Scream VI (2023)
The Scream series comes roaring back to life with yet another successful entry, which takes the main cast from Woodsboro to the Big Apple. But can they escape whoever is hiding behind the Ghostface mask?
Scream VI opened worldwide over the weekend, so with 67 million in the bag we already know that it has made back its budget (35 million) and is well on its way to break even point (85-90 million).
Note: Break even is usually considered to be 2 1/2 times the production budget, because there is an added marketing budget that’s usually half the production budget (so in this case an extra 15-20 million), and the fact that cinemas keep approximately 50 percent of the money they make selling tickets.
Since there is no doubt that Scream VI will make money and will probably spawn yet another sequel, let’s ask the inevitable question: is it any good?
To my mind, it is. I think that directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett resuscitated the franchise with the fifth movie (which was good, but not great) and now, with number six, they’ve gone and made the best Scream since the first.
Working again from a script by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, the duo have really made the series their own.
Scream VI is on the one hand completely ironic and self-referential yet on the other it plays it straight when it comes to the story and its killings. It’s very well executed on a technical level, it’s also extremely accessible and it’s bloody enough to definitely earn its R-rating.
I also think it’s impossible to overstate the importance of the central duo of Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, who play sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter. The supporting cast is pretty good too, but these two just ooze charm and charisma.
It’s a shame that the original final girl Sidney Prescott isn’t there anymore because the producers didn’t want to pay Neve Campbell what she wanted, but at least she gets a decent verbal send-off. And who knows if and when she might come back.
Courteney Cox is the only one still there from the original cast and she delivers another fine performance as unscrupulous reporter Gale Weathers, who has profited more than most from the Woodsboro killings and whose life may definitely in danger in this new movie.
Hayden Panetierre (from Scream 4) makes an interesting reappearance as (now detective) Kirby Reed. While Samara Weaving may or may not have the role that Sarah Michelle Gellar played in the first movie, but then again, this opening sequence comes with a very sharp twist.
By this point we know that basically anyone or everyone of any age, gender or color can be Ghostface, and the same goes for the people whose lives are at stake. In that sense the Scream-movies are very inclusive.
I won’t spoil too much of the story in case you haven’t seen the movie yet, but New York offers a nice change of location, even though it was apparently all filmed in Montreal.
There is a breathtaking sequence on the subway that will probably become a classic and even though there is a little too much meta-movie explaining towards the end, I was still very much into it by the time the credits rolled.
On to the next, I say!