SCREAM VI (2023)

SCREAM VI (2023)

Tagline: In a city of millions, no one hears you scream.

(Horror, Mystery, Stabby Mc-Stabberson) [R]

Strange that you and I have never spoken on the phone. This is long overdue.

In the aftermath of the Ghostface killings that happened in SCREAM (2023), the four survivors Sam and Tara Carpenter, Mindy, and Chad move to New York to get away from the horrors of Woodsboro. Of course, they can trust no one as sinister forces are out to ensure that the legacy of Ghostface never dies. 

One thing that needs to be made clear about this movie is that it’s a vast improvement over SCREAM (2023) which I gave a 4 out of 7. I think looking back one of the things that plagued that movie was a hap-hazard effort to shoehorn legacy characters into a story where the whole idea was to focus around Sam and Tara. Don’t get me wrong, I think seeing the legacy characters is almost always good, but when you are trying to cram them into a movie it can take away from the creativity of the story. That is not what happens in this thing. 

When we start looking at the strong points of this thing I thought the cast was top-notch. We get just enough legacy characters to add to the story but they don’t feel crammed into the plot. The other thing that helps this thing out is that now we know Sam and Tara and they are easier to root for them. Some of the typical horror tropes are bent in this one giving it a bit more depth and allowing it to breathe in such a way that draws the audience in. The other thing that is great about this movie is that it channels old-school slasher horror with only minimal play to try and “modernize” things to fit some sort of narrative or play to very specific crowds. In other words, this is the kind of slasher film you hope you get when you go to see a slasher film. 

As far as the cast goes the new majors are back. Courteney Cox (SCREAM) returns to the series as Gale Weathers. She is not officially the only cast member to star in every movie in the series. Jenna Ortega (WEDNESDAY) returns as Tara and is even better in this one than she was in the last installment. We also get a Melissa Barrera (SCREAM) sighting as Sam. She is also good in this, but some of the direction they are taking with her is a bit janky. Jasmin Savoy Brown (MISSING) plays Mindy Meeks in a return to the role and kills it (pun intended). I love that they gave her the “rules” presentation in this. Mason Gooding returns as Chad and also does a solid job. Hayden Panettiere (SCREAM 4) returns as Kirby. I wasn’t crazy about her effort in this, but it was good to see her back. When it comes to the top cast newcomers we have Liana Liberato (HAUNT) who plays Quinn, Jack Champion (AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER), and Josh Segarra (VAMPIRE BATS) who plays Danny. All of them are pretty good, but I think there are a lot of other talents that could pull these roles off. 

If I have to come up with critiques (and I do because there are some) then the first would be the fact that it sucks that New York is either so expensive to shoot in or is such a dumpster fire, that they couldn’t shoot this movie in New York. The entire movie is shot in Montreal, Canada. Because of this, most of this movie doesn’t even seem like it’s in New York. The other problem is that some of the plot points seem nearly impossible to pull off in the short time that they are in the film. My other issue with it is that even though the SCREAM films are known for people getting sliced and diced and living, this one was a bit over the top even for me. 

Overall this thing is well crafted and I thought it was a return to the elements that made the franchise so celebrated and iconic. The score is solid, even if the soundtrack is lacking. I think the direction was solid even though I wasn’t crazy about READY OR NOT which was directed by the same guys. The cinematography was also great. 

I give this one a 6 out of 7. I thought it was one of the more solid entries in the series. It’s over 2 hours long but the pacing is so good I didn’t even notice. 

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