Scream VI 🔪🩸👻 mini review:

Without original Scream queen Sidney Prescott to lead the charge this time around, I was skeptical if the 26 plus year slasher saga had finally run out of steam. Full disclaimer, my reviews never contain spoilers, and it is best to go in not having read a review or even seen a trailer. There is a whole lot going on in Scream VI, for it heavily relies on the viewer being knowledgeable of the events of every previous installment. It doubles, triples, and quadruples down on the post modern ultra meta dissection of slasher sequels and the many recycled tropes of endless horror franchises, including its own. Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera both reprise their roles from Scream 5 as the Carpenter sisters, and once again prove to be capable protagonists, with each of them dealing with the traumatic events of the predecessor in different ways. Ortega’s Tara wants to move on from the Ghostface killings of the last film while Barrera’s Samantha is still paranoid and comes off as the overprotective sister to Tara. It’s a strong older/younger sister pairing that gives both characters time to grow and get fleshed out in their own respective ways. The supporting friend circle cast are a fine addition, with twins played by Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown doing a lot of the heavy lifting among said “core four” friend group. Courteney Cox is at her absolute best as reporter Gale Weathers in this film, and completely earns being the face of legacy Scream protagonists/survivors. This is probably the most ruthless, physically imposing, and mean spirited Ghostface yet, and there are some bloody and visceral kills that made the audience go “OOHHHHHH” in unison. Besides the effectively unsettling opening sequence, the second act is perhaps my favorite section of the film, as there is a nail biting and tension filled subway sequence that makes good use of its claustrophobic setting. In fact, I really dug the New York setting and it was nice to finally get out of Woodsboro for a change. There’s a few things that held the film back and it has to do with my biggest problem in the franchise which is characters get stabbed gruesomely and somehow get up and walk it off like nothing happened just because the script demands it. The plot armor for certain characters was a bit predictable and obvious, especially due to post modern identity politics, which was rather lazy to me. Whether or not that aspect will impact your enjoyment, really depends on the individual viewer and how invested they already are in the Scream series. For me, it was only a minor issue. The final act and reveals will probably divide some fans, but I personally liked the choices that were made as I let the movie process a little more. There is also another particular legacy character in here who I won’t reveal, but the way this particular character was handled made sense and worked for me. The technical aspect is possibly the best in the series, with eerie cinematography from Brett Jutkiewicz and sharp directing from Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Overall, despite the fact that it’s not exempt from the horror genre clichés it so often takes jabs at and has few moments that are hard to suspend disbelief for, SCREAM VI is a hilariously meta, tension filled, and lean slasher sequel that respects the legacy characters and convincingly builds on the franchise’s newer additions. Teens, young adults, Gen Z, and hardcore Scream fans will definitely want to take a stab at this.