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Review might include some SPOILERS
The first Scream opened up in 1996 – almost 30 years ago – both revitalizing the horror genre while also making fun of its tropes and conventions. After five films, we've seen around 9 different "guys" try to kill our main characters. Scream (the previous one, not the original) introduced sisters Tara and Sam (Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera), but it still didn't work out for the dipshit in the mask.
Scream VI follows the sisters to New York City, where they've relocated with their friends, to attend college but also in an effort to get away from Woodsboro after the tragedy of the last film. But as is expected, more dipshits in Ghostface masks follow them to try to kill them. The sisters then have to figure out who is behind the murders, as they also learn to trust each other and battle their own personal demons.
I'm a big fan of the original Scream, and even though I wasn't a huge fan of its two sequels, I thought they did a pretty good job with the latest two entries. The previous one successfully introduced a new slate of characters while successfully integrating them with the classic ones. Scream VI might not be as well executed, but it still delivers most of what you would expect.
One of its strengths is in the "core four" main characters; Sam, Tara, and siblings Mindy and Chad (Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding). They have good chemistry, are likable and easy to root for. On the other hand, most of the secondary characters feel useless and disposable which, to a certain extent, they are. I also don't think the big twist of who is (are?) the killer(s?) makes a lot of sense, or matters that much. As has been the case with some of the 9 previous dipshits, it all feels too convoluted and too convenient at times.
However, another strength the film has is in how well executed most of the thrills and kills are. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett do a pretty good job of handling the tension and featuring solid kills, even if they seem to gloat a bit too much on it in the last act. One of the things I liked, and would've liked to see more of, is how they present New York City as this cesspool where you could be stabbed in an alley or in a subway and people just won't care.
The film also teases a couple of interesting ideas and developments, but unfortunately, the script doesn't commit to them, and chickens out in the last minute. This goes from having several key characters being stabbed or shot at multiple times in the last act, making you think they're dead, only to end up jumping all of a sudden, in stretchers or with "some pulse" in the end. This literally happens five times in a span of 20-30 minutes, and it's just too much.
But the biggest offender is how they've been teasing this psychological connection between Sam and his biological father, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich); something they've been doing since the previous one. However, as much as they keep pushing it (even having Ulrich reprising his role in hallucinations) they just can't seem to follow through with it in a way that feels coherent. Moreover, when you contrast the way that Sam dispatches the main killers in the end and her actions in the last shot, well, it feels more as if the writers wanted to have their cake and eat it too.
Still, Scream VI still manages to be a solid entry in the franchise. It manages to mostly overcome those key flaws and some clumsy exposition thanks to good characters, competent direction, and some neat kills (or near kills). It probably isn't as good as the previous two, but knowing that Scream VII is in the horizon, I'm ready to see who are the next dipshits with the masks.
Grade:
SCREAM VI
(2023, Bettinelli-Olpin & Gillett)
(2023, Bettinelli-Olpin & Gillett)
"You know, you're like the tenth guy to try this, right? It never works out for the dipshit in the mask."
Review might include some SPOILERS
The first Scream opened up in 1996 – almost 30 years ago – both revitalizing the horror genre while also making fun of its tropes and conventions. After five films, we've seen around 9 different "guys" try to kill our main characters. Scream (the previous one, not the original) introduced sisters Tara and Sam (Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera), but it still didn't work out for the dipshit in the mask.
Scream VI follows the sisters to New York City, where they've relocated with their friends, to attend college but also in an effort to get away from Woodsboro after the tragedy of the last film. But as is expected, more dipshits in Ghostface masks follow them to try to kill them. The sisters then have to figure out who is behind the murders, as they also learn to trust each other and battle their own personal demons.
I'm a big fan of the original Scream, and even though I wasn't a huge fan of its two sequels, I thought they did a pretty good job with the latest two entries. The previous one successfully introduced a new slate of characters while successfully integrating them with the classic ones. Scream VI might not be as well executed, but it still delivers most of what you would expect.
One of its strengths is in the "core four" main characters; Sam, Tara, and siblings Mindy and Chad (Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding). They have good chemistry, are likable and easy to root for. On the other hand, most of the secondary characters feel useless and disposable which, to a certain extent, they are. I also don't think the big twist of who is (are?) the killer(s?) makes a lot of sense, or matters that much. As has been the case with some of the 9 previous dipshits, it all feels too convoluted and too convenient at times.
However, another strength the film has is in how well executed most of the thrills and kills are. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett do a pretty good job of handling the tension and featuring solid kills, even if they seem to gloat a bit too much on it in the last act. One of the things I liked, and would've liked to see more of, is how they present New York City as this cesspool where you could be stabbed in an alley or in a subway and people just won't care.
The film also teases a couple of interesting ideas and developments, but unfortunately, the script doesn't commit to them, and chickens out in the last minute. This goes from having several key characters being stabbed or shot at multiple times in the last act, making you think they're dead, only to end up jumping all of a sudden, in stretchers or with "some pulse" in the end. This literally happens five times in a span of 20-30 minutes, and it's just too much.
But the biggest offender is how they've been teasing this psychological connection between Sam and his biological father, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich); something they've been doing since the previous one. However, as much as they keep pushing it (even having Ulrich reprising his role in hallucinations) they just can't seem to follow through with it in a way that feels coherent. Moreover, when you contrast the way that Sam dispatches the main killers in the end and her actions in the last shot, well, it feels more as if the writers wanted to have their cake and eat it too.
Still, Scream VI still manages to be a solid entry in the franchise. It manages to mostly overcome those key flaws and some clumsy exposition thanks to good characters, competent direction, and some neat kills (or near kills). It probably isn't as good as the previous two, but knowing that Scream VII is in the horizon, I'm ready to see who are the next dipshits with the masks.
Grade: