Directed by: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett
Written by: James Vanderbilt & Guy Busick
Starring: Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Mason Gooding
Rating: [4/5]
Changing the scenery within a long-running franchise provides the opportunity to liven things up and with a new setting allowing for the environment to further impact the formula we know and love. In Scream VI, the roadshow of Ghostface heads on over to the Big Apple, and it more than delivers the incredible thrills we have come to expect from this franchise. This sixth installment brings everything one could want, rivaling only the first film in regard to quality.
Now in New York City for collegiate studies at Blackmore University, Tara (Jenna Ortega) has her older sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) living nearby to keep an eye on her after the killings in their hometown. After a Ghostface attacks them at a bodega, they begin to learn whoever has donned the mask now seemingly has collected the ones used by all the previous killers from the past.
Even when the Scream franchise fails to meet the heights of the first film, they always deliver something worth watching. Whether this comes from inventive ways Ghostface terrorizes victims or the surprising individuals who don the mask and hope to kill our protagonists. Each film in the series has something one can take away from it and Scream VI knocked me aback at its fun uses of New York. If they make the stretch of each of these characters moving to this particular city then it becomes beholden to the creative team to utilize everything it has to offer to bring something new to the equation.
New York gets utilized to great effect in the three best scenes this film brings forth within a bodega, on a New York subway car, and the crossing between two apartments. Each of them pulse-pounding and producing exactly what one would want from a Scream film. It answers the question of what would transpire if Ghostface were to openly attack the Carpenter sisters in front of witnesses and it works to a terrifying degree in one of the most crowded cities in the world. The apartment scene where they have to use a ladder to get across created probably the most tension-filled scene the series of films had to offer. Set pieces are where this film absolutely thrives and they had me dialed in each and every time.
As for the narrative, it continues to journey for the Carpenter sisters as they deal with the ramifications of the reveal of Sam being the daughter of the infamous Billy Loomis. The arc she goes on in this film takes the series in quite the place as this Ghostface experience evokes a feeling of culmination where memorabilia of the previous killers make their way to this film. It gives off this feeling of finality. If not for the incredible financial success of this series, one could easily see this as a finale to this entire saga. Everything pieced together builds quite the anticipation for who will be discovered as Ghostface when all is said and done. While the way this element gets handled does not make much sense and ultimately serves as the one downfall of this film, it still has quite the pageantry to it making it feel grand overall.
Following the events of the previous film and the death of one of the beloved original three characters, this film also battles with the absence of Sydney Prescott for contractual reasons, leaving Courtney Cox reprising her role as Gale Weathers to represent the old guard. She has one particular scene that completely kicks ass within her apartment that serves as a great reminder of what this character has gone through and how she can adequately protect herself. With this 6th film, it fully felt like a passing of the torch to what gets deemed as the “Core 4” where the quartet of Sam, Tara, Chad (Mason Gooding), and Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) take over this tale and their chemistry works wonderfully. Each brings a distinct element into the story, and the way they continue to build upon each other with their bouts against Ghostface only continues to fortify that.
Never have individuals survive mortal stabbings more than in this franchise and we get plenty of that and much more with the sixth installation of this beloved franchise in Scream 6. This series of films have refused to lay an egg and it does not change here in delivering a film that stands high with the other sequels and in my opinion serving as the best once the original 1996 film. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett do a splendid job incorporating New York City into this plot as they bring Ghostface to the city that never sleeps and evidently where the Core 4 can never feel safe. It continues to mix the old with the new and delivers all the thrills and kills one seeks out when watching these films.
Films with Josh 
