Scream 5 (2022)

The Steves discuss the 2022 "Requel" Scream 5, along with what's making them happy in pop culture today!

What's making us happy?
Stephen: Sandman (Netflix)
Steve: Emily in Paris (Netflix)

Movie Discussion

• Names and numbers behind the scenes
• Meta talk on sequels, requels, reboots, and elevated horror
• Adapting slasher films to new technology
• Favorite and most shocking deaths
• Thoughts on the killers
• Hopes for Scream 6
• And more!

Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.

Transcript

Steve 0:03

Hello, returning Happys and new listeners. This is Steve Bennett Martin. And

Stephen 0:07

this is Steven Martin Bennett, and welcome to a lifetime of

Steve 0:10

happiness. The podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping keep us happy while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way.

Stephen 0:20

And this January, we're discussing some of our favorite movies of 2022. So we might as well say, what's your favorite scary movie? And start with Scream

Steve 0:31

five. Yes. Which just so happened to come out January of last year. So it's been one year since it's. And I'm excited that we've had some time to digest it from our first couple watches. Yep. And we'll dive into that. But before we get into it all, what's been making you happy? My love

Stephen 0:48

It is the Sandman on Netflix. Oh, okay. Surprise Yeah. So I fully admit that I love Neil Gaiman. Yes. And. You know, the co-author of my favorite book, good Omans, and I have been reading the Sandman graphic novels on the Kindle each night. And then this came out on Netflix and we waited a while to watch it cuz we were watching other things and I wanted to us to try

Steve 1:22

it together. It wasn't for me, but it wasn't bad. It just wasn't for me. And

Stephen 1:27

I was absolutely obsessed and they did such justice to the books. So I'm very excited. We're getting a season two and it was everything I could have hoped it to be. Excellent. Whatev is making you happy, darling. Well, we

Steve 1:44

recently took a trip to Paris.

Stephen 1:45

Ah, Patty,

Steve 1:47

except not really. It's Emily in Paris on Netflix and we watch season three. Season three, and we binged it in a couple days and it was good. It's just one of those like happy shows.

Stephen 1:59

It really is one of those happy shows and every time we watch it I'm like, I could live in Paris. I could live, I'm sure I could pick up French probably faster than Emily.

Steve 2:08

Yeah, probably I could probably pick up French faster than Emily and I am not good with languages at all. My love.

Stephen 2:16

Oh, just, you know, the different restaurants and the cafes to get coffee in a croissant and

Steve 2:24

taking a month off every year. Oh,

Stephen 2:26

that looks fantastic.

Steve 2:28

Yes. You know what also is fantastic though, my love. What is that my darling screen five. and I am going to have this discussion. Help me figure out whether or not it's my favorite screen movie.

Stephen 2:42

Really. I mean, it is really, really good. I still have a different favorite, which we'll get to at the end, but, it. Well,

Steve 2:51

yours is too. You're on the record for it. Oh

Stephen 2:53

yeah. I guess I am on the record. Two is speaking still

Steve 2:56

my favorites. Speaking of our record listeners, before we jump into screen five, you might want to go back and listen to our episodes where we discussed 1, 2, 3, and four.

Stephen 3:05

Yes. And we know we're all excited because six comes out this march. Yes,

Steve 3:12

we're looking forward to it. But why do you love screen five?

Stephen 3:14

So. I love all of the screen movies. I love slashers in general. I love a slasher that's also a whodunit. You're d you're like combining two of my favorite genres and we get Gayle Weathers back. Yes, we get Sydnee Prescott back. Yes, we get. Several new very interesting characters that I immediately like. Yes. We get the return of a few legacy characters. Yeah. The story is good. The humor is good. The kills were good. I didn't have anything bad to say about this movie. Me

Steve 3:49

either. I feel like it takes everything that we love about the franchise gives us that. And then also gives us more things that are new to the franchise that we're able to really enjoy and be surprised by along the way. Yes. But for those not in the Know, scream Five is an American slasher film directed by Matt Bettelli Open and Tyler Gillett, and written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick being the first film not to be directed by we Craven after his death in 2015.

Stephen 4:17

Yes. And these are the same guys entire group that were. The wonderful ready or knot. Yes. Which

Steve 4:25

was also awesome. Yes. And as we mentioned, we've already covered the first four movies, so that's where you get to learn more about Nev Campbell, David Arquette and Courtney Cox, and our thoughts on all of them. Yeah.

Stephen 4:36

New faces include Melissa Burrera, Kyle Goldner, Mason Gooding, Mickey Madison, Dylan Mannette, Jenna Ortega, Jasmine Sevo. Sonya Amma and Jack Quaid. Now, that last name might sound familiar because it is, it's Dennis Quad's kid. Yes. But I

Steve 4:57

feel like they had a good mix of like fresh faces you probably haven't bef seen before. Mm-hmm. as well as new young faces that you're seeing in other movies as up and coming. Well,

Stephen 5:06

Jasmine Brown was on the Shonda Show. We liked about the young lawyers. In the circuit courts in New York City, and this is totally brand new for her. Like this is like a star turning role for her, I think. Yeah,

Steve 5:24

and even with Jenna Ortega, who we fell in love with on you. was it? Yep. So, you know, it, it, I really enjoyed this cast. As I also mentioned earlier, it was released January 14th, 2022 with a budget of 24 million and a box office of 140 million, giving enough of a reason to continue with the franchise this year, with number six,

Stephen 5:45

with the same creative team. Thank goodness.

Steve 5:48

Yes. And so how does the movie start my

Stephen 5:50

love? Well, it is 25 years after Billy Luma and Stu Mocker terrorized the town of

Steve 5:56

Woodsboro. In real life or in the movie? Both. Yes.

