Movie Review: Scream VI

Through the loving efforts of its new creative team and generation-spanning cast, Scream '22 checked every box it needed to. Younger protagonists were introduced, legacy characters were given arcs that weaved together their past experiences with Ghostface with a new generation of victims and killers and there was a string of heartfelt homages to the franchise's original director Wes Craven that sincerely honored the late horror icon's rich legacy. Now that the table has been reset, directors Radio Silence (aka Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet), their writing partners Guy Busick and James Vanderbilt and the small group of current-era survivors from the previous installment (Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy-Brown, Mason Gooding) have an opportunity to expand their personal fingerprints on the Scream franchise. By the time Scream VI's take on the franchise's signature cold open wraps up, it becomes evident that they were able to pull it off without ever fully turning their backs on what has made this franchise work for so long. 

So, what does the new era of Scream look like? Well, let's start with the change in scenery. For the first time in series history, the action shifts away from Woodsboro as the gang of survivors decided to move to New York City following the events of the previous film. Bringing the Ghostface show on the road brings an exciting new dynamic to the table. Back in Woodsboro, Ghostface has become engrained in the culture after decades of people dawning the cloak and mask to go on a targeted killing spree. Everyone in the town is on high alert once the bodies start piling up and view each new Ghostface as a serious threat to the safety of their community. In New York City, the Woodsboro transplants (Courteney Cox and Hayden Panettiere join Scream '22's "Core 4" on the returning cast list) and the people in their orbit are just small fish in a large pond. New York is such a big, imposing place that no one is going to be overly alarmed by some people that all have ties to a small California town getting terrorized by some masked killer-which gives Ghostface a unique advantage they've never had in the past. But the biggest transformation isn't in the location and what kind of havoc Ghostface can wreak in a more wide-open environment, it's in the tone.

Scream VI introduces an iteration of Ghostface that is determined to not just kill people but inflict as much as physical and psychological pain on them as possible before they go. The chase sequences-which are among the best in the entire series-that lead to the characters meeting or narrowly escaping their deaths are delivered with this electrifying sense of menace that is driven by the killer's unrelenting will to make their victims suffer, the toying with their victims on the phone is done in a more deliberately sinister fashion and every kill leaves a mark with its savage, unapologetic brutality. Best of all, this shift in approach ends up making total narrative sense once Ghostface is unmasked. Their motivation for going on a killing spree explains why their thirst for blood and not caring who gets caught in the crosshairs of their murderous path is so strong. Scream still may be the goofy tongue-in-cheek outlier in the classic slasher community, but VI proves that it's just as capable as delivering wince-inducing kills and elevated pulse moments as its more straight-faced peers.    

Of course, nothing comes for free in this world and the cost of this more vicious take on Scream is a dulling of its satirical blade. While Scream VI doesn't suddenly transform the series into a deadly seriously slasher enterprise, the meta commentary and humor in general is dialed back probably about as far as it could be while still being instantly recognizable as a Scream film. Most of the satirical bits here are limited to stray lines of dialogue about rewriting the rules of the franchise after so many years and full circle meta digs about itself and shockingly, a broader horror movie target never comes into focus. Expanding their personal vision for Scream was something that Radio Silence needed to do to keep this franchise humming along, it just kind of sucks that it meant focusing less energy on one of the franchise's best elements that they pulled off beautifully in the previous film.

Now, here comes the annoying part of the review where I'm choosing to be overly vague with the remainder of my commentary to avoid the risk of ruining the movie with major spoilers. The usage of its new characters, the underdeveloped (but still very much welcome) return of Panettiere's Kirby Reed and introduction of a small yet never quite believable subplot between two returning characters irked me a bit. The final act also lacks much of the "holy shit" chaos factor that made the final 20 or so minutes of Scream '22 so exciting. Ultimately, I feel Scream VI isn't as sharp or fun as its predecessor, but the slasher sequences, the magnetic performances from Barrera, Ortega, Savoy-Brown and Gooding and the development of their characters and relationships with each other are strong enough to make it another worthy addition to the franchise.

Grade: B+