Scream (2022) 4K review

Apr 05, 2022- Permalink

It’s been 25 years since the original Scream and its Ghostface Killer terrified and amused us and now directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett revisit the franchise with a project that’s part remake, part reboot and part sequel. While the original Scream contained plenty of nods to the framework of slasher flicks, this Scream is fully aware of the tropes and plots of its predecessors and includes three of the original’s most important characters: Sidney (Neve Campbell), Gale (Courteney Cox) and Dewey (David Arquette). This is a meta Scream. The Ghostface Killer is navel-gazing. The new teen characters – played by Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Dylan Minnette, Mikey Madison, Mason Gooding, Sonia Ammar, Jack Quaid and Jasmin Savoy Brown – are all variously connected to the prior Woodsboro killings and ponder which one of them might be involved in the new deaths. Thanks to Paramount, I had the chance to review this new 4K release.

The 2160p HEVC / H.265 encoded native 4K video transfer with both HDR10 and Dolby Vision is released in a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It’s a very good video presentation with impressive detail and clarity from the actors’ faces to the sets and textiles. A film like this has plenty of dark, jump-out-of-your-seat scenes and the black levels are deep with no loss of detail in shadows or nighttime. Skin tones are accurate, primary colours pop, and the Ghostface mask is vividly white. There’s no image noise or compression artifacts to speak of.

On the audio side, the disc offers an English 7.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack as well as English Audio Description, and French, French (Canada), German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish (Spain) and Spanish (Latin America) Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. Subtitles are available for English, English SDH, Cantonese, Dutch, French, French (Canada), German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish (Spain), Spanish (Latin America) and Thai. Oddly, Paramount decided not to do a Dolby Atmos mix for the home entertainment release but the 7.1 mix does a great job. The surrounds are well-used with effects and ambient sounds moving around the soundscape and low frequency effects give some extra oomph to the various jump scares. Dialogue is clear and well-prioritized in the mix.

The 4K disc also comes with a digital code. There’s a small handful of extras including audio commentary from the filmmakers, a few deleted scenes, a reflection on the original Scream, a look at the transition to the younger generation, a tribute to Wes Craven and a trailer for the original’s 4K release.

Whether the 2022 Scream holds a candle to the original will be a long debate between fans of the franchise. With very good video and audio presentations and a humble but good collection of extras, you’ll probably enjoy adding this to your collection.