Stephen 6:00

High Schooler, Tara Carpenter is home alone and texting her friend Amber Freeman. The landline rings, but Tara ignores it at first, and then when she does answer, Tara's confronted by someone claiming to be a friend of her mother's. But it's that voice that we all recognize and we know she's in trouble.

Steve 6:18

Yes, we know that that is no friend from the program. Yes,

Stephen 6:21

talk quickly turns to scary movies, but Tara says she prefers elevated horror. We soon find out she was never texting. That this was a, the collar or ghost face the whole time. And now she has to play a trivia game based on the original stab movies to save Amber's life. If she's wrong, Amber dies. She calls the police, Amber dies. She's doing really well. And just kind of like in the original screen movie where Drew Barrymore screws up the last question. Tara screws up the last question and she says that Billy was the killer in the original scream, and the half true, half true, but it's Billy and Stu, so she's wrong, which means Amber dies movies over.

Steve 7:10

Except

Stephen 7:10

tara rushes to go save amber, but as she opens the front door, ghost faces there and cuts her. She locks the door, and then there's this back and forth with on her phone arming and disarming the house, which. Has all the automated locks people have now. But it turns out ghost face got in. During one of the disarming times they attacked Tara breaking her leg and stabbing her multiple times. Tara survives the attack but is badly wounded as ghost face leaves as the police sirens approach.

Steve 7:39

Yes. And how does this work as an opening, quote unquote, kill

Stephen 7:44

my love? So it's really interesting at that. we are almost left to believe that Tara is dead. Yeah, for sure. And it was a really good kind of callback to the Drew Barrymore Yes. About the home alone and things like that. It felt like it had real stakes. There was tension. I liked the automated locking and unlocking that. Yeah. He had control over it as well, so that, that was kind of new and cool. And you could see that was creating more panic for her.

Steve 8:16

Oh yeah. And for me as well. That was one thing in the, in the tr original teaser trailer that had just had me, I was like, yes. Like, I love how a genre like this after 25 years is able to adapt to the technology as things change 100%. Speaking of adapting to technology, though, my love, who has a landline in 2022?

Stephen 8:37

All of my seniors at

Steve 8:39

work. And Tara's mother. And

Stephen 8:42

Tara's mother. Okay. Yes. Like I got rid of a landline in 2003. My parents even got rid of their landline in the mid two thousands, so, you know, whenever people still have landlines, I do find it shocking and I'm like, do you still have long distance plans? Is that a thing? Yeah. But I

Steve 9:03

mean, it leads to her being able to explain how you should get, be texting someone while on the phone with someone. So forgive it. Yeah. But yeah, in some ways you also have to stick to the technology that's worked so far in the genre. Yeah. And where do you stand now? We know that we're terrorists, just stands on elevated horror. Where do you stand on that versus classic heart?

Stephen 9:24

Okay, so Terrace says, elevated horror is scary, but with complex emotional thematic underpinnings, not some schlocky cheeseball nonsense with wall to wall jump scares. And her favorite being the Babadook. Yeah. We've watched the Babadook and we liked it. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. And we've watched some elevated horror that we liked and then others that were the three longest hours of our life. Yes, that.

Steve 9:51

Midsummer don't bring me back there. I don't want to go back there. Sorry.

Stephen 9:55

So, but I think that there's enough place in horror and with horror fandom for elevated horror and like camp, like sleepaway camp. Yes. I think there's room for both. I agree. And there was a fun little. callback trivia thing also that we found out where Sydney lived in Woodsboro. Yes.

Steve 10:21

Because in the original movie it was scripted in and even shot in, in deleted scene when she was using like the internet phone. Yeah. To try and get ahold of the police where she typed in her address and said it was Elm Street, which is an obvious nod to Nightmare. Nightmare on Elm Street Street. Yeah. But it was cut due to time. But they finally established that in. Alternate Universe or in this alternate version of Stab, which is Scream. Yeah. They didn't cut it out of the movie like they did in Scream

Stephen 10:52

so, and whenever I was first watching Scream and she gets on her phone and nine one one's the police over the internet. Growing up in the middle of West Virginia. I'm like, that's not real. That can't happen. Yeah. Because we don't have those type of things.

Steve 11:11

Yes. Well sit here now. Tara's friend and classmate, we Hicks calls her older sister Sam Carpenter, about the attack. Sam is living in Modesto, working at a bowling alley. Sam decides to return to Woodsboro with her boyfriend Richie, to visit Tara at the. Meanwhile, at school, drew Barrymore announces the classes are canceled for public safety. And Wes' Mother, sheriff Judy Hicks, who we know from number four, gathers the rest of the new friend group. Amber Twin siblings, Chad and Mindy Meeks, Martin and Liv Mackenzie for questioning. Richie, who is unaware of the Stab franchise or its connection to Woodsboro, spends the majority of the hospital visit with Sam, catching up on the franchise on YouTube to inform himself of the rules. The killer may. While another video reveals Kirby Reids survived the events 11 years earlier.

Stephen 12:03

Yay. And so it's interesting also that Drew Barrymore is the voice of the principal. Yes. That was a

Steve 12:12

fun little gag.

Stephen 12:13

Yes. And what are your thoughts on the new cast?

Steve 12:18

I really love the Meeks Martin twins. Yes, they were definitely the standouts. Amber I didn't like from the beginning, it doesn't necessarily mean that I knew she was the bad guy. I didn't just like

Stephen 12:31

her as a character. I just hated her. Yeah. Yeah. She was not likable.

Steve 12:35

She seemed like she was the one who was in love with Tara, not anyone else.

Stephen 12:38

Exactly. Like I expected that to be a plot point at some point. Yeah. But it wasn't for

Steve 12:44

sure. What, what about you? Any other additional thoughts?

