As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the kickoff of the Scream Franchise with the 1996 horror reviving Wes Craven film “Scream”, I felt compelled to write a full review. This will be short, sweet and no spoilers. I saw the film Thursday night and as a fan of the franchise since 1996, I was excited. I get people are upset about the treatment of Melissa Barrera and sad she and Jenna Ortega were not back and that is understandable. With Kevin Williamson finally directing a Scream film after being the man behind the words of the films, it did feel like we it was long overdue and we were in for an absolute return to form.
I will say, Sam and Tara Carpenter had the perfect ending in Scream VI, for the most part the franchise had a great ending in Scream VI, but here we are…Scream 7. Scream 7 did feel inevitable after the reception of Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023) and personally, I welcomed it. There was a long absence from 2000 to 2011, to 2022. I am here for whatever the Scream franchise has to throw at me.
SYNOPSIS:
When a new Ghostface killer emerges in the quiet town where Sidney has built a new life, her darkest fears are realized as her daughter becomes the next target. Determined to protect her family, she must face the horrors of her past to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all…
Sure.
One thing I wondered going in, how are they going to deal with Sidney’s younger children? In Scream (5), Sidney was seen pushing a stroller and Tatum is not 4 or 5 years old. They’re off with Mark’s mother…that is a spoiler, but whatever.
The opening kills were fun. That’s it, fun. Scream is known for the cold open kills. The only one that ever bothered me was Scream 3. I wanted Cotton to live and see more screen time. It is shown, almost in full in the trailers. But, still it is always good seeing the Macher house. As if you didn’t already know.
We meet Tatum and her friend group, all suspect in my opinion, well, not Chloe. The fall vibes make it feel like a Halloween film in some ways, real Midwest fall atmosphere and I loved that very much, The Horror Syndicate is based out of the midwest. But, I fell the setup is kind of rushed and the pacing of the film is too fast and it’s a problem.
It’s hard to do this without spoilers. But, I loved the atmosphere, the score was solid and the acting very good. I did like some of the casting because they cast very suspicious looking characters and in a way, it kept you guessing. One thing I wish and this has to do with the pacing of the film, I wish we had more time to focus on Tatum and her friends. This could have been a good passing of the torch situation or taking it back to more of a original Scream type film, but it was all focused on Sidney and I get it, Sidney is pretty much the franchise, Tatum is a central role, but the break neck speed of this film did not allow time to get to know any one before the first Ghostface appearance or attack on…anyone outside the cold open.
Now, let’s talk about the “Stu” of it all as it is no secret Stu (Matthew Lillard) was cast for Scream 7. What they did will either piss you off of make you happy. The way it was executed will make you believe one thing and then maybe have you believe another. Was it the right way to bring Stu back? That is for the viewer to decided. I am mixed on how I feel about it overall, without spoiling anything.
I liked the first two acts, while they were a little rushed, there were great moments and awesome, brutal kill scenes that go from kind of beautiful, to, “that seems like it would be from Terrifier” style kills. There were some fun nostalgia moments that took us back to the original Scream film. The Tatum character was a good addition to the franchise, I like her and kind of want to see more of Tatum. Sidney, Gale, Chad and Mindy are back and really, I feel Chad and Mindy are wasted, I love them both, but they almost did not need to be there. It felt like they were there to remind us of Scream 5 and Scream VI. Speaking of, no mention of Tara or Sam, but the events of Scream VI are very present in Scream 7.
But, the killer reveal was the worst of the franchise. I know many believe the reveal in Scream VI was the worst…Welcome to Scream 7, they did worse job. It was not obvious or anything like that, it was lackluster, with flimsy motives.
I walked out of the theater thinking to myself, the same thoughts after Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022) and Halloween Ends (2022), it’s time to let the franchise rest. Scream has finally reached the point of exhaustion to me and it’s time to let it go.
I like the first 6 movies, there are issues for sure. But there are elements in Scream 7 that do not feel like Scream. I know Scream 8 is likely. End it there.
I have further ideas for the franchise after an 8th movie.
I think, Scream 8, should bring back the Carpenter sisters or at least Sam and Tatum for one last right as we say goodbye to Gale and Sidney for good. Let me know if you want me to write a full article on my thoughts on different ways to continue or end the Scream franchise. This is one of the longest running horror franchises of all-time without a remake, the Phantasm franchise has Scream beat by 6 years.
If I had to put an out of 10 score, maybe a 6 out of 10. It was good overall, but the reveal was so bad and if you look at the poster, it’s obvious. I wanna see this again. Let it all sink in and really see how I feel and give this a good ole fashioned slash score.
If I had to rank the franchise in my current frame of mind after one viewing.
7. Scream 7 (2026)
6. Scream 3 (2000)
5. Scream 2 (1997)
4. Scream VI (2023)
3. Scream 5 (2022)
2. Scream 4 (2011)
1. Scream (1996)
Go see Scream 7. You may feel differently, but this may be the most divisive film in the Scream franchise.
