This thing is a beast so buckle up if ye dare.
TLDR:Scream VIkicks ass.
Shot this thing at approximately 2 a.m. so forgive any lapses in touching on certain things.
My only gripe with it is not giving a shoutout to Wes Craven.
So thank you again, Wes Craven, for revolutionizing the horror genre and helming fourScreammovies.
OK before we get into spoiler territory, I’ll give you my updated rankings of allScreammovies.
Well, there are multiple reasons that I won’t get into.
Again, we’re in non-spoiler territory still.
How are we doing?
In the clear enough yet?
Was that enough of a disorienting misdirect?
Can you feel the suspense?
Difficult without instant playback at the ole fingertips.
Hope you have a killer time reading.
A new opening kill spin kicks off a series of excellent set pieces
HOLY SHIT.
I thought one of Samara Weaving or Tony Revolori would be revealed as a surprise Ghostface killer.
Right from the jump, you could tell it’s his voice on the other end.
He’s meeting his film studies professor out for a drink.
Or so she thinks.
First of all, he’s catfishing her.
Secondly, he pretends he’s lost.
Jason’s thrill off the kill is short-lived, though.
His roommate Greg is dismembered/beheaded in the refrigerator after theactualGhostface engages him in a game of hot-and-cold.
Not long after this stunning surprise, Ghostface proceeds to gut Jason like a fish.
Hell, even “Carvey” and Jason’s surname “Vorhees” is a slant rhyme.
The kills are at an all-time high in terms of brutality, and sheer number of literal stabs.
Never has Ghostface moved so athletically before, either.
You still have trademark stumbling around and getting drilled by inanimate objects during chase scenes.
Overall, though, more coordinated and menacing than usual.
A superhero role is in his future if he wants it.
Sky’s the limit.
Cry nepotism all you want since he’s Cuba Gooding Jr.’s son.
Dude still needs to train up and deliver the goods.
The good[ing]s?
Nah, doesn’t really work.
Mason Gooding delivers the goods.
Their dynamic is so much fun and honestly superior to what was built in the initialScreamtrilogy.
Everyone is reticent to catch on to that “Core Four” moniker at first.
By the end, they’re all embracing it.
I would’ve been heartbroken if they killed my guy Chad off.
He has this mix of brawn, charm and sort of innate vulnerability.
Thought for sure he was a goner.
BUT NOT SO FAST.
An excellent exploration of legacy
Toward the end of the film, Kirby Reed SHE’S BACK!
Hayden Panettiere is back!
says to Sam, “Legacy doesn’t have to be a bad thing.”
To me, that almost spells out the theme of the entire story.
Billy is always imploring her to slice and dice.
Thankfully, she takes a more measured approach…but her walks on the wild side aren’t telegraphed.
You really get the sense that Samdoesenjoy killing when it’s justified.
As if it’s calling to her.
Hey, speaking of franchise requels!
I mean come on, look no further than the last pic!
Courteney Cox’s ever-iconic Gale Weathers personifies the exploration of legacy inScream VIin a significant way, too.
Aaaand ooooh, the flip side, ugly underbelly and toxicity of legacy is definitely explored.
how twisted and fucked up legacy can make you.
Some folks let that darkness consume them and act out in negative ways.
Others persevere and rise above their troubled roots.
You know, the classic nature vs. nurture concept.
Except plenty of gray area in between those polar opposites is explored, specifically by Sam.
She’s walking a razor-thin line, and it makes her such a compelling central character.
Even her therapist wants nothing to do with her!
Theories online speculate that she actually masterminded the latest Woodsboro killings and framed Richie.
Her fight to rise above that noise is one you’re not sure if she’ll win.
So far, she’s succeeded in reining in her, ahem, killer instincts.
Look what happened to Gotham City’s white knight Harvey Dent.
This guy has sort of a mumblecore flavor to his line delivery that works so well.
Is he playing dumb?
Is he yetanotherlove interest who’ll betray Sam’s trust!?
And I’m sure he’s grateful for that.
We know from the start that Quinn is the daughter of NYPD detective Wayne Bailey (Dermot Mulroney).
You won’t find a weak link among these peoples.
I remember Liana Liberato from a movie calledStuck In Lovea while ago, hadn’t seen her much since.
Cool to see her shine here.
And DAMN, Jack Champion!
Going from theAvatarsequel right into theScreamrequel sequel.
Well done, sir.
In retrospect, that gives us an obvious clue as to who did the wetwork on that one.
The “hidden in plain sight” trope is exploited here so nicely.
You’re not gonna believe this, but Mindy identifies two killers in her first two guesses.
She wanted to redeem herself for guessing wrong last time around.
You fully expect the chilling voice of Roger L. Jackson on the other line.
Instead, a hostess at a bar/restaurant answers and you don’t hear who’s on the other end.
Has zero to do with what transpires from there.
It got me in theScreammood straight away.
Those are merely the highlights I can think of off the top of my head.
I’ll leave something for you spoiler seekers to comment about.
A shocking red herring
Danny is teased a bit like I said.
Crazy thing is, you fully buy into it for a second.
He asks someone in his office to dig up anything he can on her.
Seems like a mundane, perfunctory background check pretty early on.
She’d gone on a downward spiral since the previous year’s killings.
Can’t imagine why.
I really couldn’t tell you.
Which brings us to the grand finale…
THE KILLER REVEAL: Not one.
But…
Three killers!
It’s never been done before!
Hats off to Dermot Mulroney for his unhinged explanatory spiel about how he executed his master plan.
Being the inside man of the whole Ghostface operationwithinlaw enforcement was a pretty wicked reversal.
First to unmask himself is Ethan…who’s not actually Ethan.
He’s using an alias and is Detective Bailey’s son!
And oh yeah, that means he’s Quinn’s sister.
Her father swapped out her body for a fresh one at the “crime scene”.
Detective Bailey rigged this whole thing.
What was his motivation?
The children followed suit.
A warped legacy to say the least.
Maybe I can suspend my disbelief better than others.
One lingering fan theory that refuses to die and what mightYOUR INSIDESa sequel look like?
The second of two original halves.
Another countdown there, you like that?
Fan theory: “STU MACHER LIVES.”
They totally got me with this shit.
I was hook, line and sinker on Stu’s return that it totally blinded me from everything else.
Stu is name checked multiple times, too.
Mindy tells Kirby she’s not convinced Stu actually died.
Wasn’t to be this time around.
MAYBE, however, something like thatwillhappen inScream VII.
Last year’s climax and killer reveal took place inside Stu’s actual house from the 1996Scream.
Then you get all these misleading breadcrumbs about Stu in the newest installment.
I’m telling you.
That TV may have killed Ethan but I’m not 100% certain it killed Stu Macher.
With all the stab wounds Chad survived inScreamVI, how ridiculous is itreallyto bring Stu back?
Not very, in my humble opinion.
It’d also be an organic way to bring back Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott.
She deserves a proper on-camera sendoff.
I think that’ll do it.
Figured I’d go all-out for this one.
Green light this next sequel, fast-track that production and give us a threequel in 2024, just.