Stephen 12:46

So Mindy immediately, like, I love a horror. So she's kind of taking after Uncle Randy. And I also noticed that Le Liv seemed like a useless character, but I do have more on that later because it was during our viewing the other night of watching this that I finally. Found out, at least in my mind, the reason for her character and the way it is. But I don't wanna discuss that

Steve 13:09

till the end. Okay, well, let's be careful. We don't wanna avoid spoilers. Now Richie's Fey naivete. I also love him playing dumb about not knowing anything about stab. While we know that he knows a whole lot about Stab Yes in the end really helps make sure that it's accessible for new viewers. Now, do you think that someone could appreciate this movie without seeing the first.

Stephen 13:31

So, yes, I do think someone could not have seen one through four and been able to enjoy this movie. Yes. Do I think they would've enjoyed it more knowing more of the history? Yes, of course. But I think that they did this in such a nice way that any of the history that we kind of did need, they went over it again. It's just. Those of us that have seen the other ones, felt those connections more strongly.

Steve 14:01

Yeah. And speaking of those connections, do you wanna talk about some of them somewhere? I would love

Stephen 14:06

to do that. So we get some of those character connections quickly. We find out that Sam's been the babysitter for Wes, Mindy, and Chad. With Mindy saying that the only reason that Chad really liked her is that she let him wear a Pokemon onesie for an entire year. That would work

Steve 14:23

for me as well. And he said facts.

Stephen 14:25

Yeah. Amber doesn't like Sam for abandoning Tara. They throw in quickly that Tara has asthma, which obviously a thing like that will become a plot point, which we also did

Steve 14:37

see earlier in her attack. She did that well in the lead up to it.

Stephen 14:40

Yeah. Tara's mom is stuck at a conference in London, which tells me that she's not a great mother or very involved in Tara's life because she wasn't hopping on the first plane to get back home after her daughter almost died. There's no way you're stuck at a conference when your daughter was brutally attacked by a masked killer. Depends

Steve 15:04

on the conference What if it was a conference for world peace? And she was an instrumental factor in establishing a new world order that would bring peace and happiness and get rid of homelessness and hungriness hung. Yeah. I don't know. I'm just spitballing here.

Stephen 15:31

I don't, I think that the world would understand and be like, Hey guys, we need to get along. My daughter almost died. Okay. to say, right? And she could always zoom to the conference because it's more about her words than her probably shaking. Anyway. the friend group goes off to a bar to play pool, which is interesting that a bar lets some under 18 year olds in to play pool. Yeah. And Mindy tells them that they're all suspects, especially Wes, since he had a crush on Tara,

Steve 16:02

even though we know he, he's not the only one. Amber.

Stephen 16:07

Meanwhile, live Summer Fling Vince Schneider is tormented and murdered by Ghostface outside of a bar with the best part. that ghost's face turned on red right hand in his car to be played. Which is

Steve 16:21

which? There unofficial theme song.

Stephen 16:23

Exactly. I mean, I don't even know if it's a great song or not, but it has so much nostalgia for me that I'm like, yes, red right hand. I love it.

Steve 16:34

Yes. And while there have been many tragic, sad, unfortunate deaths throughout the scream, This was not one

Stephen 16:40

of them. It was not, and part of me was like, oh, the killer just did it because he's a

Steve 16:45

douche. Yeah. The killer kills good people sometimes

Stephen 16:49

so well. Well, I guess we find out more

Steve 16:52

later. Yes. That he was related to which one? Stu Stew. Yes. Now meanwhile, Sam goes to take her antipsychotic where a hallucination of Billy Loomis tells her that she needs to tell Tara what's going on because. Before she can process all that ghost face calls and we get the famous come and get

Stephen 17:13

me asshole

Steve 17:14

with pleasure. That usually involves sydnee in previous movies. Sam gets away and decides to tell Tara the truth. When Sam was 13, she found her mother's diary that says that in high school, bill cheated on Sid with Tara's mom who had a boyfriend at the time. Christine, her mom got pregnant by Billy, but kept the father a secret and married the high school boyfriend. When Sam confronted her mom, her dad was standing behind and left because of the betrayal. Sam blamed herself because she's a stupid teenager. her mother blamed herself as that was wrong. She sh Her mother should have blamed herself. She brought it on

Stephen 17:52

herself. Yeah, she shouldn't be blam. Sam.

Steve 17:55

Yes. And her mom made her promise not to tell Tara dealing with breaking up the family and revelation of a serial killer for her father Sam. Took a lot of drugs, got in a lot of trouble, had a lot of fun, and left town at 18

Stephen 18:08

So like knowing that Billy was cheating on Sidney B and it was during and you and it. Well, she wasn't putting out. She wasn't. And that was totally in the first movie where he's like, since your mom died, we went from.

Steve 18:22

On our way to X-rated

Stephen 18:24

to, yeah. Onto an NC 17. And now I feel like we're edited for TV and she goes, well, how about a PG 13?

Steve 18:31

And he was getting his r well he was getting his D in something else. Yeah.

Stephen 18:36

And Christine, and it makes me wonder, was Christine one of the two girls at the video store that Billy was flirting? Oh, that would be that day. That would

Steve 18:49

be

Stephen 18:49

interesting. Yeah. So what is your thought on the twist of Sam being Billy's daughter?

Steve 18:56

I like it. It's a way to bring things back to the original without having it be retread territory. Like having, I feel like Sydney's like family tree is exhausted that even like the whole Galil and Dewey thing at this point, and like they have a nice touch to it with their quick reunion. But like other than that, it's not spent too much time. Like it's something new while being something old. Mm-hmm. and I. it's, it works because we're in that generation now where it makes sense 25 years later and while we're able to have nieces and nephews be of teenage years and ripe and ready for slaughter,

Stephen 19:27

and I do love that Sam tried to give Richie an out that he can leave and she won't be mad, and he says that he'll stay. Would you dump someone for being the daughter of a serial killer? Depends

Steve 19:39

on how early in the relationship that conversation was brought up. Yeah, I would say first date, maybe not so much. I don't know. I feel like there's a time when, like, if you were just like, oh yeah, my, my, my great-uncle was Michael Myers. Yeah. I'd be like, okay, cool. But it, it would take some time and it can't be like one of the most interesting things about you. It just has to be another random fact. Okay. I mean, what was it? My great, great, great, great, great great grandfather was who, that's famous that I forget from history.

