone who might stumble upon this ancient blog, but it also feels apt as my second ever "uncredited rewrite" was for Scream 4 way back in 2011.
As always spoilers ahoy, but here for your reading pleasure is my Letterboxd review followed by my suggested uncredited rewrite for a different spin on the Scream franchise...
"For me the biggest disappointment with this new Scream was its lack of interesting or inventive kill scenes, it was just similar set ups and then a stabbing, and whilst the first attack's brutality made you feel like it's all going to be more shockingly violent that previous installments that shock wore off fast.
Likewise, whilst I was very much on board for the film's take on toxic fandom it didn't ramp its satirical aspects up enough for that to pay off, even though we got glimpses of a cartoonishly awful Stab 8 earlier in the film. This should've gone into "We want muscle-bound Luke Skywalker territory."
But the film is also smart enough to kind of address its own criticisms within itself, and whilst there were a number of ways how I wished they were doing something different, that's not the point, and there is plenty to enjoy even if, ultimately, it's just another Scream sequel.
Skeet Ulrich, um, innocent...
UPDATE (24/06/22):
So,
a while back I used to write a blog called Uncredited Rewrites, where
after watching certain films I'd take a punt at figuring out a "rewrite"
that might have addressed some of my issues with it, usually not trying
to completely overhaul the film itself, but just to tidy it up in some
way shape or form that met my - entirely personal - gripes.
The blog still exists, I haven't touched it in five years, but it's here: uncreditedrewrites.blogspot.com/ (I may upload the below waffle if I can remember the password).
So, SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! You have been warned.
Anyway,
when the first trailer for Scream 2022 dropped I mentioned that I hoped
Dewey would be the killer - which, unbeknownst to me tied in with a fan
theory about the first film where Dewey was one of the killers but he
got away with it.
Lying in bed last night I mentioned this again, but I briefly expanded upon my thoughts - isn't my partner so lucky to get this kind of pillow talk!
Anyway, I've now kind of fallen into an "I wish they'd done that" hole, so I have to share my thoughts with you lucky few.
Basically, for me, the idea of these Legacyquels is that it's fan service, and really who are the fans that are itching to see the original Spideys back on screen? Who get hyped that Bill Murray might drop into the new Ghostbusters? That Luke Skywalker was going to return to kick ass? And who, really, are the folks who will get vociferously angry if -Heaven forfend - these returns don't deliver on the promise of their childhoods?
Now, I haven't done the research, but I'm guessing, to a larger extent, it's older gentlemen. Chaps who were young when the originals came out and are old now.
For Dewey he'd be a solid audience for a Scream Legacyquel, and thematically for me it's because - now he's only really got death to look forward to (sorry Dewey) - the happiest times in his life were when he was being chased by Ghostface, the best thing that ever happened to him was the Woodsboro murders, and he knows it.
Gale is gone, Sydney is gone, and the only way to bring them back...
Ghostface.
But Dewey's an old codger with a bad leg, he can't go limping around offing teens?
That's where the internet comes in, and much like the narrative of the current film, Dewey basically stokes the embers of toxic fandom and essentially grooms two new killers - Richie and Amber just like in the current draft.
Except this time - to match up with the online fan theory which could even be referenced in the film - Dewey is the puppet-master behind the Legacyquel, he's the original cast member consulting on the project and trying to work with the new generation to deliver something bigger and better.
ALSO...
I really wanted there to be an extra twist, because part of the Scream (or Stab, if we're talking in-universe) rules is there's always two killers, which would've given this film an incredible opportunity to do something a little unexpected.
Half way through the film - probably during the second hospital sequence - somebody should've grabbed Dewey's gun when he "accidentally" dropped in or suchlike and shot Ghostface and immediately gone up and BLAM one in the head. Dead.
They remove the mask and reveal who it is. (I personally would've made it Richie, but he's got too strong a connection to our lead, so it probably would've had to have been Amber, and that does further cast suspicion on the friendship circle).
Anyway, from that point on obviously the idea of the second killer causes further suspicion, hopefully focusing it on Tara's friendship group, and the twist that Dewey is - kind of begrudgingly - the killer (or, at least, the mastermind now reluctantly thrust into a more hands on role due to being short one tribute act) disappears from people' minds as the film toys with them by playfully hinting that Dewey and Gale are going to get back together...
And yes, I think this would've pissed some people off, and maybe that kind of thing isn't allowed because of The Last Jedi, but then that might've tied further into the satirical conversation the film wanted to have about toxic fandom?
But, for me, what Scream 2022 really needed - beyond some more inventive kills - was a bit more of its own distinctive anarchic spirit, some kind of middle-finger to the audience in a way that says, very proudly, the old Scream is dead, this is the new Scream, and turning one of the series heroes into a villain - albeit a complicated one - is an opportunity that (as far as I'm aware) hasn't been utilised by many other horror franchises, especially not ones graced with original cast members returning decades later?"
Thanks for reading!
