Welcome to the sequel to Scream (2022), which was supposed to relaunch the Scream franchise but turned out to be a direct sequel to Scream 4. Now, we have Scream 6, meaning we never had a movie titled Scream 5. Yes, it's a bit confusing, but the Scream franchise was never too concerned about logic. It's just your classic slasher film with lots of blood and dumb teens.
One year after the Woodsboro killings orchestrated by Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid) and Amber Freeman, a Blackmore University professor named Laura Crane (Samara Weaving) is catfished by her student Jason Carvey (Tony Revolori), who lures her outside a bar in New York City and murders her while wearing a Ghostface costume. Jason plots with his roommate Greg to kill sisters Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) to finish the "movie" that Richie and Amber wanted to make. However, Jason receives a call from a different Ghostface, who has killed Greg and subsequently stabs Jason to death.
Sam and Tara now live in New York City, with Tara attending Blackmore University with fellow survivors Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown), alongside their roommate Quinn Bailey (Liana Liberato), Mindy's girlfriend Anika Kayoko (Devyn Nekoda), and Chad's roommate Ethan Landry (Jack Champion). Sam attends therapy with Dr. Stone and is ostracized in public because of an online conspiracy theory that she was the true mastermind of the latest killings. Quinn's father, Detective Wayne Bailey (Dermot Mulroney), calls Sam in for questioning as her ID was found at the scene of Jason's murder, along with a Ghostface mask worn in the previous year's attacks. On the way to the station, Ghostface calls Sam from Richie's phone, who then attacks Tara and kills multiple bystanders, and leaves behind another Ghostface mask worn in the 2011 Woodsboro killings.
The film follows the same general plot as all the others: someone dressed as Ghostface kills a lot of people, and you spend most of the film trying to guess who it is. Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers is the only one left from the original franchise, and her part seems to get smaller with each film.
If you're watching the 6th film in a franchise, then you must be a fan of said franchise. I can't imagine many people coming to this without seeing previous films, although knowledge of the previous films isn't needed much since the plot is straightforward.
The kills are disappointingly generic, which is a shame. With most horror film franchises, one of the best things to look out for is the new and inventive ways the killer takes out their victims. The problem with the Scream franchise is that it's never the same killer all the time, and that killer is not supernatural. Because of that, it drives me mad when the good guys get the killer in a bad situation, and instead of finishing off the job, they run away, giving the killer a chance to recover and come at them again. A quick tip for anyone facing someone trying to kill them: if in the middle of the fight, you get the upper hand, stamp on their ankle. It's simple. Now they can't chase you even if they do recover while you run away.
The Good:
I'm a fan of the Scream franchise. I really liked Scream 5, and I did enjoy this latest film in the franchise. The young adults are exactly as dumb as you need them to be, Ghostface is still scary, and although this is a very "
The Bad:
The formula is getting tired now, and the nostalgia factor can only take you so far. The ending is also a bit overdone. Twist after twist after twist.
Overall:
You know what you are going to get with Scream films, they don't really take any chances, they stick to the same formula each time, make a ton of money and send you home happy, what more could you want.
Not as good as Scream 5, but decent in its own right.
I score Scream 6 a fair 7/10
Out now in cinemas and also available on digital at https://apple.co/3oPKGLu and https://amzn.to/3LgCGeb
