Out this week in cinemas is the latest entry in the Scream franchise, Scream VI. This time around we return to the continuing adventures of Sam (Melissa Barrera), Tara (Jenna Ortega) and their friends. Now situated in New York, the survivors of the previous film are now in college. Unfortunately, waiting in the wings is yet another Ghostface ready to bring chaos to Sam and Tara’s lives once again.
Scream VI is a competent attempt at trying to capitalise on the brilliant legacy of Scream. It’s gory, it’s violent and it looks great. The cinematography is decent and the film has a warm colour to it. Unfortunately, it’s not a particularly interesting story. The choices made with regard to who is killed, who is Ghostface and who survives, rely on you being a fan of Scream V. Which I think we can all agree was a divisive entry in the franchise, to say the least.
You have to care about these characters and frankly apart from Tara I don’t think I cared about anyone in this film. Speaking of Tara, Jenna Ortega is getting to do a lot more in this film and it’s appreciated because she’s a lot of personality to the film. One of the biggest problems is Sam. Melissa Barrera is not giving a good performance. The concept of Sam is still the most interesting part other. A child born from a serial killer having murderous instincts is interesting if done right. Here however it still isn’t played up for what it could be.
From how Sam acts as a character to how the story itself plays out, there is a clear path these latest films could follow, that for some reason they are ignoring far less impressive stories. The reveal of the Ghostface is incredibly hamfisted and underwhelming. Something, that for me at least, has never happened in a Scream film.
Also, the film becomes weirdly mean-spirited when they do the obligatory exposition scene. When Randy’s niece Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) delivers it once again, there is an unnecessary edge to it. She just can’t nail the delivery like Randy and so the scene comes across as something ripped from a CW series.
Ultimately your enjoyment of Scream VI will largely depend on your appreciation of Scream V and its characters. If you’re not a fan, this will likely not be for you even if you enjoyed older entries.
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