Horror Movie Review: Scream VI (2023)

Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, and written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. Scream VI is the sixth instalment of the Scream franchise and a sequel to 2022’s Scream. It stars Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega, Hayden Panettiere, Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Liana Liberato, and Dermot Mulroney.

If Scream 2022 taught us anything, it was how to modernise a franchise based heavily on satirising slasher tropes and being self-aware. Whereas the 1996 original is rightfully considered a classic, the sequel in 1997, third film in 2000 and fourth film in 2011 are less highly regarded. It’s a franchise where nostalgia certainly blinds to some degree, yet that didn’t mean the 2022 film was poor.

It was not, delivering plenty of that ‘classic’ Scream goodness but baby-stepping its way into a brighter future. This is something Scream VI takes on board but isn’t quite brave enough to go all out with it. Something that turns out to be a shame as when it seems to be moving in a brand-new direction, it is often at its best.

Set one year after the events of Scream 2022, surviving siblings Sam and Tara are living in New York City alongside fellow sibling survivors Chad and Mindy. They have some new friends, are attending college, and attempting to move on with their lives. Something Sam, in particular, is having a lot of trouble with. Putting her in conflict with Tara, who is getting tired of Sam’s overprotectiveness.

While all of this might sound blasé, good performances and fresher detail make it more interesting. Such as Sam being ostracized on the internet because of a conspiracy theory suggesting that she was responsible for the killings a year before. Something that has gotten a lot of traction.

It’s things like this that mark Scream VI as something new.

Of course, Sam and Tara aren’t safe as a new Ghostface killer is on the prowl. One that seems to want to prove that Sam was responsible for the Woodsboro murders and one that is far less coy about how they go about doing this.

Friendships will be tested, loyalties will be pushed, no-one can be trusted, and the killer could be anyone. Take off the mask, walk out on to the street, and disappear.

Which is the direction Scream VI should have stuck solidly to, as it adds a new dimension of terror. However, this being a franchise, it inevitably slips back into the tropes all have come to expect. Resulting in a ‘twist/killer reveal’ that might be up there as the worst since Scream 2. Is it a good twist if there’s no way anyone could see it coming? The answer is no and even if you were able to guess the killer, few will be able to work out the motivations.

A lot of the goodwill Scream VI builds is thrown away by a lacklustre finale that goes on for far to long and throws in some of the worst parts of 2022 Scream. Hello again, visibly older Skeet Ulrich as Billy Loomis.

Scream VI is a movie of moments, but moments that do impress. Moments such as the excellent opening that promises that much needed tone shift. Moments such as a killer with a level of brutality not seen in this franchise to date, and moments that actually have tension and dread. There are plenty of times where Scream VI thoroughly entertains and lives up to the horror tag. That alone makes it well worth seeing, especially if you are a fan of what Scream 2022 did.

It’s when Scream VI has to ‘scream’ that it loses its lustre and starts to come across tired. A character going through the rules, characters being stabbed and making quips, characters somehow surviving an impossible amount of punishment, and, of course, returning characters.

Easily the worst parts of this film involve anything to do with Courtney Cox’s Gale Weathers, who feels shoe-horned in, and Hayden Panettiere’s Kirby Reed, who was a forgettable character in the dire Scream 4. Whereas the latter has more to do in the film, she is easily the most unconvincing in the role. If this franchise is going to properly move forward, it’s going to have to start moving on from these characters. Yet, Scream VI is not brave enough to do that.

That is personal though. Many fans are going to love seeing these actors in these roles again. Many fans are going to love seeing the Scream tropes and cliches. There is nothing wrong with that. As stated already, the film does a lot right and really delivers in areas that previous films have failed to.

Scream VI is certainly on a much stronger path than the one laid out by Scream 2022. If there is to be another entry in the series, hopefully, the baby steps to a fresher future taken here become full strides.