Scream 6 Actually Blew Me Away: A Movie Review
By: Mallory Johnson
The newest installment in the iconic slasher franchise Scream 6 came out recently, and I finally got to experience a Scream movie in a theatre! I went in excited with very high expectations, as I am a huge fan of the movies. I watched them last year in my dorm as a way of making my way through some horror classics. I love how funny and self-aware the films are and Scream 6 does not disappoint. The movie stars legacy character Courteney Cox (Friends, 3000 Miles to Graceland), Melissa Barrera (In the Heights, Bed Rest), new scream queen icon Jenna Ortega (X, Wednesday), Jasmin Savoy Brown (Yellowjackets, Laggies), and more. The film follows Ghostface murders in the new setting of New York City. Before I go any further, a MAJOR SPOILER ALERT for Scream 6 and just in case, the whole franchise. Read with caution! Also, trigger warnings for gruesome murders, blood, gore, jump scares, death, grief, loss, stalking, gaslighting, near sexual assault, PTSD, psychosis, slutshaming, sexual content (heard, not seen), and gun violence.
I am so glad that I loved this movie so much! After experiencing the Scream franchise initially in my dorm room, it was a blast going out to a movie theatre on a Saturday morning with my best friend Mandy and watching a classic slasher film. The kills in this installment were some of the most brutal ones of the whole franchise, which was a comment I had seen and heard in some advanced reviews. I loved how it was clear about the time jump after movie number 5, with us joining Tara and Sam a year later. The film explores mental health issues, with Sam on medications and in therapy. It is honest and realistic that recurring, surviving characters would be very traumatized after nearly dying and seeing others murdered.
The tension and build up in this movie are phenomenal; I was on the edge of my seat multiple times. The return of the believed-to-be-killed-off Kirby Reed was fun, and I was morbidly fascinated by the shrine scenes. I whispered to Mandy, “it’s so morbid but so cool…it’s like a museum!” The film follows the same Scream formula, with the story opening on a brutal first kill that was twisty and unexpected to me. We then jump to our “Core Four” and follow them through the brutality for the second act, until we see the shocking Ghostface reveal in the end. I personally am a big fan of predictable slashers like the Scream movies because I find comfort in knowing what I am in for regarding horror. I watched the unpredictable movies Midsommar and Skinamarink and was terrified the whole time because of the anticipation of something terrifying happening. With Scream, the jump scares and tension are enough to make me jump and be on the edge of my seat. While I predicted one of the killers, I was still shocked at the whole reveal and was pleased! There is a scene (featured in the trailer) where characters are in a NYC Subway, on Halloween. The train is filled to the brim with people dressed in horror-relevant costumes and picking out all the easter eggs was a lot of fun!
Overall, I was very pleased with this movie. I was disappointed that Neve Campbell, who played the iconic Final Girl Sidney Prescott, was not going to be in it. I felt like her absence worked for this movie though. Neve Campbell deserves fair pay for her work, as she was a staple in the movies. I give Scream 6 a 10/10 and am crossing my fingers for a seventh addition to the franchise!