Scream VI Review – A Bloody Good Time

With the lack of Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott and the death of a legacy character in Scream (2022), there has been some skepticism about the latest Scream film, Scream VI. Thankfully, despite the absence of the franchise’s original final girl, the sixth film is a delightful blast that should please fans new and old.

Scream VI focuses mainly on the “core four” from Scream (2022). The “core four” include Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega), and Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding)—Randy Meeks’ niece and nephew. The four of them move from Woodsboro to New York City to start a new life, but their past continues to haunt them when a new Ghostface killer finds them in New York City. 

The acting from the “core four” delivers, each member conveying a camaraderie bound by trauma. Melissa Barrera is much better this time around, playing Sam once again. Of course, Jenna Ortega continues adding to her well-deserved “scream queen” label. But here, thankfully, a more formidable Tara can stand on her own next to her sister Sam. Also, Jasmin Savoy Brown’s keen wit shines in every scene, and Mason Gooding has a charming and lovable personality. The connection that the four has is both sweet and beautiful. It’s their chemistry that cements themselves as franchise pillars that audiences will come back for.

Scream VI is an exciting and relentless moviegoing experience.

Let’s not forget about Ghostface, though. The iconic killer’s rampage goes into overdrive in this film. Also, Ghostface feels at home in New York City, stalking alleyways between main avenues or hiding in plain sight in a packed subway on Halloween. Ghostface holds nothing back in his killings too. Radio Silence knows how to make audiences cringe and react to every killing. Knives don’t just plunge; they twist and slice through organs. The other non-stab killings also leave an impact as the combination of sound effects and gory visuals will have your mouth screaming obscenities like “holy s-” and “oh f-.”

Aside from their signature meta nature of the scripts, much of the fun of watching a Scream flick is playing detective and figuring out who the killer(s) are. Much of the film functions by addressing fan theories about the movie, and it’s clear that the filmmakers have taken notice of the online talk. Hence, they know what we’re thinking and provide a multitude of red herrings to get us to draw false conclusions. There are so many wild twists that Scream VI will keep you guessing until they reveal who the Ghostface is.

Overall, Scream VI is full of brand-new surprises and features sharp and chilling twists from start to finish. Add all the terrifying scare sequences; the film is an exciting and relentless moviegoing experience. 

Rating: 3.5/5 atoms

Scream VI hits theaters on March 10th.