Scream VI (2023)

Score: 4.5 / 5

Where do you go after Scream 5, the surprising and wonderful reboot of the series last year that functions as commentary -- and terrifying addition to the canon -- on "requels" or legacy sequels? Culturally and artistically, we haven't really bypassed that stage of horror evolution. This is the question posed for Scream VI, the latest in the series, which might also be the most viscerally scary of the series. It seems that, in accordance with Halloween Kills -- not to mention the divisive Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Star Wars: The Last Jedi -- this sequel to a requel just hammers home what the fans want. Less exposition, more action, and some smart fan service. It also cleverly includes several nods to Scream 2, much like the previous installment did with Scream (1996). 

It's Halloween again, one year after the most recent Woodsboro murders, and the young survivors have relocated to New York City, attending Blackmore University. While it might be a bit weird that the so-called "core four" crossed the country to attend school together, it's also kind of sweet and showcases their seemingly effortless friendship, along with perhaps some co-dependency. Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) live together, while Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin are nearby (Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown, respectively). The attractive cast is complemented out by the Carpenters' roommate Quinn (Liana Liberato of The Beach House, Novitiate, Haunt, and Trespass), Chad's roommate Ethan (Jack Champion of Avatar: The Way of Water), and Mindy's girlfriend Anika (Devyn Nekoda). These kids have been trying to move on with their lives, but Sam has been ostracized since a viral online post suggested she was the mastermind behind the Woodsboro massacre. Tara, meanwhile, is trying to live life to the fullest by being a bit reckless.

You can't talk about a Scream movie without attending to its opening sequence, and this one was perfect. Okay, they all are, but this one was somewhat unique because the kills were all real (rather than in the world of the Stab movies), involved total strangers to us, and referenced -- at least to my mind -- the real-life murderers Leopold and Loeb in Chicago. The featured bit parts are played by Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) and Tony Revolori (from The Grand Budapest Hotel and the MCU Spider-Man series), which makes it that much more fun. While we're comparing this film to others in the franchise, let's be sure to tie it to Scream 2: it takes place -- more or less -- in a college setting, its climax is in a theater auditorium, one character dies from a bone-crunching fall, and at least one killer is related by blood to a previous killer.

It's that opening sequence that brings Ghostface back, still voiced by Roger L. Jackson, and that gets the plot going, as Sam is of course brought in for questioning by Detective Wayne Bailey (the excellent Dermot Mulroney), who is also Quinn's father and concerned about his daughter's safety in proximity to the Carpenter girls. Meanwhile, Sam has been carrying on a secret relationship with their brooding but hunky neighbor Danny (Josh Segarra from Arrow and AJ and the Queen) while getting some dubious counseling from her therapist (Henry Czerny). It doesn't take long for Gale Weathers (the flawless Courteney Cox) to show up, and then we get the delicious and warmly welcome surprise appearance of Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) for the first time since the 2011 Woodsboro murders (in Scream 4). Okay, now I think we've covered all the cast. There are many of them, so it's only a matter of time before more bodies start to fall.

And that's about all I can say without risking more important spoilers. I'll try to avoid many more, but otherwise you may want to stop reading.

Sadly, we do not get the glory of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) in this installment, a disappointing result of some pay dispute. Gale mentions early on that Sidney and her family have gone into hiding, so one certainly hopes that she and Mark Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey) are still together and that both might return in another sequel. Her absence is distinctly felt, but it also lets some of the other characters have more time to breathe, notably Gale herself, who finally gets the chance to talk with Ghostface on the phone herself while being targeted for an imminent attack.

The set pieces are stunning, and I found myself constantly on the edge of my seat. Most engaging was a vertigo-inducing climb across a ladder between two apartments; another was of course the much-publicized crowded train ride on Halloween night. And the attacks are particularly vicious; these might be the goriest and most brutal attacks of the series. What's interesting, though -- especially with Mindy's expected but lackluster "rules" for this franchise extension (if that's what we're calling requel sequels) -- is that the body count is shockingly low in this film. Shockingly, and annoyingly, as my friend and I discussed as we left the cinema. For all Mindy's remarks that at this point in the franchise, anybody is so much dead meat, this movie features a disappointing number of deaths. On the other hand, the attacks are so unbelievably violent that it starts to strain credulity that any of the main characters survived at all. In earlier films, a single stab or two would incapacitate a victim; here, they get repeatedly shot, sliced, stabbed, and broken, and they keep on fighting.

Maybe realism isn't key here, but it starts to feel like we're being toyed with as fans. Let's just hope they have some bloody good plans for these characters in future installments. As it is, even without the body count and our favorite final girl, Scream VI is an excellent addition to and evolution of the series.