Written by James Vanderbilt And Guy Busick
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin And Tyler Gillett
Ghostface (to Jason): "Who gives a fuck about movies?"
Well, considering this specific franchise, I would say a lot of people give a fuck about the movies. After a solid start with the whole requel affair, can this requel sequel well and truly deliver? The answer might surprise you. Then again, maybe not.
If the opening sequel movie subverted expectations by actually having Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), then this one also subverted some too in that regard. Blackmore college professor Laura Crane (Samara Weaving) found herself on a Tinder date from hell when Ghostface showed up, lured her into an alley and killed her in rapid succession.
However what was surprising about this scene was the quick reveal of Ghostface being film student Jason Carvey (Tony Revolori), whose aim was to finish the movie that Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid) had previously started, only for him to then be quickly taunted and killed off by a different Ghostface altogether, thus giving us two of a few firsts in this movie overall.
The other first would of course be taking our Core Four out of Woodsboro and dropping them into New York to attend college - Tara along with twins Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) while Samantha Carpenter attended therapy with Dr Stone (Henry Czerny) while annoying Tara by being so overprotective and having a secret romance with neighbour Danny Brackett (Josh Segarra). Oh and did I mention the bit where Sam is public enemy number one because that's also essential to this movie?
There's no hero narrative for Samantha here. The public are convinced that she framed both Richie and Amber for the previous kills and she's almost used to be accosted in the street too but that's the least of her worries as she quickly realised that the new murders are Ghostface related and Detective Bailey (Dermot Mulroney) only confirmed her paranoia to boot.
Then there's a mixture of both older and newer faces. The Core Four's new friendship group included Mindy's girlfriend, Anika (Devyn Nekoda), shy dork Ethan (Jack Champion) and sex positive Quinn (Liana Liberato), all of whom are counted as suspects, cannon fodder and generally make a better impression than some of the supporting characters from the previous movie. Of course there may also be a killer or two among the new lot but that's for you to figure out along the way.
As for some of the older characters, both Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) and Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) are used rather interestingly in this movie. The former does somewhat revert to older form but stepped up when making the gang privy to the Ghostface shrine while the latter, now an FBI agent also bared her own scars, had a wonderful geek off with Mindy but ultimately served as a bridge between the generations of characters here. Not to mention that both Gale and Kirby came very close to death, and in the former's case more so than she ever had before.
As for the Ghostface reveal, having three of them with a shared but relatable motive was another improvement on this movie compared to the last one. The final fight with the killers was certainly one of the most brutal we've had and this segment also tapped into Sam's darker side that bit more, only for Tara to anchor her back into reality. As for the lack of Sidney, I have to admit that this movie didn't suffer from her absence one bit. Perhaps this franchise can survive without her after all.
- The movie nicely set up a romance between Tara and Chad with Mindy being supportive of it. The other Core Four members weren't phased by Sam sleeping with Danny.
- Gale did write another book but the movie rights were blocked, while every previous killer was referenced throughout the movie.
- Both Richie and Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) appeared in this movie. The de-aging still need some work though.
- We get a post credit scene where Mindy pointed out that not every movie needed one.
- Standout music: Demi Lovato's Still Alive and Mike Shinoda's In My Head.
- Chronology: Halloween 2023 and a year since the events of the previous movie.
Scream VI took this franchise to new heights. Moving to New York, putting the Core Four front and centre while also giving us Gale and Kirby enough to do. There was plenty to enjoy here, plenty to show that the franchise can continue to surprise and it also felt like the most scary movie since perhaps even the first one. All in all, this was a triumph.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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