The horror genre was dead. The glorious gory decade of the 80’s had passed. The major horror franchises had fizzled out. Home media became a more economical option for horror filmmakers than pushing against the tide of large studios who were trending toward more conservative releases. Such was the bleak period of the early 90’s. This was until the master himself, Wes Craven, unleashed a new style of horror film. The meta film. A self-aware film that would dissect troupes of a certain genre. Two years earlier, Craven put out the highly underrated New Nightmare, which the world was not ready for yet. In 1996, Craven brought the genre back from the dead with the smash hit Scream. Scream ignited a new horror boom, sparking five sequels as well as giving birth to a new generation of genre fans.
In 2022, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olphin and Tyler Gillett, from a script from James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, took on the gargantuan task of following one of horror’s masters by helming the fifth installment. Scream 2022 was a massive financial success as well as praised by fans and critics alike. An immediate sequel was greenlit, bringing back the surviving cast along with the production team. With the plot set in New York, fans started to cringe that this new installment would just be a quick slash for cash. Will Scream 6 carry the franchise legacy with pride, or will this quick follow up be a fearless fizzle?
One year after a new string of murders rocked Woodsboro, Sam Carpenter (Mellissa Barrera) and her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) relocate to New York with fellow survivors Chad (Mason Gooding) and his sister Mindy ( Jasmin Savoy Brown). Tara is determined not to let the horror of the past dominate her life, while Sam deals with much deeper psychological scarring. Right at Halloween time, a Ghostface style murder occurs in their neighborhood. Old anxieties along with new friends and law enforcement come slashing their way back into the lives of the survivors. Not able to resist another story, and having betrayed the sisters, Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) arrives along with surprise former victim Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere). Now an F.B.I agent, Kirby takes special interest in the case. With a massive city cloaked in Halloween guise, a host of new suspects, and psychological suspicions pouring over the core four, this Ghostface becomes the hardest to identify, avoid, and kill.
In general, the Scream franchise works as a diabolical diatribe on the state of the genre every decade or so. After the brilliant original film, the next two installments can feel forced. The fourth film was a refreshing return with a sassy satire on the remake/reboot phenomenon. The fifth installment gave fans a terror tirade on the requel trend.
Scream 6 is the first direct follow up in the series to continue to capture the intensity of the previous film. Top marks go to scribes Vanderbilt and Busick and directors Bettinelli-Olphin and Gillett. As in the fifth film, this terror team never holds back on the horror. This Ghostface is perhaps the most brutal in the series, slashing towards several sensational kills. From a Jason Takes Manhattan homage to a city decked out in iconic horror characters, the filmmakers show their love of the genre throughout the film. While Jenna Ortega continues to be a tour de force in the genre, it is Barrera who steals the screams. Barrera doubles her efforts from the fifth film with a tremendous physical and psychological outing, arguably the best final girl performance in the series. Scream 6 does suffer from the two-hour run time, with several periods of lagging dialogue. The film attempts to squeeze in a bit too much, while also putting in several twists that are not necessary, in a feeble attempt to throw the franchise educated audiences. As in the fifth film, the kills are creative and brutal, some of the best in the franchise. With a massive opening weekend, the Horror Nation can expect a quick seventh entry, because these days, you gotta have a requel baby!
Scream Score: 8.7/10