Stephen 20:09

He shot Hamilton. Aaron Burr. Aaron Burr. Yes. You're related to Aaron

Steve 20:16

Burr. I'm glad I told you the one time that I remembered, cuz I forget all the time. You do Now, would you stay with me if you found out that like, cuz especially with me, my biological parents are unknown, so what if I am like a Manson?

Stephen 20:35

I think we would've seen it by now. Okay. Probably. I mean, because this summer we'll have been together for 10 years and you don't really seem to have any homicidal tendencies.

Steve 20:46

that you know of Anyway, what do you think about the DH Skeet? Elrich as Billy? Because I feel like, I remember seeing on the internet, people were like knocking it at first, but I am still pretty impressed by this whole de aging in movies thing that you've also seen in the X-Men.

Stephen 21:05

Right? So in X-Men, the Last Stand, they de Patrick Stewart and Mckalen, Xavier and Magni. For the gene flashback when she was like an eight year old child. Mm-hmm. the technology has improved because at first I was like, how did they do that? Did they just like, and I didn't realize that he came back and performed it cuz my first thought was they just took images of him and his voice and made like a hologram. But no, I'm impressed that the technology can do what it can.

Steve 21:36

Exactly. You know what? I was also less impressed by Dewey's trailer. Yeah. Yeah. The salmon Richie visitor were reclusive. Dewey Riley, who's been in a bad place ever since his divorce from Gil Weathers.

Stephen 21:49

She's currently anchoring a morning new show in New York City.

Steve 21:52

You go girl Now the two ask for his help in stopping the killer, but he declines. He also goes over the three rules.

Stephen 21:59

Never trust the love interest.

Steve 22:02

He called that right away.

Stephen 22:04

the motive is usually connected to something in the past, we already knew that, and the first victim has a friend group that the killer is always a part of. That is also

Steve 22:13

true. Yep. Then Dewey kicks them out. However, Dewey contacts Sydnee telling her to stay away and asks if she has a gun.

Stephen 22:21

I'm Sydnee fucking Prescott. Of course I have a gun

Steve 22:24

and all the gays get hard. yeah, She says that she's glad that the group has Dewey to protect them, but tells him to save face. The NA tech scale

Stephen 22:34

goes, faces back, don't come home. Hope you're doing well, smiley.

Steve 22:39

After the sea changes his mind and joins the teens at Mindy and Chad's home, while he also somewhat regrets the smiley face he totally

Stephen 22:47

regrets the

Steve 22:47

smiley face. Yes. And fans were very happy about his trailer. While it was not the trailer itself. That was impressive. It was something that you see on the mantle, huh?

Stephen 22:57

Yes, it was because the fact Dewey never mentioned to Sister Tat. Or her death was an off criticized aspect of prior sequels making it seem like she had been forgotten. But here we see that she, that he keeps her ashes on the mantle. And I was about to say no because in Scream three the fake Gale Parker Poseys bodyguard is harassing him about his sister being. But that was when the bodyguard was on the phone with the killer then, and he was using the voice change thing to sound like Dewey. So Dewey himself actually hasn't talked about Tatum on screen.

Steve 23:35

No. Yes. And you, I also loved that on the morning show, Gail says, Yes.

Stephen 23:41

If I ever try to get bags again, someone stage an intervention

Steve 23:45

referencing the bangs from Scream three, which became a meme Yes. And it's very criticized on the internet. And

Stephen 23:51

David Arquette has taken the blame for the bangs because he convinced her that they would be good for where the character was. Right. Oh, they weren't good for anybody at any

Steve 24:03

time. No. And the interesting framed photo of David Arquette and Courtney Cox's, a real one taken from their marriage. And you

Stephen 24:10

can, you can tell that there's real affection there and I'm glad that they. are friendly in real life.

Steve 24:18

Yes. Now, after his call with Sydnee, or during his call with Sydnee, there's a little Easter egg when she mentions the father of her children and husband being the name Mark. Yes. And sh Sydnee Campbell revealed that when she was asked about the Mark Easter egg, she revealed that someone just told me that yesterday and that she didn't realize it when she was saying it. Considering that it's been 22 years since the were at release of Scream. and the other character is not up here since then, it's not surprising, although fans like us knew right away that it was Mark Kincaid. Yeah. And Scream three, which she also adds as funny because she played his sister in Grey's Anatomy,

Stephen 24:56

which is really funny. Three years after she was romancing him and Scream three, or he was romancing her, then she's his sister. Hot. Yeah. So at the Meeks House, Martha Meeks from Scream three as well. Brings refreshments to the group, suspects. Your uncle would be so proud. Mm-hmm. And that was, I mean, she was on screen for 30 seconds, but it was you squealed. I did. It made me so excited. that was a callback I didn't know I needed, but made me so happy.

Steve 25:31

Yes. And the group attempts to uncover the connections between the killers and the. Deducing that Vince is ST's nephew. So

Stephen 25:39

pause on that a second. ST's house was amazing. They had a boat Stew's nephew is now a loser. What happened to the family's money? Because,

Steve 25:51

I have trailer trash cousins. Excuse me, it happens. That's

Stephen 25:55

his nephew though. That means his sister. Well, that would

Steve 26:00

be my mom's brother.

Stephen 26:02

Okay. I, there you go. I, I guess so.

