Anyone else remember when Scream came out?

I do. It was 1996, and though I was way too young to see the movie at the time, the ghost-faced slasher rolling around the neighbourhood was much-talked about in the playground. Finally, when the time came to watch it, it lived up to the mythology passed down from older brothers and sisters. In short, it caused a mass pants-shitting amongst me and my mates that led to clenching in terror every time the phone rang for about a year.

Now, I’d like to say that the prospect of a bunch of near senior citizens running away from a person (or persons!) in a plastic mask and an incredibly impractical black drapey number doesn’t scare me. But here we are, and I’ve gotta say there’s still some clench factor in the new Scream trailer which just dropped.

From the trailer we can see there’s a bit of let’s-get-the-band-back-together vibe, with Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette returning for the fifth time to fight the masked killer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beToTslH17s

Notably, it’s the first iteration of the franchise without director Wes Craven, who died in 2015, with film-makers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett directing and original writer Kevin Williamson is also onboard as executive producer.

“The idea of making these films without Wes Craven seemed challenging to me,” Neve Campbell said to Entertainment Weekly. “I loved the man very much. But Matt and Tyler wrote me a letter, speaking of their appreciation and great respect for Wes Craven, and speaking of the fact that the very reason that they are directors today was because of these movies and because of Wes, and that meant a great deal to me.”

It hits cinemas in Australia in January, best bring a spare pair of dacks if you’re keen!