Scream 6
Really high highs and really low lows
Scream 6 had a ton of parts that could have added up to the greatest Scream movie since the original, but sadly there’s too many aspects that severely hold it back. On a bright note, it has the most violent killer of the franchise, it has some very quippy, meta dialogue, and finally one of the expert intros in the franchise. Critically, there is some explicit strains of logic and predictability, a unique performance on the reveal, and some unoriginal ideas.
As the usual way to go is bad news first, I’ll start with the gripes I had with the film. I’ll begin with the aspect that took me out of the film the most, the unique performance from Dermot Mulroney. Off rip I would like to say that I love Mulroney as an actor and I believe he is a great performer and screen presence. I think he is phenomenal as the New York City detective for the first about half of the film, funnily enough that’s when the rest of the movie falls off for me as well. The first thing that really stands out to me is his line, “You fuck with my family… you die.” It felt pretty on the nose that he was the killer after that point. Then during the big reveal he was playing it extremely comedically, which is fine in this franchise i.e. Mickey(Scream 2), Jill(Scream 4). It can be done properly, but those two were playing psychotically to match the message of their respective motives. Mickey was driven by an obsession with movies, extremely on point for the Scream Franchise, and Jill was driven by an obsession with fame and jealousy of Sidney which is a unique commentary on celebrity culture in modern day. Mulroney was playing psychotic only to be comedic, which creates no separation from any of the other ghost faces of the franchise. The only argument you can make is comically obsessed with family, but that was already done by Billy’s Mother(Scream 2). Every line reading felt extremely force and over the top from him, not only in tense moments, but also in his day to day. Finally, the moment when Sam realizes she is out of bullets, and he also has a gun(loaded), he decides to just charge at her? Maybe he wanted to be torturous and slice her up. It just simply doesn’t work because he could shoot her in the leg and incapacitate her. Where Scream 1 succeeds is its comic nature. But it has a completely different comedic approach than this film. This film is a horror comedy, Scream is a horror commentary. The humor comes form the satire in the original and that’s why it works so successfully, this film tries to make a joke out of the horror, and that’s simply not the point of the franchise. While I think Mulroney was fine casting, the decisions he makes and the writing of the character just didn’t work out.
A slightly smaller issue, but something that really jumps out at me is the directors of the last two movies drawing way too much influence in their reveals from the first trilogy. In Scream, the killer was the love interest. In Scream 5, the killer was the love interest. What Scream 5 does well is pointing that out and how that would be too easy, therein flipping that on our heads. It was effective in the first film; however, They double down in Scream 6 and make the killer the family a la Scream 2. This makes me really excited that Kevin Williams is returning to write and direct Scream 7. Also… Mathew Lillard. Duh.
The stakes didn’t feel very high by the end of the film. I pretty much felt like the entirety of our “core four” and their direct extensions were practically indestructible. While Chad took over the Dewey role practically so I guess I can strain credulity on that, I felt like Gail became pretty indestructible as well. So if the creators didn’t want to follow the parallel to Scream 5 and kill off another member of our original 3 characters, at least Kirby should have died? It felt like so much damage to everyone just for none of them to die.
I do realize (if anyone(or whatever reason is still reading this) you probably think that I hate this movie. But there was so much shit in this movie that tickled that spot in my brain that makes the first one my favorite film of all time. To start, the ghost face in this film is the only one I have genuinely been scared of. He truly is imposing, and ballsy, as shit. Something that holds this franchise back a little bit is that there can’t really be creativity in the kills when it is so imbued into the character to be using a knife. Ghostface actually uses a gun a couple times in this film and it was fucking awesome. The setting being flipped to New York as opposed to wine country Woodsboro, California was so unbelievably refreshing. The formulaic environment had gotten pretty stale even for me to be honest. The set pieces such as the bodega, the apartments with the ladder, and the subway is the most tension I’ve felt -besides the cop car sequence in Scream 2. The tension built, primarily during the first half was palpable.
Moreover, the intro sequence of this film is probably my favorite since the original. Samara Weaving was the perfect casting for the scream queen for the opener. Perfectly immersed us into the New York setting, as well as the new Era by using dating apps. The opening was uniquely subversive by not only having the killing be right in public, but unmasking the killer immediately. Then flipping that on its head with a game of hot or cold. The opening was pretty flawless besides, sadly, the fact that it pretty much immediately makes you sus out the police officer, because who else would know so much about Greg.
Invincibility and balancing deaths and life will forever be the issue with the Scream franchise. It’s a shame that something that has so many great aspects and moments gets held back because of formula. I think that ties back into the message of the first one. The first Scream was made to mock the repetitive nature, the endless sequels, and the unoriginality throughout many franchises. I am well aware that as we get further into the Scream franchise, that mockery and that message loses itself more and more; however, it hasn’t been referenced since the second film, within the first 20 minutes. Fuck Jaime Kennedy, but his line, “Why would they wanna make a sequel, sequels suck” has never been more poignant.