Wintry Monsters Press

Movie: Scream VI

…this is the first Scream movie in years that I’ve walked away from and thought, happily, “hey, that was a pretty good time.” So, fuck yeah, I actually recommend this movie for a fun slasherfest evening this weekend. Enjoy.

I have watched, on some level, the Scream series throughout my life, including its revival with Scream V last year, but I’ve never been what I would call a fan of it. The Scream franchise has always suffered from the pitfalls of most slasher films–weak dialogue, long monologues, stupid character actions, and some bad acting. That being said, the sixth installment has made some strong headway into promising territory, despite those pitfalls still existing (at a lesser degree). There’s still some cheesy dialogue, for sure, but there is also smart dialogue, including the dissection of slasher films, which I remembered liking in 2022’s revival as well. I think this was always present, but on a smaller scale. Recently, I’ve been reminded of SGJ’s My Heart is a Chainsaw (to give you a more recent example), as opposed to some characters watching the TV and saying, “Oh, don’t split up. Now someone is going to die.” And though Scream VI does open with a nobody-character being lured into danger by a phone call, this movie often felt like a separate breed of horror movie than those that came before it. Maybe it’s as simple as the setting change to the city, but I felt different watching this entry compared to the others (which is why it’s probably my favorite). The convenience store was exciting and tense, as was the train sequence, which filled the viewer with dread. I also liked the “core four” as characters that I found likable and lacking in the stupidity department. On that note, I’m probably one of the few watchers actually happy Sidney Prescott does not make an appearance in this film; I only wish they had done without Gale Weathers, as well. Though her scene in the apartment was actually quite good, I disliked all her other moments in the film. (For someone I really enjoy in Friends, I’ve never liked her in anything else.) This includes her first appearance in which she randomly blurts out that Sidney will be staying away from this Ghostface series of attacks, to which Sam and Tara basically say “good.” Why did Gale randomly blurt that out? It was inorganic and clearly for the audience’s benefit. And it’s on that note that most of the annoyances with this film (and many other slashers) stems from the benefit of keeping up appearances at the risk of making sense. For example, every fucking time someone has the drop on Ghostface and can kill them, they first yell “hey!” so that Ghostface can quickly react prior to the attack. Who the fuck does that? You want to get the drop on someone, you don’t warn them. *Facepalm* This is just one of many questions I couldn’t help but ask when watching this film–alongside: Why are Ghostface masks still sold in a world where these attacks happen so often? How are characters able to move so freely after being stabbed in the gut or breast? Why would you accept Gale’s help at all after all the shit she’s pulled? How did Tara steal that cop’s car right in front of him? Did she snatch his keys or did he leave them in the car like an idiot? If you’re going to turn a stadium into a killbox, why leave out all the knives for defense? If you’re armed with a gun, why would you charge the person you’re trying to kill? And so on, and so on…–but despite all its frustrations, I still rather enjoyed this movie. I liked the city setting. I liked the atmosphere and main characters. There were some good kills. The director did a good job keeping this entry from ever getting too cheesy (like previous installments). In general, I think this is the first Scream movie in years that I’ve walked away from and thought, happily, “hey, that was a pretty good time.” So, fuck yeah, I actually recommend this movie for a fun slasherfest evening this weekend. Enjoy.

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