Scream VI Movie Review
Nathan Swank
March 11th, 2023
SCREAM is one of the few movie franchises that are consistently entertaining. I wouldn’t go so far to say they are great, but the first go around for each film is always a fun hang. SCREAM VI is no different. This time Ghostface has moved his slashing ways out of Woodsboro, following the Carpenter sisters into the bright lights of New York City.
The surviving crew from the last SCREAM are going to college in the Big Apple. Sisters Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega) are dealing with the trauma they’ve endured along with Sam being projected on social media as the true murderer. Siblings Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding) Meeks-Martin are back once again as emotional support and a bit of comic relief. They are joined by a handful of other new friends to round out not only the body count, but also possible suspects. We also get a few veteran actors with the return of Gale Weathers, played by Courtney Cox, a new detective, played by Dermot Mulroney, and Hayden Panettiere, bringing back her character from Scream 4, which, I’ll be honest, I vaguely remember.
In full disclosure, as much as I love watching the SCREAM movies, the first one is really the only one worth revisiting. I’ve enjoyed watching each follow up once. Only once. But they are still easy, fun forgettable slasher movies that have a spice of meta wit dashed into each one that makes them worth seeing that one time. SCREAM VI builds upon that same clever referential humor that John Carpenter and Kevin Williamson brought to the table back in 1996. Fan favorite, film geek Mindy, is our new window into the horror genre as she lays down the rules again about who the suspects are and victims likely to be within the parameters of scary movies.
SCREAM VI zags a bit by taking a page out of JASON TAKES MANHATTAN and moving the action to the big city. Once again some of the kills make no sense within the context of where they are and how they aren’t seen or Ghostface getting out of a certain situation. But some of that is also what makes SCREAM VI a bit unique. The fear of being alone amongst a large group of people and no one even caring or paying attention within crowds is definitely a very real possibility. One of the more interesting scenes involves a subway packed full of Halloween costumed patrons, many of which are wearing the iconic Ghostface mask. Which one is the killer? Is the killer even there?
Of course what’s a SCREAM movie without an interesting first kill? The wonderful Samara Weaving (READY OR NOT) fills the obligatory star in the opening scare scene nicely. While the frights themselves are lacking, the film has fun with the genre and some of the kills are a bit more gruesome.
A few lines of dialogue from Gale explains why Neve Cambell’s Sydney isn’t showing up for this one, who stepped away publicly after pay disputes between her and the studio. The character explanation is shoehorned in, but actually works within the self-referential humor of being another typical Hollywood horror movie.
I appreciate the SCREAM movies and I would not say SCREAM VI is neither better nor worse than any of the other sequels. It’s a great genre flick. I’ll probably never watch it again. But I sure had fun watching it at the theater this one time.
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