(SPOILERS INCLUDED)
Director: Kevin Williamson
What Is Scream 7 About?
Scream 7 continues the long-running horror franchise by returning to Sidney Prescott, the original survivor of the Ghostface killings. In this installment, Sidney has tried to live a normal life with her family, but a new Ghostface killer appears and begins targeting people closest to her. Sidney is not the one to worry about in this movie, however. The real danger is her daughter, Tatum. Events force Sidney to confront the trauma of the earlier attacks and once again fight to stop the killer before the violence spreads further. Like the other films in the series, the story mixes suspense, mystery, and the famous unmasking of the Ghostface killer to try to figure out who is behind the killings and why they are continuing the deadly legacy.
My Personal Thoughts
I would consider myself a casual Scream fan. While this is a fun franchise and definitely does not have the absolute bomb of films other franchises have, I find the movies somewhat repetitive and obvious in the direction they take. Scream 7 offers one of the best opening scenes within all of the films, and I loved the take of an AirB&B fan-made fun house to display neat artifacts from the Ghostface legacy. There was tension, intrigue, and a great setup from start to finish of the opening scene. Unfortunately, the movie could not live up to the bang it came out with the rest of the way.
I thought the idea of having the focal point of not Sidney, but her daughter Tatum, was well executed. I have heard mixed reviews on a daughter focus, but I think the emphasis here was conveyed pretty well and kept me engaged to see a mother-daughter tension-filled relationship, as well as playing a guessing game on which friends are not so innocent. Isabel May (Tatum) filled in great to play this role, and I could see her being a staple for the next couple of sequels if they choose to go this route. Bringing back Courtney Cox as Gale did not add much here besides the familiar face with a camera crew trying to get an interview. We’ve seen this enough times where it felt like more fan mail instead of adding new depth to the story.
The kills were a complete step up in the right direction. Scream is not known for the best carnage and graphic kills, so it was a nice surprise for the franchise to continue to turn the knob up in this area and execute it to an above-average standard.
I respect the angle of bringing AI into the fold and wanting to have some charm with old characters being brought in, but I think the entire Stu situation was handled pretty poorly. It felt like a playing with your food type of situation, and they wanted to make fans excited for a return, but Stu is too much of a legacy character to be a teased return and not fully delivered.
Is Scream 7 The Worst Sequel So Far?
Many people consider the 7th film the worst, but I cannot get on board with this take. Although this film has many flaws, it was a solid establishment in this franchise that feels like a middle-of-the-road movie out of the 7. You get some great kills, decent mother/daughter commentary, and it never seems to drag. The biggest flaw that everyone seems to be in consensus on is the reveal. This was BY FAR the worst reveal I have seen on any Scream movie, and that says a lot considering what had happened in Scream 5 & Scream 6.
[SPOILERS BELOW]
I felt the explanation Jess gave was a complete waste of time, and after her monologue, I sat there thinking… what? That’s it? That’s barely a motive! Then add in the fact that Karl was barely known, and Marco was just an AI specialist. It felt like there was no true connection or motive to become the next Ghostface killer.
Movie Stub Rating
Scream is a pretty consistent franchise overall, and this feels like a solid entry with entertaining dialogue, kills, and suspense. I can only rate it so high, however, because of the awful killer reveals.
