‘Scream’ fails to understand the assignment when it comes to naming underrated movies

There’s no denying that social media can be a force for good. It helps users connect with like-minded people from around the world who share their interests, while at the same time exposing them to new ideas that they may have never otherwise encountered.

It can also be a breeding ground for cringey self-promotion — say, for instance, when a well-known movie franchise intentionally misunderstands the assignment in order to drum up hype for its next installment.

Case in point: The official Twitter account of Paramount Pictures’ upcoming Scream VI, starring Jenna Ortega, recently offered up Stab 5 in answer to an IMDB tweet asking people to “name an underrated movie.” The implication being that Stab 5, which began as a movie-within-a-movie and was roundly panned by fans and critics alike — and was even cited by a character in Scream IV as being the worst film in the franchise — was in fact a very good movie.

Now, one could argue that Stab 5 is a fun movie. A silly movie. An amateur movie. A movie that was made. But it’s a bit of a stretch to say that it’s an underrated movie. For the love of god, it includes time travel. Which isn’t inherently bad — but c’mon, name five really good movies that include both time travel and serial killers. Name one.

For those of you who want to see for yourself just how accurately reviled the film really is, you can watch all 95 glorious minutes of Stab 5 for free on YouTube. With a budget of five hundred real American dollars, you know it’s got to definitely be … paid off. Whether it pays off for the viewer remains to be seen.