Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Marred in controversy following the ludicrous decision to fire star Melissa Barrera, the seventh installment of the long-running Scream franchise already fosters a bad taste in one’s mouth before the film even begins. The subsequent exits of director Christopher Landon and Scream (2022) and Scream VI star Jenna Ortega only further muddied the waters and rendered Scream 7, for many, the least anticipated and most likely to be avoided Ghostface Killer sequel. Emerging from a creative overhaul, which saw the original Scream writer Kevin Williamson step into the director’s chair and series star Neve Campbell return after a controversial exclusion from the previous outing, Scream 7 hits theaters and disappointingly confirms the worst: Scream has lived long enough to become Stab – a hollow, generic slasher devoid of the sharp meta commentary that made this franchise so notable in the first place.
Scream 7 pivots away from the Carpenter sisters back to the series’ resident final girl Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), now living a peaceful life in the town of Pine Grove with her daughter Tatum (Isabel May). As one would expect from a Scream movie, peace is short-lived for Sidney as a new Ghostface Killer with ties to the past descends upon the Prescott family and puts her daughter in their crosshairs.
The comparison of Scream 7 to Stab is an unfortunate, yet apt one. The slasher series kickstarted by director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson has always featured compelling protagonists, a creepy masked killer, and fun whodunnits to unravel, but what set it apart from the deluge of generic slasher fare was what it had to say about the genre it existed in. Over the course of six films, the franchise has deconstructed the slasher subgenre and explored the relationship between real-world violence and violent media, the sensationalism of media, the exploitation culture of Hollywood, the lengths people will go to for social media validation, toxic fandoms, and obsession with nostalgia. The new film, much like its predecessor, seems perplexingly disinterested in tapping into such meta-awareness, thus reducing Scream 7 to the very thing it once commentated on and poked fun at.
Williamson’s film tricks one into thinking, at least initially, that Scream 7 will feature a degree of topical commentary. Early in the film, Sidney is taunted by videos of Stu Macher, Billy Loomis’ accomplice from the original Scream played by Matthew Lillard. Sidney is unsure if the Stu she is talking to is real, meaning he survived the events of the 1996 movie, or if he is some kind of AI-generated deepfake. Given the rapid speed with which AI is encroaching on the film industry, the idea of a Scream movie touching on this technology is certainly interesting. Unfortunately, the film is entirely absent of anything meaningful to say about AI, instead using the technology as a gimmicky plot device to drive forward a predictable mystery.
A contrast to Scream (2022), which reflected on modern audiences’ obsession with nostalgia, Scream 7 is blissfully unaware of how over-eager it is to jank on nostalgia-laden heart strings. From a decently suspenseful prologue taking place at Stu Macher’s old home and onward, a reference to a previous Scream movie lurks around every corner of Williamson’s film. While nostalgia can be an effective tool if used delicately, it is wielded insensitively and even hilariously here.
Perhaps no moment exemplifies the mishandling of nostalgia as much as a scene early on, which sees Sidney’s daughter Tatum wear her mother’s old leather jacket, much to Sidney’s dismay. Clearly, the scene intends to evoke memories of Sidney’s past horrors and foreshadow her daughter’s gradual understanding of her mother’s traumatic past, but it falls flat on its face. Who remembers the leather jacket Sidney wore in an old Scream movie? Certainly not us, and the same can probably be said for even the most fervent of Scream fans.
Whether she wears her mother’s leather jacket or not, Tatum Prescott plays a significant role in the new film. Brought to life by an entirely non-descript performance from Isabel May, Tatum is just the tip of the iceberg that is a remarkably uninteresting new ensemble of characters. Not a single new character in the film compels or intrigues in the manner that Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega’s Carpenter sisters did in the previous two movies. Although largely due to thin characterization, this is also attributable to stiff acting across the board, resulting in personality-devoid characters populating a personality-devoid film. The sole exception to this is Matthew Lillard, who, as is always the case, elevates even the most mediocre of projects with even the briefest of appearances.
After her absence from Scream VI, Neve Campbell returns to the franchise in incredibly underwhelming fashion. While a side player in Scream (2022), Sidney is the clear lead of Scream 7. And yet, despite this being the first Scream film she has spearheaded since 2000’s Scream 3, Sidney has a shockingly weak and underdeveloped character arc. There are strands of Jamie Lee Curtis’ Laurie Strode from Halloween (2018) here, but the film never commits to actually exploring the lingering effects of Sidney’s past encounters with Ghostface Killers. As a result, any excitement regarding Campbell’s return quickly dissipates and leaves one wishing for a continuation of the stories of Barrera and Ortega’s characters.
Speaking of the Carpenter sisters, Scream 7 strangely makes derogatory references to the previous film throughout its runtime. Jabs are frequently made about Sidney’s absence from the events in New York City and how things are better this time around given her return. One would think that screenwriters Williamson and Guy Busick would want to wipe the slate clean from the previous two films given Barrera and Ortega’s exits, but it seems like the opposite is true. The duo are overly comfortable making constant mention of a previous movie that, while certainly flawed, is markedly better than the current outing.
Despite its host of flaws, however, Scream 7 retains a level of engagement for the bulk of its duration. Director Kevin Williamson clearly knows how to stage and pace intense sequences, whether it be slower scenes in which Ghostface is creeping in the background or frenetic, fast-paced chases between the masked slasher and his prospective victim. As a generic slasher, the film is admittedly intense and suspenseful at times. But, as a Scream film, it’s a hollow shell of what’s come before it.
As the film becomes increasingly tiresome as it progresses, things go from bad to worse with a climax and killer reveal that is easily the weakest of the entire franchise. The whodunnit itself fails to spark much intrigue as the pool of suspects reduces to a point where it’s fairly easy to predict who the Ghostface Killer is this time around. But the reveal transcends predictability to absurd territory with startlingly dull and underwhelming revelations and motivations for the killer. An already flawed movie puts salt in the wound before its credits roll.
VERDICT: 4.5/10
Scream 7 confirms the worst – Scream has become Stab. Devoid of the meta commentary that made the franchise unique in the first place, the film includes AI as a gimmicky plot device without having anything to say about it (it even feels like it was the product of AI prompts rather than actual filmmaking). As a generic slasher, it’s well staged and suspenseful at times. But, as a Scream film, it’s a hollow shell of what’s come before it. Over-eager to pull on nostalgia-laden heart strings and featuring the most ridiculous Ghostface Killer reveal of the entire franchise, this is a creative low point of a once great franchise.
