Scream VI
Year: 2023
Director: Matt Bettenili-Olpin & Tyler Gillet
Starring: Melissa Barrera, Courtney Cox, Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega & Jasmin Savoy Brown
Runtime: 122 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 05/10/23
Director: Matt Bettenili-Olpin & Tyler Gillet
Starring: Melissa Barrera, Courtney Cox, Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega & Jasmin Savoy Brown
Runtime: 122 mins
BBFC: 18
Published: 05/10/23
2022’s Scream managed to pull off the seemingly impossible, rebooting a franchise that had already been rebooted once before in 2011.
It did so with such skill that the film resides very comfortably in my top three films of the franchise. With the massive success the film experienced a sequel was already in active production and fast tracked for a release just one year later. But how many times can Scream deconstruct the horror franchise, and Hollywood in general, before it starts to become stale? Could Scream VI show the first signs of this stagnation?
Following their survival of the previous film, the Carpenter sisters, Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega), as well as their friends Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding) are now attending Blackmore University in New York City. Having fled Woodsboro they believe the Ghostface killings are truly behind them. But nothing is ever quite that simple as a new spate of murders crop up too close to home, opening up the possibilities of a ‘whole new franchise’ of murders.
Scream VI takes aim squarely at big franchises that are dominating Hollywood right now. An out with the old and in with the new mentality, and how despite being full of new ideas they just end up retreading old ground.
This Scream pokes fun at the likes of the MCU, Star Wars, and of course the longest running horror franchises of all time such as Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street that just regurgitate the same ideas over and over again.
However, as fun as this can be, it does get you wondering how long the Scream franchise can keep this up. Self-aware humour has been the series whole shtick since the beginning, but this does at times feel like it’s stretching itself a bit thin, and (like the very franchises it’s satirising) feels predictable and formulaic.
It did so with such skill that the film resides very comfortably in my top three films of the franchise. With the massive success the film experienced a sequel was already in active production and fast tracked for a release just one year later. But how many times can Scream deconstruct the horror franchise, and Hollywood in general, before it starts to become stale? Could Scream VI show the first signs of this stagnation?
Following their survival of the previous film, the Carpenter sisters, Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega), as well as their friends Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding) are now attending Blackmore University in New York City. Having fled Woodsboro they believe the Ghostface killings are truly behind them. But nothing is ever quite that simple as a new spate of murders crop up too close to home, opening up the possibilities of a ‘whole new franchise’ of murders.
Scream VI takes aim squarely at big franchises that are dominating Hollywood right now. An out with the old and in with the new mentality, and how despite being full of new ideas they just end up retreading old ground.
This Scream pokes fun at the likes of the MCU, Star Wars, and of course the longest running horror franchises of all time such as Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street that just regurgitate the same ideas over and over again.
However, as fun as this can be, it does get you wondering how long the Scream franchise can keep this up. Self-aware humour has been the series whole shtick since the beginning, but this does at times feel like it’s stretching itself a bit thin, and (like the very franchises it’s satirising) feels predictable and formulaic.
It’s far from a bad film though, not even close to being the worst Scream film, but it does feel like a sharp decline in quality following 2022’s Scream.
The opening sequence in particular is perhaps one of the best in the entire franchise, starring Samara Weaving and Tony Revolori.
I also think that the ‘core four’ as they dub themselves, are excellent here. Barrera is just as strong a lead as Neve Campbell, and whilst Sydney Prescott’s absence certainly is felt in this entry, the film works better than you’d expect considering it’s missing its most iconic character.
I wasn’t a massive fan of the Ghostface reveal at the end of the film, it felt too similar to what had been done before (I won’t say when for fear of spoilers). Had it not been for the fact that this motive had been used for Ghostface in the past I think it would have been pretty good, but it felt like just another example here for the franchise running out of ideas.
For the most part Scream VI is another good entry for the series, if you liked the previous film then you’ll still like what this one has to offer. I just don’t think it’s as great as it’s been made out to be, and is definitely one of the weaker entries. I don’t expect the franchise will be slowing down anytime soon, but it has definitely given me cause for concern that we may have finally had too much of a good thing.
The opening sequence in particular is perhaps one of the best in the entire franchise, starring Samara Weaving and Tony Revolori.
I also think that the ‘core four’ as they dub themselves, are excellent here. Barrera is just as strong a lead as Neve Campbell, and whilst Sydney Prescott’s absence certainly is felt in this entry, the film works better than you’d expect considering it’s missing its most iconic character.
I wasn’t a massive fan of the Ghostface reveal at the end of the film, it felt too similar to what had been done before (I won’t say when for fear of spoilers). Had it not been for the fact that this motive had been used for Ghostface in the past I think it would have been pretty good, but it felt like just another example here for the franchise running out of ideas.
For the most part Scream VI is another good entry for the series, if you liked the previous film then you’ll still like what this one has to offer. I just don’t think it’s as great as it’s been made out to be, and is definitely one of the weaker entries. I don’t expect the franchise will be slowing down anytime soon, but it has definitely given me cause for concern that we may have finally had too much of a good thing.