Steve 26:07

I guess, sorry. Uncle Bill

Stephen 26:12

With the three attacks on people being related in some capacity to the original killers, Sam is accused of being the killer and angrily freeze. Please not freeze. Flee please. But we also get to learn about equals.

Steve 26:28

Yes. Because fans are deeply connected to originals in a movie series and are very protective of the original. You can't reboot a movie anymore because you're disregarding what came before and you can't just do a sequel because too much time is passed and you won't pull in a new audience. You have to create something that connects a legacy character and stories. While I was making it easy, jumping on for a new. Like this movie.

Stephen 26:50

Like this movie. And they were kind of knocking Scream Four, which I still believe is a fantastic scream entry, but it was a direct sequel. Yeah. And

Steve 27:01

it wasn't the right

Stephen 27:02

time and place. Nine years had passed at that point. Yes. And that was you, you're, you needed to be able to bring in more of an audience. Well, I love Scream for, for any reason to bring Kir. Read into the cannon. Yeah. That works for me.

Steve 27:20

Yes. And what are your thoughts on the recall phrase and the concept of it?

Stephen 27:24

So I actually think that it is fantastically done. We've seen it be very successful with the new Halloween trilogy. Mm-hmm. because those are absolutely equals. And Mindy says that the Stab movies, and in turn the scream movies are meta slasher who. Yes. And that actually has held true through all five movies without deviating from the whole way that we love them. Where the Stab movies did move away from meta slasher whodunits. Yeah. And that's why the original fans are so upset. Well, at least they kept

Steve 28:03

ours the right

Stephen 28:04

way. Yeah. Now, one of my favorite things in the scene was Wes' Line when he tells Dewey. You got stabbed a billion times, got dumped by your famous wife and then crawled into a bottle. I think it's safe to say you are on the suspect list. To which Dewey says,

Steve 28:22

maybe you're the killer, because that cut deep

Stephen 28:27

that just gets me every time. But my fa my other favorite part is that when Dewey pulls up to the house and he gets out of the car, you got Dewey's theme. Dewey's theme plays, which we first was made famous in screen two. Yep.

Steve 28:41

Yes. Speaking of sheriffs and deputy, yes. Sheriff Hicks is running out to pick up sushi when they get a call from Ghost Face saying that he's in the house and will kill Wes before she can get back. She speeds back, runs up the steps, and as she jumps onto the porch, ghosts say stabs her before she even sees

Stephen 29:02

him. That was one of the most surprising. deaths in the movie because you weren't expect, like not a lot of the kills happen outside during the day. Like it's just not a thing.

Steve 29:13

Yes. I think between it being in daylight and that it being the, the buildup isn't where you were expecting it to be.

Stephen 29:20

You thought it might be like a,

Steve 29:23

Showdown in the house. Yes. And I just feel like they make up for it then with the cat and mouse game of ghosts face with Wes. Oh, yes. As Wes gets out of the shower, goes downstairs and sees a note about lemon squares that tastes like ass that are in the fridge. Yeah.

Stephen 29:38

So that like scream four when ju Deputy Judy, Judy was. Here are some of my lemon squares for you, sheriff and Gail's like your lemon squares taste like ass. And so there's a note on the fridge that say, Wes lemon squares are in the fridge. Love mom. And I was like, your lemon squares taste like ass.

Steve 30:00

Yes. Where Team Gale. Yes. Yes. Now he does the thing with the opening, a door that blocks the camera view, then closes them where we obviously know the killer will jump out, but it doesn. That happens twice. But it's when he goes to close the front door that he gets a knife all the way through his neck. That was

Stephen 30:17

something we hadn't really seen in the screen movies. It was

Steve 30:20

the story in the best way possible.

Stephen 30:22

Agreed. Like that suspense with Wes and the opening the doors was so well done because it was. A two or more minute sequence of him just slowly doing things around the kitchen. Mm-hmm. and opening the refrigerator, looking around, pause, closing the refrigerator and the music even had the scream like build up right there and nothing. So well

Steve 30:49

done. Yes. Then Gail arrives wearing a red suit, an homage to her outfit in the first movie when she arrives at the high. Gail refers to herself as Gail Riley then smacks Dewey for telling her in a text

Stephen 31:02

It's a really sweet scene where Gail says she came back to check on him and Dewey admits that he was forced to retire and calls himself a coward. And Gail says, you are a lot of things Dewey, but you are not a coward. Yes. How

Steve 31:16

does that make you feel?

Stephen 31:17

It had me, all the feels gave all of

Steve 31:20

them like, yes. Well, while they were shooting at the first take, actually had so much emotion to it and like behind it about them personally in their real lives and their relationships. That afterwards they said, okay, that was for you two as humans. Now we'll go and re-shoot one for these characters.

Stephen 31:36

Aw, I didn't know that. Yeah. Oh, that gives me even more feels.

Steve 31:41

Yes. Now speaking of feels with knives, we're about to get some more action. Yes. Sam sees that deputy is assigned to watch her sister and realizes terror is alone. Sam and Dewey are rushed to the hospital when they realize that terror is in danger. At the hospital, Tara and Richie are attacked by Ghost Face who gets Sam on the phone and says she has to decide which of the two would die. And it seems easy, sorry. Richie Sam stalls until the elevator opens and Dewey shoots at ghost face after a struggle. And some shots. We believe ghost face is dead. But of course he's not. Or they're not. Dewey goes back to check cuz unless you shoot them in the head, they come. He le lefts Richie, Tara and Sam escape in the elevator and just says he's about to shoot ghost's face in the head. His phone rings, he's distracted, and ghost's face got so and he dies, which means it's all Gail's fault.

Stephen 32:32

It because Gail was the one calling him.

