Ghostface in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group's "Scream VI."

Scream VI

Media Screening Review

When you move to a new city to start afresh, you don’t expect your torrid past to follow you. After the mayhem of Scream 5, the survivors of the Ghostface murders leave Woodsboro to settle in New York to live a ‘normal’ life. Samantha Carpenter is Tara’s older protective sister sharing a building with siblings Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin. However, when copycat Ghostface murders land in the ‘city that never sleeps’ during Halloween, the foursome begins to worry. 

This discovery leads to trust within their inner circle being questioned, with each person suspecting the other, including Chad’s roommate Ethan Landry who seems to disappear at the most convenient time. Following the latest bloodied murders, Sam is labelled the suspect and ridiculed because she repeatedly stabbed her boyfriend Richie in Scream 5 after realising he was one of the Ghostface killers. Also, it doesn’t help she is the illegitimate daughter of serial killer Billy Loomis. 

A Ghostface shrine is discovered in a building, making the mysterious killer’s identity more prominent. The team includes reporter Gale Weathers, FBI special agent Kirby Reed who was stabbed in the previous sequel but survived and Detective Bailey, whose daughter Quinn, the core four’s housemate, succumbed to the antagonist, seeking to uncover who they are. With their backs against the wall, each person is cautious of their peer and the fight to survive. 

L-r, Melissa Barrera (“Sam Carpenter”) , Jenna Ortega (“Tara Carpenter”), Jasmin Savoy Brown (“Mindy Meeks-Martin”) and Mason Gooding (“Chad Meeks-Martin”) star in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”

As the original film and sequels centred on lead character Sidney Prescott from her teenage years to adulthood, Scream VI follows Tara, Chad and Mindy to college, with Sam trying to deal with the aftermath of Woodboro through therapy. A few pun references on the workings of scary movies give you belly laughs, and a slight touch of romance and love interests lighten up the horror and bloodthirsty murder shenanigans. Ghostface’s abrupt appearances make you jump out of your seat while focused on where they could be next.

A thoroughly thought-out and outstanding slasher movie directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillet, it enhances Wes Craven’s directorship of the original movie and gives you a fast-paced action horror film with some comedy inputs. The important thing is it keeps the slasher’s identity hidden until the end, providing the ultimate surprise and a story behind the implications. You may find yourself cursing at the killer as they claim more victims than one could count on one hand. 

Hayden Panettiere (“Kirby Reed”), left, Jasmin Savoy Brown (“Mindy Meeks-Martin”) star in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”

Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega reprise their roles as Samantha and Tara Carpenter, with Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown returning as Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin. From the original and sequel Scream films, Courtney Cox, who miraculously survived each one, plays reporter Gale Weathers. Hayden Panettiere returns as Kirby Reed, Dermot Mulroney plays Detective Bailey, Liana Liberato, Devyn Nekoda, and Jack Champion are housemates Quinn Bailey, Anika Kayoko and Ethan Landry.

www.screammovie.co.uk

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