Scream VI (2023) - Movie Review

While Scream 2022 wasn’t necessarily my favourite horror film from that year (Mad God) or even my favourite slasher (X), it was an absolute cracker of a release that showed that the franchise was in strong hands, and it’s even gained extra endearment from me as it also served as the introduction to 2022 as a year where horror films came back with a vengeance. And following the example of the Wes Craven’s original granddaddy of meta-slashers, we now have a sequel just a year later and the results are… well, that might take a bit to really get into.

Scream (2022) - Movie Review

With how often I bang on about metafiction in these reviews, this will likely come as little surprise but I fucking love the Scream series. Yes, even the much-maligned third and fourth films; I love all of them. Not only do they serious scratch a lot of my metatextual itches, I like how each instalment thus far has been able to stand out from the others in their own ways (and I mean in good ways). The first one is undoubtedly the most iconic and the scariest; that opening scene remains one of the greatest sequences in any slasher film. The second is the most creative, both in its set pieces and in its reflexivity as far as commenting on its own impact on the very genre it spent so much time poking at.

The third film… yeah, it has its problems, but I’d argue that it’s the most scathing with its observations about horror cinema and the industry that creates it. If you haven’t seen it before, or haven’t watched it since before 2017, I’d advise giving it another try; time has added some new layers to that particular narrative. And as for the fourth film, maybe it’s because the inclusion of Kirby appealed to my previously-mentioned statement that women who love horror movies are awesome, but I consider it to be the most fun, as well as containing my favourite ensemble cast thus far.

With long-time director Wes Craven tragically passing away back in 2015, the idea of a new feature-length continuation being made without him (ignoring the existence of the TV show) kept feeling like a bad idea. Between the Scream films and New Nightmare, the man had a better understanding of meta-horror than most of his peers, and indeed most filmmakers that have sprung up in his wake. But if one had to be made, I’d argue that directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have a better chance than anyone else. These are the guys who made Ready Or Not, a film whose thick veins of subversive humour and awareness of genre tropes made it a surprise hit when it came out. And with one of Ready Or Not’s co-writers also in attendance with Guy Busick, and James Vanderbilt finally finding a solid team to work with again, this has some real promise. And the extent to which that promise is delivered on here is staggering.