Scream 7

 

Director: Kevin Williamson
Starring: Neve Campbell, Isabel May, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Anna Camp, David Arquette, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Mckenna Grace, Asa Germann, Celeste O' Connor, Sam Rechner, Mark Consuelos, Ethan Embry, Tim Simons, Matthew Lillard, Joel McHale, Courtney Cox 
Running Time: 114 min.
Rating: R

★★½ (out of ★★★★)    

While few expected the Scream series to even be watchable this far in, the hiring of directing team Radio Silence and actresses Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega for 2022's Scream and 2023's Scream 6 revitalized a struggling property, resulting in its two best efforts yet. And though a few legacy characters held on, the torch seemed ready to be passed, signaling an even brighter future ahead for the franchise. 

Given this, you'd figure the studio would do anything to extend its streak and facilitate a smooth transition for the saga's next chapter. So of course they let Radio Silence walk, fired Barrera after a public controversy and watched Ortega exit. Now it's not only time to find out if Scream 7 can creatively recalibrate, but whether any actor or filmmaker is bigger than the franchise itself. Financially, we know the answer, as this became the series' highest grossing entry. But its level of quality is a separate issue. 

Going all in with nostalgia, Neve Campbell is back, along with the original's writer/producer Kevin Williamson as director. We also get the returns of Courtney Cox, Matthew Lillard, David Arquette and others in various incarnations often too complicated or ridiculous to fully explain. And an actor being present in the film doesn't necessarily mean their character is, at least in the traditional sense. Unsurprisingly, this feels like a step back, as if the studio just wanted to get it over with to prove they could.  

With the Macher house in Woodsboro now turned into an interactive museum and Airbnb dedicated to Ghostface's killings, Stab superfan Scott (Jimmy Tatro) convinces his reluctant girlfriend Madison (Michelle Randolph) to stay the night. After they find an unexpected guest and chaos erupts, word travels back to Sidney Prescott (Campbell), who's built a new life with teen daughter Tatum (Isabel May) and police chief husband Mark (Joel McHale) in Pine Grove, Indiana. But when Sidney receives a mysterious videocall from Ghostface, she's shocked to see a scarred, middle-aged Stu Macher (Lillard), the presumably dead killer from thirty years earlier. 

Now Tatum, along with boyfriend Ben (Sam Rechner) and classmates Hannah (Mckenna Grace), Chloe (Celeste O' Connor) and Lucas (Asa German) suddenly find themselves in immediate danger. And despite Sidney's tension with Tatum over her refusal to share anything about her traumatic past, mother and daughter must work together to defeat Ghostface, just as a returning Gale Weathers (Cox) arrives to help. Is Stu actually still alive or is there a new killer on the loose? As usual, everyone's a suspect. 

The film's extended cold open feels particularly reliant on the franchise's more obvious tropes, which is likely the point. Still, you can't help but roll your eyes wondering why we're going down this road again after the two visually and narratively superior installments preceding it. It's very much back to basics, and the Macher house, a setting that probably would have packed a bigger punch had it not already been featured in the fifth entry. 

If you can get past the house being open to the public soon after the latest killing spree, Williamson and co-writer Gary Busick sticking to the formula won't seem like such a problem. But the familiar sequence plays out more transparently than usual, full of obvious fake-outs, clunky dialogue and manufactured jump scares. Things quickly improve once the action shifts to Pine Grove, which may as well be Woodsboro 2.0, with a touch of Halloween's Haddonfield thrown in for good measure. 

The concept of local celebrity mom Sidney living her best life and freed from the past works, as does the rift those lingering issues cause with Tatum (who Sidney named after late best friend Tatum Riley). And most of Campbell's scenes opposite Isabel May find the teen wrestling with the shyness and insecurity she feels as the daughter of badass Final Girl Sidney Prescott, who's since become a closed book to those around her. 

What's odd is just how ill prepared and uninformed Tatum is considering the widespread mainstream attention these murders have gotten for decades. Aware she'll always be a target, it's somewhat perplexing Sidney hasn't prepared her daughter for the worst beyond suggesting an emergency go bag Tatum leaves unpacked. Considering the situation, this might be a good time to fill it.

Of course, the big question is whether this really is Stu or a game being perpetrated by a new Ghostface using AI or some other deepfake technology. But considering the script doesn't have much to say about that and it's mainly used as an excuse to bring back legacy characters, its inclusion risks rubbing viewers the wrong way. Whether Stu's alive or not, Lillard's as entertaining as ever, almost making you wish they'd throw logic out the window and just give us what we want, regardless if it makes any sense.    

Williamson does something at around the forty minute mark that has us wondering if we're headed into uncharted territory, before backpedaling with a more traditional approach. And while it's sort of a mess, there are some cleverly staged kill and chase sequences, like a memorable onstage demise during school play rehearsals, as well as a gory bar massacre. If there's a huge disappointment, it's the reduced presence of Roger L. Jackson as the voice of Ghostface, who doesn't figure in nearly as much due to the mechanics of this plot. 

Collectively, the new cast is fine, if lacking a true standout since May understandably monopolizes the film's second half as Tatum. She and everyone else are immediately labeled as potential suspects, especially boyfriend Ben, who's humorously referred to as the "Gen Z Billy Loomis" by returning twins Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding). And while it's great having both back for continuity's sake, the choice to make the siblings fledgling true crime reporters under the tutelage of Cox's Gale is an odd one. We also get a revisitation of her hot and cold relationship with Sidney, as the franchise frenemies work to bury the hatchet following Dewey's (Arquette) death.  

We're all well aware of the rules going into any final reveal, such as the notion we can't trust any prior death, no matter how conclusive it appears. Or the prevalence of multiple Ghostfaces who share a connective tissue with the series' overall mythology. This time, a lack of the latter cements it as one of the more lackluster endings in the franchise. If there's a saving grace, it's the ability to read it as some sort of meta commentary on the fanbase's obsession with Sidney, and by extension, Campbell herself. But that's a reach.  

The good news is that Campbell gets a chance to shine again, emerging as one of the stronger aspects of a flawed entry that commits to featuring her character as its centerpiece. Given the crazy circumstances, this is better than it has any right being, but also a warning of what happens when a horror franchise retraces its steps in search of the same result. For the first time in a while, fatigue sets in, with Scream 7 more closely resembling the franchise's own self-referential Stab movies than the two previous sequels that put it back on the map.