So this is not how you go about a youth slasher reboot of sorts. Or Scream (1996) were it the callous, laborious, washed-up Hallmark version that is Scream (2022). Which in turn would probably make the original the Aaron Spelling version. The way this latest installment is helmed is so repulsive in its dullness. More on point with regards to its genre, it's the Nightmare on Elm Street 5, chucking merit out the window for cheap thrills. And worse: meta-commentary that is immensely dumb compared to what preceded it in the past, returning series members who don't come off like well-meaning protectors as opposed to crazed Ghostface enablers in brief, ardent denial disguise and California mindlessness taking notes from Michael Bay as opposed to a good director, or someone at least in touch with terror. It goes without saying this caters way too heavily to two lousy Latina performers. Until very recently, I thought Jenna Ortega just might have a promising future ahead of her in spite of my general aversion to Latinos. Alas......must retract that cautious opinion now. You know a series like this has hit a nadir, some kind of definite low when it has the gall to imply its 'heroine' was not only murdered in the opening scene but still gets to live on to the next inevitable installment anyway. Lots of pitiful showings from all the other new blood, new actors, who basically seem to exist and be introduced/undeveloped only to promptly be butchered. The most calculated and nauseating setup you can think of to butcher Californian numbskulls, yet the director duo and their equally cack writers want you to believe this is revolutionary. Scream '22: drive-in drivel. Unnecessary. While all Screams are essentially sinner fare, this one is by far the worst, pissing like an infant not only over the original, but the other sequels, which weren't sophisticated or high art to begin with. Laughable how it apes the original's ending as if it thinks that will give itself any cred ("FOR WES"). You look at the retards on Letterboxd acknowledging this positively and can only muse where has audience common sense gone if this is their idea of next generation cool. I know where......straight into the sewer gutter where this crap belongs. Fuck it - Unless Scream VI can reinvent the wheel at the eleventh hour in New York, so to speak, it's well about time to euthanize this cow of a series. 2.5/10