Scream 7
Review by Mark Woodring
If you’re a fan of the Scream franchise, then you know more than you likely wanted to know about the controversy surrounding the franchise for both Scream VI and this year’s Scream 7.
Far, far more.
I enjoy the movies as much as the next person, and even I feel like I know more than I should need to about this stuff.
But here we are…
**NOTE: This post may be updated with audio once we actually have the chance to talk about it. Until then, you can read Mark’s review below. Remember, you can listen to all our discussions of this and every other movie directly over on ACAST. Stay tuned.**
114 Minutes, Rated R
Written by Kevin Williamson, Guy Busick, James Vanderbilt
Directed by Kevin Williamson
Synopsis:
When a new Ghostface killer emerges in the town where Sidney Prescott has built a new life, her darkest fears are realized as her daughter becomes the next target.
Having not been granted an advanced screening of Scream 7, I took a couple hours on my day off last Friday to trudge to the theater to see it with a paying audience. Of course Ryan and I will be talkin about the movie soon, but I finally feel like I need to get some things off my chest.
First, the movie itself:
The Scream franchise has always been a meta-narrative. That was part of the initial appeal, and it had managed to keep that general formula from becoming its flaw instead of its strength.
Until now.
Scream 7 comes out of the gate in full self-referential mode, beginning with a “return” to Stu Macher’s house, now a campy Airbnb dedicated to entertaining fans of the Stab films and Sidney Prescott’s traumatic life.
That ends as well as you can expect, and reels in the first Red Herring of the film.
It then moves directly into the “boyfriend through the bedroom window” callback.
And it doesn’t get any better from there.
Unlike the previous six films, where the film goes out of its way to provide just enough barely circumstantial evidence to keep the audience guessing throughout, Scream 7 throws that away in favor of an inane plot involving Stu Macher being alive and/or an AI creation, or even a kind of “Cult of Stu” situation, none of which is remotely entertaining in terms of the greater franchise.
By the time we get to the eventual Ghostface reveal(s), the motivations feel boring and are incompletely presented and laughable.
The domestic life of Sidney Prescott is boring. She works in a coffee shop and raises a daughter who hates that she is over-protective because she only knows about what Sidney went through because of the Stab movies.
It’s forced and unconvincing.
Now let’s talk about the rest of the hubbub surrounding Scream.
First, Neve Campbell did not return for Scream VI due to financial disagreements.
Typical Hollywood BS, but that bit of fan disappointment was compounded by the fact that in the wake of Scream VI, star Melissa Barrera raised the ire of some viewers by protesting about the Israel-Hamas war following the October 7 attacks.
Whether you call her protests “pro Palestine,” “pro Hamas,” or “anti Israel,” the public blowback was enough to spook the studio (Spyglass/Paramount) into firing her (with co-star Jenna Ortega leaving shortly thereafter due to “scheduling conflicts” due to Wednesday for Netflix) and forcing them to retool the upcoming (now released) Scream 7, finally settling their financial dispute with Neve Campbell in order to do so.
Which only reminded people of the fact they had basically ignored her for Scream VI.
Yeah, it was a mess.
But what does any of that really have to do with the quality of Scream 7? I mean, the calls for protests about the film came from both sides:
- “Boycott Scream 7 because they fired Melissa!”
- “Boycott Scream 7 because they only brought Neve back for money!”
- “See the film 10x to support Neve!”
- “See the film 10x to protest Melissa’s views!”
Dumb.
To be clear, whether I agree or disagree with Melissa’s political views, I quite enjoyed Scream V and Scream VI and her performance in them.
Do I agree with the studio not paying Neve and forcing her to sit out Scream VI? No, but it’s a business decision, and those are made every single day in Hollywood. Rarely do they work out the way the studio hopes, however.
Am I glad Neve is back for Scream 7? Absolutely.
Except the complete re-working of the script because of the studio’s choices led to the inexorable result: a not-good entry for the reasons I outlined above.
Was I shocked when Scream 7 made nearly $100 Million on it’s opening weekend? Yes.
I had expected it to win and do good numbers opening weekend, but THAT number was not on my radar at all.
So if you’re inclined to like the Scream films and my observations haven’t put you off it, I hope you enjoy it.
Just enjoy it or not for what it is, not for what outside garbage people tell you to like or hate it for.
Scream 7 is in theaters now and stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Isabel May, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Anna Camp, Joel McHale, Celeste O’Connor, Sam Rechner, Asa Germann, Mckenna Grace, and Roger Jackson as “the Voice.”
And remember, if the BEST thing you can say about a movie is that it’s “visually stunning,” then they’ve done something wrong.
Please don’t forget to LIKE, SHARE, and FOLLOW us on:
- Facebook (@vsmoviepodcast)
- X (@vsmoviepodcast)
- Instagram (@visuallystunningmoviepodcast)
- Threads (@visuallystunningmoviepodcast)
- YouTube (@visuallystunningmoviepodcast)
- Don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to our audio wherever you listen to podcasts (https://shows.acast.com/vsmoviepodcast)
And please, if you like what we do, consider helping us keep on entertaining you. You can use this handy link:
Or, you could check out the merch in Our Store:
Not only will you be helping us out if you pick up some merch, you get cool stuff to wear around (including the coveted WTFWT? logo!)
