Scream VI (2023) Review

Never been much of a Scream fan to be honest, which is odd considering what little I have seen of the franchise I have liked, and the fact that slashers are probably my favourite horror subgenre. Before this I’d seen only the original Scream and the first season of the Netflix TV show. Again, I liked both, but for some reason never delved any deeper. I didn’t even know this movie was a direct sequel and that Scream V contains a lot of extra context for this one – I’d just assumed it was a ‘Halloween thing’, where the movies are kind of connected, kind of not depending on which one you’re viewing. I was wrong.

And yet, despite lacking any and all context for this film I still enjoyed it. And I think that’s a deciding factor that this is a pretty good film. Sure, I relied a lot on the heavy exposition dumps, but at least I felt as though they served a purpose for me. Now, what to say about Scream IV?

Well Ghost Face is still just a normal couple of dudes who, despite being young and a bit clumsy, are just about as invincible as any other slasher villain until the end of the film. Comes off as tongue-in-cheek more than anything else though, in a good way I mean. Plenty of what you want out of a modern slasher; lots of violence, good creativity, charismatic cast and it even comes with a healthy dose of self-awareness (although it’d hardly be a Scream film if it wasn’t self-aware).

The film pokes fun at conspiracy nuts and the current popular obsession with True Crime. Ghost Face, despite being a horrific person in all his incarnations, is idolised by many people in the world of Scream now, in the same way Ted Bundy and now Jeffery Dahmer have become due to the morbid-sensationalism media has made them synonymous with. It’s all up for critiquing this view of crime and criminals, and wants to highlight how badly this can hurt the victims of those things who seem to be lost. But no, this movie isn’t so lost in it’s social commentary that it isn’t fun.

Slashers, to my mind, are at their best when they’re fun. Walking the scary/fun line is hard, and I will admit that Scream VI isn’t that scary at all. Fun though… Yes. And just because it isn’t scary doesn’t mean there isn’t tension, or that it fails to keep you guessing.

Overall Scream VI was a pretty fun movie, if nothing else. And I can’t fault it for being so, only for not giving me enough goosebumps. But overall, I would recommend Scream VI.