“Scream” movies are like pizza — when they’re good, they’re great, and even when they’re not as good, they’re still satisfying. Thankfully, “Scream VI” is a tasty slice. Even though with each new installment, the “Scream” franchise creeps closer and closer to the fictional in-movie “Stab” franchise that these films are ostensibly skewering, writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick keep the blade sharp, while directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett bring a brawny, bruising and bloody style to this “requel sequel.”
This is the second “Scream” movie not directed by Wes Craven (“Ready or Not” directors Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett took over with the previous “legasequel”), and the first without franchise star Neve Campbell as Sydney Prescott. While it’s a shame that Campbell didn’t return due to an inadequate salary offer, it was time to let Sydney ride off into the sunset, to release her from Ghostface-chasing duty. There’s a new “Scream” queen in town — Melissa Barrera — and she stabs back.
This time, the Woodsboro crew of most recent Ghostface survivors are in New York City — one could say it’s “Ghostface Takes Manhattan.” Tara (Jenna Ortega) is attending fictional Blackmore University, trying to live a normal life but with her overprotective big sis Sam (Barrera) in tow. As usual, the film opens with a call from Ghostface, who would like to play a game, this time elevating the horror nerd trivia to the level of the ivory tower, with references to a 20th-century slasher film studies class taught at Blackmore. From the beginning, it’s a Ghostface inception, the copycats folding into themselves, unclear who is targeting whom and why.
