Scream Blu-ray Review

Now available on home release, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett's Scream 5 - also titled simply Scream in some markets - takes horror hounds back to Woodsboro 25 years after the events of Wes Craven's iconic 1996 movie.

Here, this sequel has Ghostface once again piling up bodies left and right, forcing franchise favourites Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) to return to the town where they've already faced plentiful trauma over the decades. As for fellow series mainstay Dewey Riley (David Arquette), he's remained in Woodsboro and spends his days staring at the bottom of a bottle of booze after his marriage to Gale fell apart.

Of course, a Scream film wouldn't be a Scream film if there weren't some pretty young things to be put in Ghostface's crosshairs, and here it's Richie (Jack Quaid), Mikey (Amber Freeman), Wes (Dylan Minnette), Mindy (Jasmin-Savoy Brown), and sisters Tara (Jenna Ortega) and Sam (Melissa Barrera) amongst those tormented by this infamous figure. As ever, all bets are off when it comes to these new characters, and their fates - much like the fates of the picture's returning faces - remain up in the air as Scream 5 progresses.

In terms of the story, Scream 5 delivers a tale that balances being fresh and new whilst also being fully respectful to the prior four movies. There's some great scares, arguably the most brutal kills of the franchise to date, a slew of brilliant performances, a whole bunch of grin-inducing nods to the past, a splash of social commentary, and a narrative that keeps you on your toes right through until the offering's grand final act. This is a Scream movie that's slick and stylish in its approach, and what could've been a tired, needless rehashing of a great property manages instead to fully justify its existence and prove that there's still plenty of life left in the series.

As a testament to how much Scream 5 impressed critics and fans alike, a sixth Scream effort is already booked in for a March 2023 release. With the core crew of this year's Scream returning to the fold for said six-quel, horror fans should have plenty be excited about ahead of revisiting Woodsboro next year.

With the spoiler-free ins and outs of the movie itself now covered, continue on to see what special features and additional content are included on the home release of Scream 5.

In terms of the bonus material included on the Scream Blu-ray, there's not a massive amount of additional content, although it is very much quality over quantity.

Likely the standout special feature here is the commentary track from directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, writer/producer James Vanderbilt, writer Guy Busick and executive producer Chad Villella. With all involved clearly major fans of the Scream franchise, it's fascinating to hear the group break down this fifth Scream picture whilst also enthusing about the larger series.

Elsewhere, there are three featurettes - titled New Blood, Bloodlines, and In the Shadow of the Master - which clock it at a combined 25 minutes. While relatively brief, these are all a fun watch, with the second two being pieces likely to put a smile on the face of long-time Scream fans, as Scream 5's nods and winks to the franchise are highlighted, plus In the Shadow of the Master putting the spotlight on the legendary Wes Craven.

Rounding out the bonus material, there's three deleted scenes - two of which focus on Dewey, the other being a longer version of one of the film's deaths - and there's a nice new HD trailer for Craven's original 1996 Scream.

As alluded to, this isn't a release that's overflowing with a plethora of special features, but what is here is absolutely worth your time.

Scream is available to Download & Keep now and on 4K UHD™, Blu-ray™ & DVD from April 11