Steve 32:34

Yes. As he dies, ghost's face says it's an honor. Yes. And what are your thoughts? You know, at this point, Core three, five movies in, could all three have survived

Stephen 32:47

and they just couldn't anymore? Like as much as I never, ever, ever want Gail to die, if they were going to kill her, it would've been in four with that whole thing. But there's just no way if all three of them were back for this, that they can make them invincible. Because at that point, the. Isn't gonna feel that there are stakes for them. Yeah. And by killing off Dewey, all of a sudden, like what Randy told her in the video and scream three, even the main character can die. That means you, Syd.

Steve 33:22

Yeah. Yeah, it was time and I'm glad out of the three that I was here

Stephen 33:26

agreed. agreed. Like, not that I disliked the character

Steve 33:30

of doing it. No. I like how they took him from doofy basically to like sexy daddy, sheriff, booze, hound

Stephen 33:38

and, but still kind of his, still goofiness because that whole, cuz that cut deep Yeah. Was still very dewy.

Steve 33:46

Yes. There's also, as we mentioned earlier, the Kirby Easter egg while Richie is watching YouTube. And what do you hope for Kirby and Scream six? Because we know she'll

33:55

be

Stephen 33:55

back. That she doesn't die. Yes. She better not be the first kill. And I would prefer it if she actually makes it through to the end of the movie. Yes, please. Because, and we didn't actually see the Kirby Easter egg when we saw it the first time. We saw the movie twice over the opening weekend and we saw it the second time. Yes, we saw it the second time cuz we looked. Some things. Yeah. And they said it's there on the screen. And I love that the directors were like, they never said she died, so she didn't. Yeah.

Steve 34:27

I like that for her. Yeah. Yes. Now, when Gala arrives at the hospital and sees Dewey's body being wheeled out, she completely falls apart. Sydnee returns to Woodsboro upon learning of Dewey's death and reunites with a numb Gail on the waiting area. Gail and Sid hug immediately. All animosity from the PAs both have grown and our family, they tell each other that neither one should be in town. So why are they for

Stephen 34:53

Dewey? Yes, and Sid came back for Gail after Dewey is gone cuz she knew that of all the people, she could be there for Gail because she understands. And that reunion was the friendship that I had always hoped that they would have, and I think that it, it took them both time to get there because like they may have been developing it after four or after three. They seemed to have regressed a little by four, but I think they're there now. They're there now.

Steve 35:30

Yes. Sydnee asked Sam to help take down the killer because as she says,

Stephen 35:35

I've been through.

Steve 35:37

A lot. Sam responds with,

Stephen 35:39

you Want me to help you and the host of a Morning Show Commit Murder? Correct? Correct.

Steve 35:44

Yes. But Sam declines choosing to leave Woodsboro with Richie and Tara. Instead, she said, we're

Stephen 35:50

gonna do what nobody ever does in these situations. We're gonna get the fuck out of Woodsboro.

Steve 35:55

Yes. Which actually makes sense normally if you didn't have the killer in your car with you Yeah, Sid Trust tell her that it will follow her which is very accurate. Yep. But they still leave. Gil gives Sid crap about just letting them leave. But Sydnee says,

Stephen 36:10

I put a tracker on her car. It seems like something Gale Weathers would do. Yes. And Scream is one of those movies though, where the motives are so personal that running away or fleeing town, I don't think would. because the killer's doing it for a reason and they'll just come find you. They would rather you came and played in their sandbox, but they'll bring the murder to you if that's

Steve 36:34

They're not above going to New York City

Stephen 36:37

Exactly. Because it's not like it's Friday the 13th. Jason's at Crystal Lake. Yeah, because that's where he is. And like the only reason that he ended up in Manhattan is cuz he got drugged by a. These people usually stay where they are. So if you're not there, you're gonna live. Scream's different.

Steve 36:55

Yes, it is Now leaving town. Tara can't find her inhaler in the bag and they decide that not letting her asphyxiate to death isn't worth it after all of this work keeping her alive. But there's a spare at Amber's house. No one likes the idea, but they had there anyway. Where Amber's having a party as the party's in progress to honor Wes' memory as this movie. Honoring Wes' memory

Stephen 37:17

and which whenever they're all like to Wes. Yeah. They actually got all, as many of the past cast members to do a voiceover to say to Wes and added it all in with the, the cast there. Yes.

Steve 37:30

Yep. And Liv attempts to have sex with Chad upstairs, but he declined saying he's not entirely sure she isn't the killer. She gets pissed and goes outside. Mindy tries to school Amber on how to. Trust. No one don't go off by yourself.

Stephen 37:43

And the scene with Mindy and Amber in the basement was very interesting with the energy and both of them kind of egging each other on with the I'm the killer. But when Mindy said, you can't be the killer because I'm the killer, my first thought go was, no, you're my new Gale. You're the one character that can't die. I need you to live. And if she was the killer, she'd have to die. knowing that she was kidding. I was like, oh, thank God. Because I realized in that scene that Mindy was the one that I'm now attached to from this movie. Oh yeah,

Steve 38:14

for sure. Now, Gail blames herself for all their years of torment that she started this all by writing the book about Sid's Mom. Sid says, yeah, bitch. She does not. She does not. She says, no, Billy Luma started this and we're going to end it after tonight. No more books, no more movies, no more fucking ghost face. You shouldn't be fucking ghost face Although I have seen that meme porn well, and

Stephen 38:41

I, I think that's how Sam came to be as someone was fucking Ghost face. True, true

Steve 38:46

Now, Mindy has everyone watching Stab one, which is a nice un watch to Randy having everyone watch Halloween during Scream One, also enjoying that Mindy is queer. Yes, I love myself that now Chad decides to make his way outside to apologize to live because she finally. She quote unquote, sends the gps, even though immediately were like, we know that's not her.

Stephen 39:08

Yeah. She's like, here's where I am. Follow this GPS link.

Steve 39:12

Yes. But he finds ghost's face instead and stabbed a whole lot and is seemingly killed by ghost face.

