The Mosley Review: Scream 6

There are rules that are set in a slasher film franchise. From the beginning, every sequential entry after the original has to be bigger, bloodier and the body count has to be increased by at least 2 OR the story of the core characters has to evolve in a compelling and new terrifying way. For the Scream franchise, creator and Master of Horror Wes Craven did that back in 1996 and it changed the game in films’ meta commentary and insanely creative killer murder mystery. The series went on and then the new generation decided to carry the blood soaked baton with such reverence for the foundation. Even with a few laps of logic and unrealistic choices, these new films have kept the spirit and quality of the franchise intact and I thoroughly enjoyed this new entry. These films are known for amazing opening scenes and this one was brilliant and almost completely resets the rules of what is possible in the slasher genre. The story structure is still intact in its detective story aspects and yes it does mirror Scream 2 in many ways, but it takes its time to play it on its own story and not rely on just nostalgia. Scream 5 was a return to form with the re-quel push, but this film was a straight up tribute to the entire franchise while carving its own bloody path. There are story elements that are cheesy as hell, reveals that felt bland because of the teasing of something fun and yet we get the opposite and I felt the film really was too scared of killing its characters when it truly felt right.

The new core 4 all return and they are just as great to see run around as before, but I felt only a couple of them had anything to do in character growth. Melissa Barrera returns as Sam Carpenter and I liked that we got to see a continuation of her dealing with the trauma of the past film and the realization of whom her father was. I liked that fully embrassed it and is no longer held back by it. If there is a 7th film, I would like to see explore the mental levels of her truth. Jenna Ortega returns as her sister Tara and she is a more mature and sometimes destructive character. In a way, she was a stronger person than Sam as she decides to try live her life not hindered by the events of the past. The sisterly drama between them was somewhat a typical family drama, but it works in the context of the film. Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding return as the lovable twins Mindy and Chad Meek-Martin. Jasmin was so much fun and had the best one liners in the film and even though she spelled out the new rules of the franchise, she still ends up getting surprised. Mason is always a joy to watch and I liked him the most in this film. His chemistry with the group has been elevated, especially with Tara. Hayden Panettiere returns as Kirby Reed from the 4th entry in the franchise and she was a breath of fresh air. The evolution of her character was a bit forced in my opinion, but a decent choice as you dig deeper into what she's been up to since. Courtney Cox returns as the great Gale Weathers and I liked that she finally gets a worthy show down with Ghostface. She was witty and strong as you expect, but her emotional battle with the character was truly amazing as she uses a technique that people of my generation would only think of and out smarts this new age villain. Dermot Mulroney was great as Detective Wayne Bailey and is the standard detective with a family stake in the game as his daughter Quinn played by the wonderful Liana Liberato, is in danger being the roommate of Sam. Roger L. Jackson was outstanding yet again as the voice of Ghostface. As this franchise continues, he has taken this horror icon to an even more animalistic and rage infused state and I loved it! He was actually pretty funny in some of his sadistic dialogue. The killer himself was more brutal than ever and I actually cringed multiple times as Ghostface truly shreds and guts people as he plunges his knife deeper this time around.

The score has always been a staple of the franchise and although I miss the maestro of the franchise Marc Beltrami, Brian Tyler and Sven Faulconer have done an excellent job so far. They brought back the core themes and kept the terror pounding as the violence increased. The kills in this film were creative and painful to witness. They're all enhanced by the impeccable sound design as you actually feel each stab and cut through flesh and bone. The final reveal of the killer in my opinion was lackluster as it is easy to figure out except for one wild card. Also, there is a moment when a character is rushing at another that has a gun and they're only 15 feet apart from each other. Why didn't that person just shoot them? Like I said before, this film was so terrified of killing off certain characters and I wish they had followed through. It would've been the most heartbreaking for this new chapter, but you get robbed of it. In totality, this was another fun entry in the franchise even with its dumb decision making in the third act. There is a funny end credit scene, but you don't have to stay for it. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in comments below. Thanks for reading!