After the tepid reception of Scream 3 and the dismal box-office of Scream 4 in 2011, everyone’s favourite slasher franchise felt dead and buried.

But the fifth instalment came roaring back over the weekend, nabbing the top spot away from Spider-Man: No Way Home and reinvigorating the films us 90s kids fell in love with.

Scream 5 – or Scream, as it’s become known – arrives 25 years after the original, and though the late, great Wes Craven couldn’t helm this one, it plays like an ode to the horror maestro himself.

Ready Or Not directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett combine with their scribe on that film, Guy Busick, as well as Zodiac writer James Vanderbilt for something awe-striking and thoroughly surprising.

It acts as a send-up of the characters we’ve watched for 25 years while introducing us to fresh blood – and fresh kills – that usher the franchise into a new era.

Sure, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Marley Shelton and David Arquette are back, but fans realize this time it isn’t about them. Things have changed in Woodsboro, even if the murderous instincts of some residents remain.

Leading the new cast are Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, along with Jack Quaid, Sonia Ammar, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mikey Madison, Mason Gooding and Kyle Gallner. It’s a stellar crew, and the acting is surprisingly fresh.

It’s meta mayhem at its finest for this self-aware franchise, even if sometimes it gets a bit too cute for it’s own good.

But the surprises and kills had my jaw on the floor. It’s a must-see for Scream fans, and nostalgia will be at an all-time high.

4/5 Stars