Stephen 39:17

Yeah, I thought for sure he was dead right there.

Steve 39:20

Yes. Sam and company arrive and Amber shuts down the party and sends everyone home with the help of Richie who ushers the kids out with Saving. Saving your life. Thank you, Now just the core. Richie and Mindy are having a few laughs about him going to the basement by himself and saying he'll be right back. To which Mindy says,

Stephen 39:38

well, he's dead. Yes, just so a dead pan like that. Liv

Steve 39:43

shows up at an opportune time saying her Uber canceled on her. Mindy says that Chad went to look for Liv and now Mindy is revising her suspect list. Liv gets pissed and says, I thought you said I was too boring to be the. maybe that's

Stephen 39:58

the twist. And it was at this moment that I realized why Liv's character is the way she is, why she's boring. Anytime watching, I kept thinking they're not doing anything with this character, which is odd for these writers and directors because as we saw, and ready or not. All the characters had something going on, and I figured out that she's the perfect decoy because she has zero character growth or story and she's boring. It would've made sense later on for us to go. Of course she's the killer. There we go. But since she isn't, that's why she's a good decoy because you can't think of another use for her besides the killer. And I think that was clearly used to throw people off the whole.

Steve 40:40

It worked. Yes. Now the GPS tracker shows the car that it stops. Both Galen said, recognize the address. Sid. Call Sam.

Stephen 40:50

You need to get out of that house. Right now. You're in Stu Mocks house where your dad and Stu killed everyone. Someone planned to get you there. And chills,

Steve 41:00

chills the first time we watched that. And what are your thoughts on bringing it back to the scene of the first crime?

Stephen 41:05

Love it. That was the throwback

Steve 41:08

that I love. Yes. When did you first notice? Was it when all the lights went on?

Stephen 41:12

No. Before you? Yes. So whenever they were first at the. The coloring of the house and the way the front porch was set up, that yellow was very distinctive for Sue or Sue's house. Then the way the TV room was kind of set up, it's still set up similar to. How it was during the first one. But it was actually, the thing that sealed it for me is when Chad was being stabbed to death outside the white picket fence that was right in front of their driveway that the car pulled up to. That was what did it for me. Wow. But they did a really good job disguising it because in screen one, those stairs, iconic, gorgeous hardwood stairs, they put carpet on, they put carpet. Yes. And you know that nobody in their right mind would've done that. So the, the people in the movie only did it to throw off the viewers marked for

Steve 42:02

me. Yeah. Now Mindy, as a scene mimicking Randy's scene in screen one where he was talking to Jamie Lee in Halloween while she's talking to Randy in the stab, realizing at the last possible second the irony she moves, shoots attacked with Sam Mans to fend off ghost's. Amber and Terrace show up. Amber accuses Sam of being the killer. Mindy has passed out so she can't corroborate. Richie shows up with a beer he went to get over 10 minutes ago. Liv shows up with blood on her hands, proclaiming I'm not the fucking killer, to which Amber says I know and shoots her in the head.

Stephen 42:35

I was a very worried for Mindy again because where she, where Randy's going? Look behind you, Jamie. Look behind you, Jamie. And she's like, no dude, no Randy, you need to look behind you.

Steve 42:48

Yeah. We were like, she can't go out like that. No. No. And so I was very glad she survived. And when I found out that Amber was the killer, I was like, okay, good. She can die now. Cause I didn't care.

Stephen 42:58

Did not care. She was the one character in the movie that was still alive at this point that I was like, no, you can kill her. Because I also didn't like, The creepy stalker of lives. I was

Steve 43:12

glad he died too. Yeah. And I was suspicious of the boyfriend the entire time. Yeah. Which

Stephen 43:17

we're getting to

Steve 43:18

now. Yes. The group scatters, Richie and Sam go into the basement. Sam wants to go back, but Richie says there's always two killers and he thinks the second killer is Tara, but Sam goes, anyway. That would've been a good twist. Yeah. Gail and sit, arrive, arm themselves and hear a scream, to which Gail says, sounds about right. They square up to the house, sit, ask. You ready to which Gail responds for this, never. Amber comes up fainting injury, but Sydnee or Gail, both by BS on her performance, Amber shoots Gail before running back inside. Gail sends Sydnee into Finish it for Dewey. Sid says,

Stephen 43:56

anyone hiding killer or not? You have five seconds to come

Steve 44:00

out. After five seconds, Sid begins shooting through all the closed doors before opening them. The killer gets in touch with Sid, with the iconic. Hello Sydnee, but quickly, Syd says, I'm bored and hangs up. That's great.

Stephen 44:14

That's growth y'all. Now something that I realized also when reading stuff for this in all the screen movies, Gail is sidelined before the big fight. Scream One. Safety wasn't on, she's knocked out. Scream. Two, the bullet bounces off of her ribs and she falls into the orchestra pit scream. Three. She and Dewey are locked out of the room, scream four. She was stabbed and is in the hospital bed, and now she's shot an outside on the ground while Sid is doing all this. She does always make it back for the big ending. Yeah, but it's interesting that they always position Sid to be the main. And I didn't realize that Gale was sidelined in all of them until we were reviewing this.

Steve 44:57

Yes. Now Sam finds Tara tied up in a closet and as she's about to entire, she stops. We don't know what happens next. Nope. Sydnee continues to search the house. She accidentally shoots Richie, who is hiding suddenly ghost face attacks Richie before throwing himself and Sidney over the railing and onto their ground floor. Sam is surprised to see Richie alive and Sam grabs the gun before Ghost face Ken. But Richie stabs her with a knife revealing himself to be the second killer, and that he and Amber are couple, which is the gross circle. Oh yeah.

Stephen 45:29

Yeah. Now

Steve 45:31

third act bloodbath check killer has revealed check time for the finale.

