A veritable smorgasbord of blood and gore. A shrine to killers past. Legacy characters back from other Scream movies. There were rumours that Sidney Prescott was the killer, sent mad by almost 30 years of Ghostface killings. There were rumours it was linked to Stu Machers family, as revenge for Billy Loomis killing him. But what does it all really mean? How does it all link together? Last night I watched Scream VI.
There were no trailers for other movies. It was straight into the movie. I could sense the people around me thinking ‘is this it?’. In my head, I heard Sidney saying, “it’s starting again” and within the first minutes, the body count starts rising. Every good horror should grab you in those first minutes. Think back to the original Scream and ‘Casey Beckers’ death. It grabbed you instantly. Scream VI is no different. In the first minutes, with the first two kills, it had people around me squirming in their seat. This was a different Scream movie. A next level Scream.
The “Core Four” of this movie, Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown are our standouts. The movie remains grounded and real throughout, thanks to their chemistry, a chemistry that spills into real life. In a recent interview about the cast with thepinknews.com Mason explained “I do consider them family members. And hopefully they remain in my life for the rest of my life.” The chemistry shows through on the screen and that adds to the story.
Courtney Cox returns as Gale Weathers. A delightful original Scream moment is re-introduced as Sam takes a swing at her. Let’s just say out of the two sisters, one makes contact! Hayden Panettiere is the other legacy character. Back from her role in Scream 4. Now an FBI agent with a vested interest in Ghostface.
There have been some amazing sequences in this movie. A train full of Ghostfaces with the lights flashing on and off. A face-off between Ghostface and Gale are just two. The kills feel different in this movie. They are done not for the cheesy horror thrill that you might expect, but there is purpose behind these kills.
The blade has been sharpened for this franchise. There is enough of the past in the Easter Eggs that are layered throughout for true fans to find. There is room for Scream to keep going without aging.
