Review: Scream VI

Nostalgia can be a real killer. Making a franchise - and as we're informed during the latest of the Scream series' trademark "this is what kind of movie we're in" scenes, Scream is now most definitely a franchise - requires walking a fine line between naked fan service and injecting just enough new material to make a new installment feel like something more than just a blunt cash grab. Well, unless you really are watching these movies just for the kills, in which case the Terrifier series would like a word.

This time the location has shifted to New York - well, mostly a smallish number of interiors we're told are located in New York: nobody's getting stabbed at the Statue of Liberty here. More importantly, the song remains the same, as after the usual opening kill (delivered with an unusual twist) we learn that there is yet another Ghostface killer(s) on the loose looking to rack up a body count while keeping the audience guessing as to their real identity.

Nostalgia demands the return of series Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) - a pay dispute having nixed the comeback of Sidney (Neve Campbell) who is mentioned but not really missed here - and the surprise reveal of Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), who clearly was not as dead as she seemed at the end of Scream 4. 

But the main focus is on the new cast introduced in last year's installment: Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrere), daughter of OG killer Billy Loomis (Skeet Urlich), her half sister Tara (Jenna Ortega), possible love interest Chad (Mason Gooding) and sassy movie expert Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown). 

There are also a number of new characters slightly more likely to be the real killer(s), especially once Mindy gives the talk about how they're now in "a franchise" and all bets are off as to who lives and who dies (it'd be great to see one of these films where the speech lets us know that a bunch of characters are 100% safe).

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet (working from a script by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick) don't quite have the flair of Scream creator Wes Craven. Some of the series' slasher traditions - Ghostface might be a bit clumsy, but they get the job done - feel too familiar to add much in the way of tension. Still, there's enough randomness and ruthlessness to Ghostface's attacks to keep the suspense building.

Much of the work in the middle of the film involves trying to make it seem like yes, anything really could happen: the fact that largely it doesn't is only a problem if you're not thinking ahead to Scream VII.  Fortunately the kills themselves - especially a grocery store shoot-out and one involving a ladder strung between two high-up windows - provide some fresh angles on a format that needs them.

Add in a solid whodunnit element that skillfully keeps Ghostface's identity multiple choice, and the result  feels fresher than you'd expect a sixth film to be, with just enough brutality to the murders to keep things on edge (though exactly how many stabs it takes to kill someone does seem to be pretty variable). Fans of extremely lengthy bad guy monologues that explain exactly how and why their overly complicated murder plot was necessary will also not leave empty-handed.

If there's a weak link here it's the Carpenter sisters, who still feel a little blurry as characters. The series has always had multiple protagonists, but there's not enough friction between these two (especially once the killings begin) to make two fairly similar characters seem essential. 

Then again, this is a film where anyone can die and anyone could be the killer: if they're going to keep the franchise going, they may find themselves in need of a spare.

- Anthony Morris