Scream VI is bloodier and more gruesome than its predecessor, but that does not make up for an average plot and rushed first act.
This movie is a tale of two halves for me. The first half was pretty messy, with a lot of new characters introduced and events taking place across multiple different locations. The New York setting created a multitude of interesting set pieces, but the spanning locations result in the movie being slightly unfocused at times. The film rushed through this introduction, which resulted in poor pacing. The second half was an intense, paranoia-inducing sequence that had me on the edge of my seat. As a whole, the movie worked well but could have been much better.
The best parts about Scream VI are the characters and the action. All of our returning cast is fantastic, and their chemistry works so well together. They are so great on screen that I feel as though the film does not really need the legacy characters, as they seem somewhat unnecessary. Our new cast members do fine in their roles, but they are not nearly as interesting as our core four. But that is fine in a slasher, as their role is to be carved up by Ghostface. This film is especially brutal, with some particularly gruesome kills and fantastic effects work to show the remains of our victims. There are a few kills that were top-notch and will go down as some of my favorites in the franchise. Scream VI is the first film for me that genuinely had me stressed. There are a few scenes that just linger for a moment too long and create an unsettling feeling in me that I thought worked really well. My favorite scene was the subway sequence, as my heart was pounding for genuinely two minutes straight.
Other than the rushed first act, my only complaint has to do with the ending and some of the unbelievability in terms of our cast's survival. Although I do not think the final reveal was as bad as most reviewers make it out to be, I still think it could have been slightly better. I had one killer pegged from the beginning, but the other was a surprise, so I think they did a good job keeping the audience in the dark. Our characters take quite the beating in this film, with some being stabbed nearly a dozen times and still somehow being able to survive. It isn’t a huge deal, but it did take me out of the film a bit. Also, I spent nearly ten minutes of the movie trying to figure out how the hell Kirby was alive; I could have sworn she died in Scream 4.
Overall, Scream VI was a welcomed addition to the franchise, even if it was not as good as Scream (2022). I do think my expectations were a bit high from the initial reactions, which may have led me to being slightly let down.
Score: 68% Verdict: Good