“Scream VI” Review
A new Ghostface killer (voiced by Roger L. Jackson) is on the loose in “the city that never sleeps” in “Scream VI.”
When people ask me “what’s your favorite scary movie” (I had to make that reference at least once), it’s really hard for me to narrow it down. There’s so many great ones to choose from. However, if you were to ask me what my favorite horror series is, it’s “Scream.” Without a doubt. You see, “Scream” is a rarity among horror franchises and franchises in general because it’s lasted for so long while remaining consistently good. Even the worst film in the series, which for me is “Scream 3,” is still okay.
Just when you thought the franchise was dead and buried, last year’s “Scream (2022)” (which I’m now calling “Scream 5” to save you all confusion) brought back the Ghostface killer with a new energy. Now, just over a year later, a sequel has emerged and, gasp, it has Roman Numerals. Much like its direct predecessor, “Scream VI” not only reassured me about the future of this growing series but also provided the best combination of laughs and frights.
Set in New York City less than a year after the last film’s attacks, dubbed “The Woodsboro Legacy Killings,” main characters Sam and Tara Carpenter (Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega) along with fellow survivors Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown) find themselves being stalked by another Ghostface killer. Along with a new group of friends and legacy characters like reporter Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) and high school horror buff turned FBI Agent Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), our heroes must decipher the identity of this killer and stop them before they all end up dead.
So I have good news and bad news. The good news is that a “Scream” film is now set in my home turf of New York City. The bad news was that the movie was shot in Montreal. Are you kidding me? You chose those snooty French-speaking Canadians over my city? “Jason Takes Manhattan” may have sucked but at least they had the decency to shoot some of it in New York, including a badass Times Square shot.
Despite this petty and downright childish gripe, the idea of using New York as the setting was brilliant. It’s a lot easier for a Ghostface to hide if there’s eight million people and Halloween is approaching. In this environment, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are able to make a “Scream” film that feels more like their own after doing a bang-up job paying tribute to the four previous films, as well as the late Wes Craven, in last year’s “Scream 5.”
Melissa Barrera (Left) and Jenna Ortega as the Carpenter sisters do an amazing job carrying on the survivor tradition established by Sidney Prescott.
What has made this series so beloved is not only how scary it can be, but also how well each entry has satirized an element of horror films. The first “Scream” satirized/ revived the tired cliches of slashers. “Scream 2” did sequels and how much they suck compared to the first while being an exception to the rule. “Scream 3” handled trilogies and how they always have shocking twists. “Scream 4” tackled the craze of horror remakes from the 2000s and, last year, “Scream 5” mocked the new wave of 2010s “requels” (not quite a sequel and not quite a remake).
Now, “Scream VI” takes on franchises since, with six entries in the series and now we’ve upgraded to using Roman Numerals, “Scream” has now become one. And there’s a thing that horror franchises love to do when they have a lot of entries. They do stupid shit. Do I even need to mention the lack of Jason in “Friday the 13th: A New Beginning?” How about Freddy Kreuger using a Nintendo-style Power Glove in “Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare?” And does anybody remember the character of Corey from “Halloween Ends?” I know I’m drinking to forget that.
What distinguishes “Scream VI” from the rest is that the film frequently sets up terrible avenues that the story could take and then does the opposite. Not only does it make for a better film and subvert expectations, but it’s also hilarious if you’re a horror fan. It’s clear that these filmmakers love and respect horror to the point where they can take terrible cliches from failed franchises and redefine them. To Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, “Scream” is precious and they have a responsibility to the characters and the legacies of Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven. With this great responsibility, they made a pretty sophomore effort after their revival of the series.
While I was disappointed that Neve Campbell wouldn’t be reprising her role as Sidney Prescott for this film, making it the first without one of the best horror characters of all time, I found that I didn’t miss her. I guess this means that the fifth film did its job well by passing the torch to a new generation of characters who make for great protagonists to root for.
Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega are fantastic as Sam and Tara and you can tell that they’re trying to cope with their past horrors in different ways. There’s an emotional divide between them that they need to figure out and you feel invested in that arc. But when Ghostface shows up, they waste no time in trying to take this guy out. They don’t want this to be something they have to deal with every few years and want this killer gone.
With a massive cast of returning characters, including fan-favorite Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), there’s a lot of entertainment for die-hard “Scream” fans. We also know that legacy characters aren’t safe in these films.
Alongside Barrera and Ortega, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are equally engaging as survivors of the previous film. In particular, Brown embodies the geeky cinephile energy of Randy Meeks, which is fitting since he’s the uncle of Chad and Mindy. Since Randy is my favorite supporting character in all of these movies, how can I not love that?
And then there’s Kirby. Thank God and holy Jesus that writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick brought Kirby back. You see, “Scream 4” remains my favorite of the “Scream” sequels and Hayden Panettiere had this incredible energy as someone with the geeky enthusiasm for horror of Randy Meeks while also having the badass persona of Sidney Prescott. However, she was still able to stand out. I honestly think that, prior to “Scream 5,” Kirby was the best chance of the franchise going on and I was so glad to see her interact quite a bit with the new cast.
While “Scream VI” has clever writing, good character development and its usual blend of horror and humor, there are some elements that hold it back from being better than “Scream 4,” “Scream 5” and the original that started it all. While many of the kills are a lot of fun, there’s not much innovation compared to seeing Annie from “Community” falling off a building into a news van or using a big box television to crush/electrocute someone’s skull. But what the kills of this film lack in creativity, they more than make up for in brutality.
The film certainly knew how to use Kirby as a well-rounded legacy character, but Gale Weathers felt sidelined in this story. I get that she’s not one of the main characters anymore but if you’re going to have a legacy character in a “Scream” film, especially one as beloved as Gale Weathers, either have them in the entire film contributing to the plot or have them arrive for the badass third act.
There’s quite a few good young actors filling up the cast like Jack Champion, Liana Liberato and Tony Revolori but their characters didn’t feel as unique as the ones in the previous film. One character in particular named Danny (Josh Segarra) was so bland and underwritten that it felt like his purpose in the film was to be the love interest that you shouldn’t trust because of the rules.
If I were to rank this film alongside the others in the franchise, I would say that “Scream VI” may not be quite as good as the original or the fourth and fifth installments, but it’s certainly better than “Scream 3.” Truthfully, I like this film about as much as I like “Scream 2.” It’s not quite as powerful as the one that came before but a lot of effort went into it and it works a lot of the time. Between soon-to-be-iconic characters that can keep this series going, some creative ways to tie into the other films and a tongue-in-cheek look at overblown horror series, “Scream VI” was a fun time that continues to cement why this series is so important. Whenever horror falls into repetition, “Scream” will always be there to call it out.
