Scream VI (2023)
New York. New Rules.
New entry of a series I’ve seen all the rest of? Well, I have to look at it don’t I? Would be a shame to not make more of something that I already like. Well first-pass guesses be the winners, or will we find out that we’ve lost the touch. Is it really we lost the touch, or did the movie just get better at freaking us out? Blend your numbers into your words, tonight we all Scream 6.
The old gang has moved to a new city to do some lovely college action. Moving on with their lives, hoping to leave the massacre of their hometown behind them. As is typical in these however, the past doesn’t really stay behind - and it doesn’t take long before some copy-cat types decide they want to sharpen their screams on some famous faces - only to find out that someone else might already have that idea and doesn’t like some would-be hackers taking their slashing goals from them. What ensues is a battle of wits, muscles, and desperately trying to keep that HP bar from hitting empty before one can escape. Will you guess who the killers are this time? The rules are out the window, all bets are off - will it be your remaining legacy characters? The new faces? Or perhaps some familiar ones have finally kicked their sanity bucket off the ledge?
Actors do a darn good job here. You’ll find some to be super likeable, and everyone has at least a little bit to them to cast them as a suspect even if you realistically will find yourself not expecting at least three of group with minimal movie under your belt. Still, line deliveries are good through the screams and the emotions, and it’s all pretty well oiled in a movie machine that hasn’t really let us down yet. The actors continue to nail the stuff that they intend to, and there is rarely a time when it feels like it’s lacking. If anything, you could argue the apathetic NY backgrounders would be the worst part - but at the same time, I feel it’s a pretty accurate representation of how little most people would care. Granted, this day and age I’d half expect everyone to drop to recording on their phone in an instant - but I digress, everything works well for the movie as far as acting is concerned, and you’ll only find a few moments that aren’t as impressive in a movie filled with great jobs.
The characters are done pretty decent as well. The main sisters get to have their flak between them, but every horrible situation has a way of bonding the people involved in it. There’s enough left on the table for most the characters that any of them could be the killer, so you may find that you haven’t really gotten as solid a guess as to whose behind the stabbings this time - well, at least past the very obvious first killing scene in the movie, which serves as a wonderful new take on the opening trope of the Scream franchise. The main character does get to play a bit with the mental instability arc brought up towards the end of the last one to even help add a maybe to the main character (although, it does make it kind of hard to think she’s the killer when she’s constantly getting attacked by the killer, but plenty of the last ones have used that red herring redirect). I wouldn’t say the characters who are new really get any major time to super-develop, but I don’t feel the movie handles it’s characters any worse than the previous entries, even in the confines of it’s own franchise.
We’ve got a collector going.
When it comes to the effects work, they are following what their characters are laying down - it’s trying to one up the others. A lot of the kills here are quite brutal. They go a bit nuts with the stabbings this time around - both in numbers per person and just general locations. You got plenty that make you go “eesh” when they happen, like right in the eye or face. Something like a knife-machine gun, Ghost Face gets a big old workout in this one - and yet, if we are being honest, the body count is around 15 or so by the end of the movie and it’s not all with knives. That said, it is mostly with knives, and it might feel a little bit less… oh how do we say, inventive? Probably makes me sound like a psychopath to some people but the genre folks and the franchise fans know. It’s totally enough for the movie, and there wasn’t any complaints - although more of the folks getting got are more “expendable” feeling in this edition, in part thanks to at least a handful being random city-folk.
The mystery part is probably the best done this time around, and I think it’s one of the few times where my cousin didn’t nail at least one of the perps within ten minutes of them being introduced on screen - but he came close at least. The horror aspect is there, particularly in the slasher sense - but towards the end the movie gets some legit downright terror moments thanks to including a subway. Yes, I admit I don’t understand how any of these folks keep listening to suggestions about “you’ll be safer surrounded by people” when the killer routinely keeps blending in and murdering people in broad daylight and crowds - but hey, it’s one of the few times the movie can feel a bit stupid, and the end result is still a real tense scene so I feel like it’s a forgivable bit of stupid. It’s more than made up for by some of the more intense back-and-forths between some of the characters and Ghost Face, who is back to being that lovable punching bag half the time they are on screen.
The music is what it is - it makes some callbacks, and it helps the scene intentions, but I don’t remember most of it after the movie’s credits are rolling. Balance is good though - you won’t miss any of the lines, even during intense moments of chase and stabs. Most the stuff you expect to be able to talk about is there - the breaking down and talking about cliches of the genre and even within the franchise, you know all that meta stuff that’s been around the series from the start. There’s also perhaps something to talk about with crowds and being alone whilst surrounded, or you could look into some stuff like trauma and the likes. I will say, I think some people might feel that perhaps the franchise is loosing it’s edge a little bit, and I’m personally a little sad that we haven’t quite hit the phase where it’s literally just “the cult of Ghost Face” - but hey, that’s what sequels are for right?
The gang’s (mostly) all here.
Have you seen and enjoyed any other Scream movies? You are in for more fun with this one. I enjoyed it - it’s some good stuff. They do really amp up the mystery side of it, and the action side of it too really, without loosing a whole lot of the charm the franchise has built up over the years. I don’t mind that we didn’t get every legacy character back in the movie - I get it and enjoy seeing the actors I grew up watching as much as the next person, but sometimes it’s also totally okay to just let the sequels play out with some new folks, you know? Now, it’s just a matter of waiting till We All Scream: The cult of Ghost Face (is it a good idea? Do I care if it’s a good idea?) gets pitched by someone in the board room.