‘Scream VI’ Review #2

Stars: Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Courteney Cox, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Hayden Panettiere, Henry Czerny, Dermot Mulroney, Devyn Nekoda, Josh Segarra, Jack Champion, Liana Liberato, Samara Weaving, Roger L. Jackson | Written by James Vanderbilt, Guy Busick | Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Before marvel was pumping out sequel after sequel, before Ethan Hunt had impossible mission after impossible mission, and long before Dominic Toretto was racing through city after city, there were horror franchises. The original system of sequel after sequel, remake and reboot, pretending timelines no longer matter and taking things from lakeside camps to the depths of space. It’s rare to find any stand-alone horror movie anymore, and never more so than in the slasher genre. The slasher genre has produced so many sequels over the years that it’s hard to keep up with Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Michael Meyers, the core three if you will, the original slasher villains. But in the late 90s a new slasher villain emerged, Ghostface. Ghostface represented a new kind of movie killer, the one that could be anyone. They didn’t have to be an unstoppable supernatural force that couldn’t be hurt or could attack you in your dreams, Ghostface was someone you knew, someone you’d get close to, someone you trusted, and that became a terrifying idea in itself. The Scream movies have always played on that fear brilliantly. With the series having the classic meta look at itself, it has served as the only horror franchise to make it this far without a considerable misstep. The franchise has certainly had its highs and lows, but I don’t believe there is a single bad film in this franchise. With the latest addition now added, that streak counties, offering up more entertaining thrills, laughs, and kills.

After the events of Scream 5 or “Scream” as it was titled, the survivors now find themselves in New York, with a new group of friends and a few familiar faces, including fan favourite Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) and long-time Ghostface veteran Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox). Of course, their stay in the Big Apple is soon interrupted when a new Ghostface killer is on the loose and the bodies start to pile up. This time around I knew I was in trouble when I realised just how many of these characters I liked. When the characters we saw last time were back on the screen there was an energy and connection between them that came pouring out. The main four (or core four as they name themselves) Sam, Tara, Mindy, and Chad (Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mason Gooding) all have greater and better roles this time around. This time they felt like deeper characters that have real thoughts and emotions, they had real drive and real cares that made them easier to connect to this time around, and the friends they’ve made along the way are all likeable, which in a Scream movie is never good. When you like a character in these movies, by the end they’ll either be dead or the killer.

Let’s face it though, most people don’t come to a Scream film for character study, they come to see those characters be brutally murdered, and here fans won’t be disappointed. The latest in the franchise offers up some of the most brutal kills and thrilling set pieces the series has seen so far. Perhaps this instalment even had my favourite ending since the original, even if the killer reveal was one of the weakest in the franchise. The sequence that follows after though, is some of the most entertaining thrills I’ve had this year. Add that with a sequence with a ladder and an incredibly tense sequence in the New York subway and you’ve got all the entertainment you need for a Friday or Saturday night. The subway sequence, in particular, shows the brilliance of moving the Scream movies to the big city. As the original did with making a character out of its setting, so too does the newest film. In New York everyone is a stranger, anyone could be watching or following, and when everyone minds their own business, how safe are you really?

The film isn’t without its faults though, the plot and screenplay are the weak points and early in there is some painstakingly bad exposition that does take you out of the scene for a moment. Luckily the characters and scares are enough for you to soon forget about the bad parts, sometimes even when there is a poor script and plot devices that don’t work, you’re having too much fun to care. Scream VI is exactly that, it’s a whole lot of fun that adds another good entry into the series. It takes what we liked about the last film, expands on that, and gives fans exactly what they want.

**** 4/5

Scream VI is in cinemas now.