Scream VI
Before the screening of Scream VI, there was a vaguely threatening pre-recorded message from Ghostface outlining how much he hates spoilers. For the safety of me and mine, I will try as hard as possible not to piss him off.
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet, of last year’s Scream soft reboot and the highly enjoyable marital romp Ready Or Not, Scream VI self-describes as a ‘rebootquel’ and goes the route of Scream 2 by catching up with the central characters in college. But in a move that will shock Woodsboro elitists, this one, like a certain other iconic sequel, is set in The Big Apple. Carpenter sisters Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega) are joined by Meeks siblings Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding) as they try to leave their shared trauma from the previous Ghostface(s) in their hometown and move on with their lives. Unfortunately for them, there’s a reason the city never sleeps - it’s riddled with masked murderers.
This is the section where I would normally synopsize the film for context but I’m not going to do that as a) there is a spoiler embargo until Monday 14th March and b) see disclaimer at the top of the page. As far as Screams go though, they all pretty much follow the same steps:
Opening kill of unrelated person after answering phone
Collective worrying by main characters
Outer members of gang get picked off by Ghostface
Meeks gives meta monologue about horror movies
Brief red herrings pop up
True killer/s reveal themselves in Scooby Doo finale
Killer is terminated but always springs back to life before being shot in head/heart
The later sequels have made efforts to subvert some steps, notably with Jenna Ortega’s Tara surviving her opening scene and Sam using a knife to ensure the killer’s permanent expiration in the reboot. Scream VI’s main subversion is its brutality and clever use of the landscape; unlike the small town of Woodsboro, the events taking place barely register on New York’s radar. This lends a certain helplessness and isolation to the situation that makes the audience care slightly more for the safety of the central characters (or the “Core Four” as Chad coins them). Continuing the theme established in the reboot of Sam’s pesky DNA and unravelling proclivities, this film plays with the idea that the Final Girl as we know her may not be viewed as such by society as a whole.
The slow transition from the franchise’s original heroine Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) to a new young crowd began in Scream 4 with the short-lived introduction of Jill Roberts (Sidney’s cousin) and her inner circle, including fan favourite Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere, who returns in VI). Establishing Sidney and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) as legacy characters allowed for longevity and a widening of the audience from nostalgia fiends to new fans. It also seemed a natural progression; how many times can one woman survive different serial killers and not take it personally? I was disheartened to read of Campbell’s exit from the series over inadequate compensation, making Scream VI the first outing where she is completely absent. Despite a horrendously written (and delivered) explanation as to her whereabouts, the film makes do without her as best it can. Scream VI gives us enough to chew on for its two-hour runtime and marks one of the more thrilling entries in the series, even if it’s not wholly successful at recreating the slick tone established by Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson all those years ago.
Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega can’t believe it’s happening again. [Scream VI, Paramount Pictures]
Scream VI’s biggest strength is the sheer brutality of its menacing iteration of Ghostface. As shown in the trailer, the spooky slayer commandeers a shotgun during a disturbingly public massacre in a bodega and it’s a nice change of scenery that establishes his No Fucks Given approach. His weathered, almost mouldy mask is a fantastic aesthetic and matches the nastiness of his kills. Ghostface knows his surroundings and takes full advantage of the city’s swarming population, particularly in a well-shot, anxiety inducing scene on a train featuring dress-ups and hiding in plain sight. He doesn’t have the goofy tendencies of falling over when people throw things at him or open a fridge door in his face; this version feels mature and determined like none of his predecessors. If his ease of accessibility to every apartment in the city is a little far fetched, his ruthlessness more than makes up for it.
Contrasting with Ghostface’s meanness is the well-constructed friend feel of the Core Four. Sam, Tara, Mindy and Chad have great chemistry and are believable as a close-knit group who’ve been through some shit. While I find Barrera’s performance a bit unremarkable, it’s perhaps because she’s often standing next to Jenna Ortega, who has a wonderful screen presence and a definite knack for the genre. Jasmin Savoy Brown’s Mindy is the most endearing character despite her meta monologues having become a bit much since the last film; she embodies our dear departed Randy while adding her own flair to the character and serves as the voice of reason when anyone is considering trusting an outsider. That the central characters fit so nicely together makes the danger they frequently find themselves in that much more impactful.
It is, however, strange that the stabbiest film in the franchise would also result in so few meaningful kills; Scream VI has an odd aversion to enforcing its motto of “in a rebootquel, no one is safe” and I found myself quite frustrated with the unbelievable resilience of many of the characters. There are multiple instances where people who are bleeding from their tum tums are able to achieve feats like scrambling across and up ladders and mustering the strength to drive their arms up to inflict a fatal wound after having just been shot and sent through a glass table. While this bouncebackability is kind of a running joke in Scream, this film pushes it a bit too far. Concern loses its potency when people who should most definitely be dead are wheeled into an ambulance while giving the thumbs up.
Gale (Courteney Cox) doing some investigative journalism for her next book. [Scream VI, Paramount Pictures]
Other gripes include the relatively weak ending and the laziness of the writing surrounding the big reveal. Attempts at establishing a red herring are done so late in the piece that the audience doesn’t take it seriously, and the killer’s motivation loses all validity due to its conveniently shoehorned link to a previous film. Written again by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, Scream VI’s narrative messiness and confused inner logic might be down to incompatibility. It’s got to be difficult picking up the reins after the original creator is gone and the original screenwriter has little interest in carrying on without him, but attempts should be made to get on the same page.
All things considered, my final ranking of the Scream film series is:
1, 4, 2, 6, 5, 3
It’s perhaps a controversial opinion that Scream 4 should edge in front of the second film, but if my top 3 shows anything, it's that Kevin Williamson’s writing is a large determinant of enjoyment. Absent for Scream 3, Scream (5) and back as executive producer for Scream VI, perhaps it’s that slight proximity that imbues some of the magic back into this recent franchise entry.
Verdict:
While it’s not a favourite, Scream VI does have a lot going for it. I had an absolute ball attending the packed screening and sharing my love of watching people die with a bunch of other sickos, and it brings me great joy to see that horror as a genre is alive and well. ☆☆☆
Scream VI is in cinemas now.