Stephen 45:36

So Amber being the killer makes sense just cuz I hate her. Richie, the love interest, that was a nice throwback to the original as well. Yeah, it, it all makes sense on the re watches

Steve 45:51

too. Yeah. You can know exactly who is what doing when, and.

Stephen 45:56

Like different. It's almost like they went out of their way to be antagonistic towards each other. In that hospital scene where you had to throw it off, you were watching Netflix. Yeah. That's a good alibi.

Steve 46:09

Meanwhile, we know that was just foreplay. Yeah.

Stephen 46:12

Amber and Richie take Sam Sydnee and Gail into the kitchen revealing that they are obsessively dedicated fans of the Stab series. Disappointed in its trajectory, especially the last one, and wishing to revive the franchise with a new killing spree to act as source material, and defend fans from the toxic fandom label that they feel they have unjustly, receiv. Richie says that in their movie, Sam is the villain, the fucked up daughter of Billy Loomis who sees visions of her dead dad. She did it all to get said back to Woodsboro Dewey dying, prove that their movie has stakes and anyone can die in a recoil. Yes,

Steve 46:49

and this is clearly jab at the toxic fandom, defending themselves from the label of toxic fandom and going to these lengths to get the movies they. Is very now. Yeah. They're

Stephen 46:59

feeling entitled to certain things between the whole release, the Snyder Cut Crew and also the people demanding a different final film in the Sky Wars saga in Star Wars. Like, you're not entitled to things like that. That's not how it works. You can be disappointed that things didn't go that. but you're not entitled to art. Yes,

Steve 47:21

correct. Make it yourself if you want it better. Yeah. Now Amber goes to retrieve the capture Tara, but she's not there. Richie is shocked, but Sam gives him a look telling him that she never believed her sister could have been the killer because Sisterly love just then Tara arrives and beats Amber with her crutches. Sam Bites Richie, during this distraction gets away.

Stephen 47:42

Now Sid breaks a bottle of goopy hand sanitizer. So 2020 on Amber and Gail says, you killed my best friend, which Amber says, yeah, and he died like a pussy. Gail immediately punches her hard. In the face, there's more struggles. Amber begins choking out. And Tara and Amber says, time to pass the torch. Gail leans up and headbutts Tara, and says It's all yours. Bitch kicks her backwards into the stove, which turns it on. Sid gives Gail the gun and tells her this one's yours. And Gail shoots Amber and she falls backwards onto the stove and bursts into flames from the alcohol in the hand. And they're like, enjoy that torch.

Steve 48:24

Yes. And this just had everything you need and a good struggle it had. Sit and Gail working together, Gail getting revenge for Dewey's death and horrible Amber feeling all that pain of burning a alive while being shot.

Stephen 48:38

Oh, it was everything you could have hoped for.

Steve 48:41

Yes. Now Richie goes after Sam then ends up falling down the stairs. He still has the gun. Fake hallucination. Billy shows Sam, where a knife. I'm introducing a new rule. Never fuck with a daughter of a serial killer that she stabs the shit out of him. He whs. So what about my ending to which she says, here it comes and slits his throat. sit and gal come in carefully. They careful, they always come back. So Sam shoots them three more times. Amber's the one who comes out screaming with a knife, but Tara blows her head off assuring us. I still prefer the Babadook.

Stephen 49:17

I loved this finale. Yeah. It was the right blend of violence. Character

Steve 49:26

work and everyone working together

Stephen 49:28

and like intense like feel, oh, it was just really, really good.

Steve 49:34

Yes. Then we find out in the epilogue that both of the Meeks twins. Yay. Yes. The originally in the draft and everything, it was written that she survived and Chad died. Yeah, Chad died. But he was such a pleasure to work with on set cuz he's the jock with the heart of gold from love Victor too. But they were like, you're cool. You can survive after

Stephen 49:54

all. Yeah. And he was definitely the new Dewey kind of.

Steve 50:01

Sam goes to talk to Sid Gail. Sid says that she'll survive. She always does. Gail says she knows what she's gonna write about. Not these fuckers. They can die in anonymity. She's gonna write about Dewey. Sam asked if she'll be okay. Eventually, eventually Sam sees Billy who nods to her. Is he leaving or is she coming to terms with it? Who knows? Several media crews descend on the house and start reporting about the murders.

Stephen 50:27

It was a good. Like I know that they were trying to get both Sydney and Gail to come back for the next one. Gail is coming back, allegedly, as of right now, they're saying that Sydney is not coming back. I would've actually been okay. if that was the last we saw of Sydnee and Gail, that seemed like good closure for both

Steve 50:49

characters. Yes. Agreed. Which means Gail's at risk. I know

Stephen 50:54

I was like, girl, you made it through five.

Steve 50:57

Just say no. I know. What are your hopes for six, besides the fact that Galil and Kirby Live

Stephen 51:03

and Mindy Live? Okay, that's, that's all I need from six are Kirby, Galil and Mindy to live.

Steve 51:09

All right. I'll take it

Stephen 51:10

And at the end of the film, a tribute to West Craven is shown with the words for Wes. As the credits begin to roll, what are your hopes for Scream six.

Steve 51:19

I hope that we get some really good murders. I hope that's a good mystery. I hope. That it follows this trend of like having it be a mix of the old and the new, not discounting anything from the previous movies while building on the lore. I'm excited.

Stephen 51:40

Yeah. And the teaser that they showed us in the subway was fantastic.

Steve 51:44

Yes. So, you know, it's also fantastic our listeners. Yes. And so we'd love to hear what your thoughts on screen five, where you can do that by emailing us at Happy Life.

Stephen 51:55

At gmail.com. Yes. And you can also get in touch with us on all the socials, whether it is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok at Happy Life Podd. And until next time, everybody stay happy.