The Scream franchise is my absolute favorite. I have many wonderful memories tied to these films. I knew this fifth entry would be a sort of love letter to us fans. There were many surprising moments I hadn't expected. It dove into the past with great ease and it played beautifully. I was thrilled to hear Red Right Hand once again! And I enjoyed the twisted connection of the new characters to past characters. However, there are a number of things that didn't work well. The killers, at least one of them, were underwhelming and the motive paper thin. The pacing of the movie was too fast and could have benefited emotionally from taking a breather once in a while, allowing some organic connections between characters. They beat the meta talk to death. In an attempt to shift the narrative to a new generation, the original trio are severely underutilized. Let's be honest THEY are the franchise. Without them, it's just a watered-down ripoff moneygrab. I certainly don't want to see a Scream without them. I'd place it between 3 and 4, while 1 and 2 are the best.
