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I hope Nicole Kidman's the opening kill in the inevitable sequel.

This isn't so much a legacy requel as it's a flat-out remake. Almost verbatim. Though, they're desperate for you to forget the "I Still Know..." follow-up and from all-accounts, dreadful "I'll Always Know..."

While I definitely didn't hate this retread, I will say it made me appreciate the originals much, much more. See, I was never the biggest fan of the original 1997 "classic." Until now. I completely underappreciated that enormously talented cast. This cast was such an incredible BORE. In fact, if most of them lived for the said eventual sequel, I'd probably skip it. These characters sucked.

As stated - this is a rehash of the original. One fateful summer night some partying young adults witness/cause someone to die and a year later, someone knows what they did the prior summer. Enter in a dozen red herrings and many, MANY more gnarly deaths for revenge.

Despite Horror being my favorite genre and the genre I watch probably two-thirds more than any other, unbelievably, jump-scares almost always work on me. More unbelievably, this movie had so, SOOO many jump-scares and NOT ONE WORKED. I literally had to fake being freaked out with my buddy to entertain myself because he's already used to me literally jumping in my seat and involuntarily hitting him when they happen. I was actually pretty impressed with how this had ZERO scares in this horror movie.

That didn't make me hate it. There were actually some huge positives. I loved how many more gruesome deaths there were and I LOVE who the killer ended up being. I was actually rooting throughout for them to make this twist. Also, I absolutely loved one cameo near the end. Additionally, they even mocked Nicole Kidman's awful AMC ad and there were a few small pieces of dialogue I liked. And it was great seeing Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prince Jr. Again.

It's just too bad they spent so little time on getting better characters like the Scream series is 100% known for. We root for the Scream young adults. I couldn't care less who died here. In fact, I was rooting for them all to perish, especially the stupidly annoying shallow Danica Richards played by Madelyn Cline. It's probably not a good thing when you want all the main cast to get hooked.

If you're a fan of the original and can ignore the follow-ups, you might like this trip down memory lane. To me, this just made me wish I hadn't taken advantage of how strong the original cast was.

Heck, Scary Movie 1's mockup of this was even 10x better.

***

Final Thoughts: Yes, I sincerely hope Nicole Kidman's next. I was sick of her AMC ad 2 months into the 5-years it's been running before movies. I always flip it off when it shows up. Makes me want to show up late.

Skip the Prom. Slay for the Vote.

While this was a tough watch, the movie achieved one of those rare 100% balances between horrible aspects and things that actually worked. Mercifully, the third act saved this movie...tremendously.

At first, I wanted to give it 2/10 Stars for the sometimes-good kills. Then another star for the keeping up with the Slasher code. And, that was it for the positives from me until the climax. The ending that actually kinda impressed me.

While six high school girls are competing for 1988's Prom Queen, with unfortunately no focus on the Kings, it really comes down to the Mean Girl and the Longshot, the obvious final girl. One by one the competition is eliminated until one's crowned Scream Queen.

And now for the negatives. This movie looks ugly. I couldn't blame my TV as it's brand new from this year. I googled it and it's purposely grainy to fit VHS or the quality of the late 80s. This was an incredibly poor choice and made this very hard to watch. Speaking of this being set in the 1980s...

There have been WAY too many nostalgia-bait/set films/shows. This actually got old years ago. Some have been really good capturing the past - Stranger Things is a prime example of how to do it right. Even stranger, this movie was 100% opposite of that show and it's from the same network, Netflix.

The characters were awful, the Mean girl/Final Girl rivalry is so weak and unbelievable and aside from who the killer is, it's predictable from beginning to end. Now, that all said, I will say, I would've bet my eyes on who the killer was.

There were the MANY typical red herrings as in most Slashers. Still, I had my heart on who the villain was from minute 10. I was wrong. Dead-wrong. So, well done, movie. And that led into why the last third was the best part.

While this was a soulless slasher, it's not without it's few positives already mentioned. I can't necessarily recommend it and yet, if you do watch it, do you best to stay for the finale as you will be rewarded.

***

Final Thoughts: On a personal note, in one pivotal scene, out of all the stated nostalgia-bait 1980s songs, they chose my all-time favorite band Roxette's "The Look." So the movie got a kudos from me even though it didn't sway my stars rating.

Heart. That's all there is. Heart.

This "movie" was tough. On the surface, it's not that good. It's too convoluted, underwritten, not that funny and while it has the right goals, it misses its mark. And yet...it's very, very hard not to give it the absolute benefit of all the doubts.

Each and EVERY cast member had the aforementioned HEART. Everyone gave their 110% and I couldn't help but truly admire that. They all tried, they all believed and end of the day, they made the movie they wanted to make. This has to be a very low budget it with a crew trying to make a genuine movie. You just have to give it to them. They succeeded. Even when the script really didn't.

Obnoxious, rich-family Johnny has it all, thanks to his wealthy family dynasty of restaurants. He surely takes advantage of all his family bestowed him until he asks for it all to be taken away. Soon he learns, life has to be earned, not given and his long-time friend who has a life-long crush on him might teach him a thing or two about true love.

Seriously, the script is awful. The dialogue was meh and the direction was film-schoolish. The movie is truly saved by the cast that really set out to make a light-hearted rom-com about two lost-souls who were truly meant for each other despite the obstacles they put in front of each other. And this only succeeded because of the actors.

Admittedly, I did laugh at times and I did absolutely tear up in the last act, despite it not really proving to be what it should've ended up being in more experienced hands. So, bravo. They did their job and I absolutely praise this cast and crew for really giving it their all.

For film students and for those yearning to make a break into cinema, this is a good watch. I love to see this many passionate actors really, really trying. It's inspiring.

***

Final Thoughts: Okay, okay...I'm a sucker for cute Asian actors and that's one of the reasons I selected this movie to see from Prime. And yes, he's (Kent S. Leung) is absolutely breathtaking. He was also a good actor - for what he was provided here. Glad to see his career flourished and he's still continuously acting since this movie to this day.