‘Scream 5’ brings Ghostface back, but will it miss Wes Craven’s touch?

It was 1996 and I vividly remember heading to the cinema — instead of studying for my term History exam, which was to take place the next day — to watch ‘Scream’.

I left the theatre believing the horror genre had been given the shot in the arm it so badly needed — and I passed my test too so all was well with the world. But for horror movies, things were about to become great thanks to the late Wes Craven’s clever and self-aware smash hit.

Before ‘Scream’, the genre was ebbing away to oblivion with the likes of ‘Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers’ (the sixth movie in the series) bombing at the box office in 1995. You know you’re in trouble when they stop numbering sequels… But ‘Scream’ revitalised horror movies in a way nobody thought imaginable and it lead to other ‘90s hits such as ‘Urban Legend’ and ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’.

Thanks to ‘Scream’s’ success (it made $173 million worldwide at a cost of just $14 million) a phenomenon was born and the genre is still enjoying huge popularity and success today. It’s been more than 10 years since ‘Scream 4’ was on the big screen and now part 5 is here but the question on everyone’s lips is if it’ll be any good without Craven at the helm.

The creator of Freddie Krueger directed all four movies and is the reason for their success (those smart scripts by writer Kevin Williamson helped too) but part 5 will be the first without him. The Ghostface killer will be back along with stars from the original movie including Neve Campbell but it will be interesting to see how the latest fares without the genius Craven.