"Scream VI" ups the ante as a relentlessly thrilling, heartfelt, funny sixth entry

Scream VI (2023)

For a true-blue “Scream” fan, expectations were exceeded with last year’s “requel.” Titled “Scream,” the fifth entry was a rewarding update that respected what Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson crafted but planted the seeds for something new. With such a quick turnaround mirroring the 1996 original to 1997’s equally subversive and even more self-referential sequel “Scream 2,” directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and screenwriters James Vanderbilt & Guy Busick have somehow even topped their original with their sequel. Through creative freedom and being fans themselves, they continue to pay off what groundwork they set up and truly make this sixth installment their own (even with this being the first “Scream” film to give Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott a much-needed break with Mark and the girls). Shaking up the stakes in another location other than the fictional town of Woodsboro and amping up the relentlessly thrilling and violent slasher set-pieces in between heartfelt, funny character interplay, “Scream VI” kicks so much ass. 

The pre-title murder sequence does what the best ones do, subverting expectations and even pulling off something unprecedented from the previous five films. Where this one stacks up against others in the franchise is near the top. From there, the saga continues in New York City after new girl Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and younger sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) get the hell out of Woodsboro. Still struggling with the darkness of her true bloodline—she is the illegitimate daughter to one of the original film’s killers, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich)—Sam is even more overprotective of Tara, a Blackmore University college student, and understandably so, even in a busy city. Surviving twins Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) are also in the city as students. Of course, another psychopath in the Ghostface costume emerges, having followed them there to finish off “the core four.” Without Sidney and the now-late Dewey Riley, they still have Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), who’s back to her ruthless ways, but find a new consultant in Detective Bailey (Dermot Mulroney) and Woodsboro survivor Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), an FBI agent from Atlanta, to find out who's behind that mask and hopefully execute him/her/them. Who can they trust?

As Randy Meeks' horror-expert niece explains in another pricelessly delivered monologue, “Scream VI” goes the “bigger and better” route, upping the ante in every way. Following “Scream 2” and “Scream 3” by venturing outside of Woodsboro, setting the story in New York City (played by Montreal) inspires so many exciting possibilities for characters to run and hide. The Ghostface killer is even more ruthlessly stabby and brutal, and no character is safe from a knife wound (okay, not always true). Filmmaking collective Radio Silence knows exactly what they’re doing to the point of even rivaling the breathless chase set-pieces of “Scream 2” in terms of jittery tension and staging in a hustling, bustling city. An attack in a bodega is incredibly intense and panicky. A ladder escape across apartment windows is harrowing and expertly staged. A sequence set on a subway, crowded with New Yorkers in Halloween costumes (can you guess who some of them are dressed as?), is increasingly tense in its use of misdirection, blocking, and lighting. A phone call-cum-chase between Gale and Ghostface also delivers the goods, and the big finale (“Third act bloodbath, check! Killer reveal, check!") is extremely satisfying.

After just one movie, these new characters now feel like family we can invest in, similar to the dynamic of the “legacy characters.” Melissa Barrera made such an impression as Sam, making her into a fierce, complex, sympathetic heroine, but she’s even stronger here with an unconditional love for her sister and a bloodthirsty ferocity, just like her father, dying to come out. Barrera and the engaging, charismatic Jenna Ortega are both forces to be reckoned with, and they get so much more screen time together to establish their once-estranged relationship to be closer than ever and how they each handle their trauma; we are with them every step of the way. Each member of the “Core Four” (as Chad endearingly coins them) feels even more comfortable in their roles and with each other this time around, and both Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding remain lovable standouts with more ample time on screen. Several newcomers make distinct impressions, including Liana Liberato, as Sam and Tara’s “sex-positive” roommate Quinn; Devyn Nekoda, who brings a natural spark as Mindy’s girlfriend Anika; Jack Champion, as Chad’s virginal roommate Ethan; and Josh Segarra (who’s so likably goofy on TV’s “The Other Two”), endearing as Danny, Sam’s cute but mysterious secret boyfriend in the same apartment building. Samara Weaving brings pitch-perfect comic timing in the subtlest of expressions and gets to use her native Aussie accent as a slasher film studies professor; Dermot Mulroney is authoritative but appropriately off-kilter as Detective Bailey; and Courteney Cox (while allowing more room for the new characters) still owns every scene she has as Gale Weathers. Finally, the return of “Scream 4” favorite Kirby Reed is warranted here, not only giving a left-for-dead survivor another chance but allowing Hayden Panettiere to have fun with more punchy Kirby-isms and evolve the character from her trauma.

James Vanderbilt & Guy Busick’s screenplay is even more character-driven, whip-smart, cleverly verbose, and genre-savvy. Along with the meta humor, there are up-to-the-minute shout-outs to Letterboxd and the “Stu Macher is alive” rumors. Quiet, sensitive character moments are aplenty and deftly blend with the ensuing violence to make us care that much more. A true horror-fan (and real-life survivor) “favorite sequel” exchange between Mindy and Kirby is wonderful, as is a heart-to-heart between Sam and Gale and Gale’s spiky, playful banter with Kirby. Other grace notes include familiar music themes that could elicit tears and a few sly little Easter Eggs (like “Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan” playing on TV and a “Friday the 13th Part 2” homage, not to mention the killer’s old theater shrine of franchise memorabilia). There are also some visually inspired flourishes to retain the threat of Ghostface, like a simple but gasp-worthy shot of the killer being seen in an apartment window across the way or Ghostface’s entrance in front of a frost-glass door that’s very reminiscent of Cruella De Vil’s entrance in the animated “101 Dalmatians.”

If 2022’s “Scream” was daring enough to comment on its own toxic movie fans who could take their preciousness to murder-happy levels to course-correct their favorite franchise, “Scream VI” is an extension of that, but leaner, meaner, bloodier, more visceral, and so exciting. That is saying something when even the longest "Scream" movie feels refined and tightly paced without a wasted moment but never feeling rushed, either. It doesn’t break every rule but still does everything a “Scream” sequel—and just a damn good movie—should. It strikes that special Craven-Williamson tonal balance of laughs and terror, while never forgetting there’s an actual human life on the receiving end of Ghostface’s knife. Even when taking off my “super-fan” glasses, “Scream” still has yet to clap out as one of the most consistent franchises. In the form of “Scream VI,” it’s fresh and thriving and should leave anyone elated.

Grade: A -

Paramount Pictures is releasing "Scream VI" (123 min.) in theaters on March 10, 2023.