Review of Scream VI: Ghostface Wedges Across NYC in the Nostalgic Blitz

Scream VI weaves its history into Ghostface’s games, much like the previous Scream did with Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street.

The Scream films have always been about looking back and drawing on our collective experience with scary movies to arouse new dread.

Scream frequently references itself, historical figures, and how prior Ghostfaces have struck, especially in more recent iterations. Nevertheless, in this most recent chapter, the references appear more ingrained and essential to the plot.

We know the rules because of Randy (Jamie Kennedy) and other slasher experts who have appeared throughout this franchise. Scream VI can have fun by dissecting this series, rearranging our expectations, playing with the rules they have established, and attempting to subvert our expectations.

tara literally survived this i think she’ll be fine in scream 6 pic.twitter.com/6oMEGC03vq

— sude (@SANFRUNCISCO) February 20, 2023

Some previous favorites are also revived in Scream VI. Gale Weathers, played by Courteney Cox, is the only character to have been in all six movies, and since Dewey (David Arquette) passed away in the most recent film, this will probably be Gale’s last story.

Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), who survived the events of Scream 4 and is now Dermot Mulroney, who played an FBI agent assisting Detective Bailey in the hunt for this new Ghostface, also makes a comeback in Scream VI.

Writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, who entered this series with Scream in 2022, and directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin are also back.

Scream VI also acknowledges and embraces its heritage while seeming distinctly of its piece, unlike the last Scream, which had antagonists whose only real reason was a fondness for the Stab flicks.

This sixth Scream movie can get right into the more enjoyable elements of this franchise, such as the whodunit nature and the wild kills because all of the character setups got completed in the previous film.

After setting up the notion that Scream VI is a “requel,” Vanderbilt and Busick embrace this moniker by turning this movie into an incredibly entertaining reimagining of Scream 2.

Mindy mentions that franchises only exist to defy expectations as she dissects the conventions of this movie, as she always does in this series. Key characters are no longer.

Important because anybody and everyone could be a suspect or a murderer. There are several delightful departures from what we have come to expect from this genre, even though Scream VI doesn’t completely break from the mold.

The frigid openings of the Scream movies have frequently experimented with fresh ideas, but Scream VI’s opening is a beautiful technique to upend our expectations. Even when some laws get disregarded, watching how some Scream customs will never change is fun.

Although Gale, Sidney, and Dewey have always been the focus of the Scream franchise, Scream VI is the first time it feels acceptable for this series to start straying from its trademark pillars.

As Dewey is no longer alive and Sidney isn’t in this movie, Gale and Kirby continue to take a backseat to the new cast. With Scream VI, the new cast began to seem like a solid route to head in.

In 2022’s Scream, having this new cast in the lead made it feel like waiting for the old favorites to return. Gale and Kirby still have their moments in the spotlight, but it never seems time gets wasted before recognizable faces appear.

Like the recently released Creed III, Scream VI finds a way to celebrate the past while paving the way for a new generation.

It presents a tale that, despite breaking with tradition in exciting ways unique to this series, manages to seem familiar in its winks at the past.

It achieves the perfect balance of nostalgia and fresh blood. Although Scream VI is a sequel to a sequel, the series still finds new ways to feel unique in how it approaches this environment.