March 28, 2024

L-r, Dermot Mulroney (“Detective Bailey “), Jenna Ortega (“Tara Carpenter”), Jack Champion (“Ethan Landry“), Hayden Panettiere (“Kirby Reed”), Jasmin Savoy Brown (“Mindy Meeks-Martin”), Melissa Barrera (“Sam Carpenter”) and Mason Gooding (“Chad Meeks-Martin”) star in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group's "Scream VI."

Fails to slay...

Courtney Howard // Film Critic

SCREAM 6

Rated R, 2 hours and 3 minutes

Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Starring: Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Hayden Panettiere, Courteney Cox, Jack Champion, Liana Liberato, Dermot Mulroney, Devyn Nekoda

Almost 3 decades into the SCREAM franchise, we pretty much know what we’re in for: a playful stalking and gruesome stabbing by Ghostface in the opening scene, self-aware commentary on the nature of slasher movies, and a twisty ending that involves the killer(s) delivering an expository speech dump. The series had almost been put into permanent slumber back in 2011, but in 2022 the filmmaking team Radio Silence revived it with the imaginatively-titled SCREAM, a 25th anniversary homage to the game-changing original. The problem was this supposed fresh take was far too smarmy, ridiculous and self-aware for its own good.

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, along with screenwriters James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, return for more thrills and kills in SCREAM 6, a legasequel that brings the gang to New York City and gives them a ton of emotional baggage to unpack. Anything can happen, but unfortunately not much really does. Despite better-constructed set pieces, these characters, their connections and their conundrums are stretched paper-thin, leading us to feel disconnected from their slaughter, let alone their survival.

Sam (Melissa Barrera) is having a hard time letting go of the past and it’s affecting her present circumstances. Her younger sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) desperately wants to move on, distancing herself from her trauma with meaningless distractions. Both – along with pals/ siblings Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding) – narrowly escaped becoming victims of Woodsboro’s Ghostface killers not too long ago. The “Core Four,” as they cutely nickname themselves, have hightailed it to the Big Apple for college hoping to escape their legacies. However, when Halloween rolls around, ghoulish happenings begin befalling them once again.

The savage murders of two classmates, who had deadly designs on killing Sam and Tara, causes the elder sister to spiral. And when it turns out it’s the handiwork of yet another Ghostface copycat out to make mincemeat of the Scream 2.0 Squad, they’re forced to figure out who could possibly want them dead. They rope in Chad’s shy roomie Ethan (Jack Champion), Sam and Tara’s slutty roomie Quinn (Liana Liberato) and her father Detective Bailey (Dermot Mulroney) to help. Also aiding in the investigation are franchise fan favorites, unscrupulous journalist Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and now FBI Agent Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere).

Ghostface in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”

Gorehounds will rejoice as, in this chapter, the brutality, bloodlust and blood loss are greater than ever before. The picture’s big action set pieces – like Ghostface’s bodega pursuit, the stair bridge escape and crowded subway car lurking – are clever in their conception. Sam’s struggles to rectify the demon inside her thanks to her paternal lineage – as revealed in the previous film – intensify, giving a modicum of meaning to her heroine’s journey. Themes about letting go are threaded throughout with craft and care, making the third act hero moment we all crave and expect from these films feel genuinely satisfying, if not a tad rousing.

Yet all of these elements could’ve been more impactful if we truly felt invested in these characters’ lives, as we did with Craven’s quadrilogy. Whether we rooted for their victory or demise, death used to mean something. It wasn’t a cheap stab (pun intended) at emotional resonance. It now follows Marvel movie and soap opera rules. Though attention is paid to supporting and tertiary characters, what’s included is ridiculously rote and rudimentary. Gale’s arc is made from recycled parts of SCREAM 2, as are some of the situations Sam’s put through. Mindy and Chad’s defining characteristics don’t advance much. Mindy’s girlfriend Annika (Devyn Nekoda) is treated like a prop when she could’ve easily been better utilized in that same amount of screen time.

Performances are on par with the previous chapter. Barrera, who was a standout in IN THE HEIGHTS, seems daunted by the task carrying the pathos of the picture once again. Ortega repeatedly elevates her material, but what’s she’s given only allows her to shine sparingly. Mulroney digests the scenery without even pausing to chew it. As is the preferred nomenclature these days, he ate – no crumbs left.

Bogged down by over-explanation where characters tell you what they just did (like throw something at a baddie, or how they arrived at their conclusions), this picture sinks when it should be buoyant. Not subversive enough to be satire and not fun enough to be a parody, this franchise is in need of a transfusion. And with a runtime of 2 hours plus, SCREAM 6 is the longest in the series – yet fails to make those minutes count.

Grade: 2 out of 5

SCREAM 6 opens in theaters on March 10.

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