“Scream 7” is a Joke at Your Expense (Movie Review)

The Scream franchise has endured through the decades thanks to a combination of its clever skewering of the horror genre and the dyed-in-the-wool horror credentials behind it all. It really cannot be overstated just how much of a match made in heaven the initial creative team of Kevin Williamson as writer and Wes Craven as director was, combining this meta-postmodern lens with Craven’s masterful horror craft.

In the years since then, the franchise’s quality has ebbed and flowed, and creative teams have evolved, but at its core, the franchise has, at the very least, attempted to keep that unique balance at the forefront. This has not only separated it from other long-running slasher franchises but has also continuously pushed the series to evolve in unexpected ways.

Unfortunately, Scream 7 fails on just about every front, discarding any attempt at broader meta commentary on the horror genre and any attempt at evolution or growth. Instead, Scream 7 is an entirely insular affair, an installment whose only references are to other Scream movies. The result is an altogether unsatisfying experience.

TOP FIVE THINGS ABOUT “SCREAM 7”

5. WORST: Getting the Band Back Together

After previous installments introduced new characters and new creative teams behind the lens, things unraveled in spectacular fashion, leaving the franchise without its new stars and promising filmmakers. In a last-ditch effort to make it all look intentional, the studio went running back to Neve Campbell and Kevin Williamson, the original star and writer, respectively, of the first films. They presumably backed a dump truck full of cash up to both of their doorsteps and begged them to return and make a film as quickly as possible.

This, perhaps unsurprisingly, has resulted in a slapdash rush job that feels as though it was concocted on the fly and off the cuff in nearly every way. Instead of developing new ideas, Williamson and company opt to dredge up old material, from unused Scream 3 concepts to from-the-grave returning characters. As such, Scream 7 plays like a reunion tour that goes incredibly sour from the start.

4. WORST: The Melodrama

I can genuinely say I was entirely unprepared for just how absolutely dull so much of Scream 7 is. To be clear, I do not begrudge people like Campbell or Williamson for returning to the franchise and getting that bag. If that is their prerogative, good for them. But Williamson, once hailed as one of the sharpest and most clever writers in the horror genre, is so clearly phoning it in here that it becomes difficult to sit through.

So much of this film, from the atrociously ugly lighting to the paper bag in a rainstorm limp writing to the lackluster performances, feels like watching the kind of made-for-TV movie you would expect to see playing on a television screen inside a Scream movie, not an actual Scream movie.

3. The Cast Seems Like They’re Having Fun

Look, I think the only joy I got at any point during this film was from vicariously feeling like I was at least happy that so many talented folks seemed to be having a semi-good time and were being paid well. This especially goes out to Joel McHale and (spoilers, I guess, but he’s been in the marketing) Matthew Lillard, who is clearly having the time of his life hamming it up as Stu once more, even if his inclusion in the film is one of the worst things about it, narratively speaking.

2. WORST: What Even is Scream if it Just References Scream?

I cannot understand, for the life of me, why Scream 7 outright refuses to engage with the horror genre at large or the kind of commentary that made this franchise such a pop cultural staple in the first place. There is literally a scene in which one of the characters begins to recite new “rules,” only to be shushed by another character and never return to the idea.

Instead, this sequel positions the franchise as a snake eating its own tail. Rather than referencing other horror films, audiences are given ludicrously sentimental callbacks to lines from the first film, Sidney’s jacket from the second, or Stu’s house yet again. The worst part is that it all results in a movie you have essentially seen before. Nearly every other scene is cribbed from an earlier Scream installment, and every idea feels like something they found molding in the back of the fridge, reheated, and served anyway. Awful stuff.

1. WORST: The Killer Reveal

The reveal of the killer in any murder mystery is a make-or-break moment. In the past, the Scream films understood this well. The identity of the killer and their motivations typically provide the story’s thematic core, recontextualizing everything that came before in a way that either elevates the film or sends it off the rails.

Scream 7 delivers the most nonsensical, incoherent, and downright ridiculous killer reveal the franchise has attempted. Not only does it fail to make sense to anyone with a semi-functioning brain, but it also actively worsens an already struggling film. Rather than building on previously woven threads or planted seeds, the reveal lands with blunt force and no payoff. It does not feel earned or inevitable. It simply happens. By the end, you are left feeling foolish for having sat through all the AI-driven and nostalgia-addled hijinks that the film mistakes for storytelling.

RGM GRADE

(F)

Scream 7 is a total trainwreck of a movie. In so many ways, it is the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker of this franchise; a film that attempts to trade out new ideas for old ones and manages to deliver the most abhorrently atrocious entry in the whole series in the process.

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