By Glenn Kay, For the Sun
This week sees the release of Scream VII, the latest sequel in the long-running franchise. In fact, it’s safe to say that this movie is the biggest release of the week. Unfortunately, just like the previous instalment, the movie isn’t being screened for the press. So, it seems like a decent time to catch readers up of the franchise and its storied past.
I am no spring chicken, and as such I remember when the original Scream (1996) first arrived at cinemas. It was produced at a period when horror movies, a hugely popular genre through the late 1970s and 1980s, had seemingly died out. The screenplay was by a young Kevin Williamson, and featured a group of frightened teens being terrorized by a masked killer that became known as “Ghostface.”
What set this film apart was the expert direction by Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Serpent and the Rainbow), its memorably thrilling set pieces, clever dialogue and meta references to other genre flicks like Halloween (as well as Craven’s own features), and great performances from a cast including Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Skeet Ulrich, Jamie Kennedy, Rose McGowan and Drew Barrymore. The characters were memorable, and the film was frightening while also possessing a sharp supply of dark humor.
The movie was a massive success and deserved all the attention it garnered. Suddenly, other unproduced screenplays and projects by Williamson (including I Know What You Did Last Summer and the Dawson’s Creek television series) were greenlighted, alongside Scream 2 (1997), which was released the following year. This follow-up also featured Craven as director and Williamson as writer. It transferred its lead character (played by Campbell) from high school to college, where a spree of copycat killings took place following the release of Stab, a movie based on the events of the original film.
It wasn’t quite as strong as the original, but was a decent follow-up which featured survivors and notable new cast members like Timothy Olyphant, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Laurie Metcalf, Jada Pinkett Smith, Liev Schreiber, Portia De Rossi, Heather Graham, Luke Wilson and more. The film managed to deliver a couple of unexpected twists and commentary on horror sequels.
By the time Scream 3 (2000) rolled around, there was already some tiredness and backlash towards the series. Despite this, the movie actually holds up quite well. This time out, a copycat killer has appeared in Hollywood, targeting the cast and makers of a Stab sequel. The bloodshed forces the protagonist out of hiding as she attempts to help the police.
The tone of this effort was more comedic, satirizing trilogies in the process. Wes Craven, star Campbell and a couple of classic cast members returned, along with newcomers Parker Posey, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, Matt Keeslar, Emily Mortimer, Patrick Warburton, Jenny McCarthy, Heather Matarazzo, Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes, not to mention other familiar faces. Craven once again returned as director, and while a new scribe was responsible for this follow-up, there are many memorable chills involving the lead character being hunted through sets and recreation of locations from the original story. It actually holds up better than most remember and provides a nice finale to the series.
But the issue with these types of pictures is that they’re never really over. More than a decade later, Craven, original screenwriter Williamson, Campbell and a few other cast members from the series were called back for Scream 4 (2011). Williamson’s new screenplay took the action back to the original town and featured the main character’s teenage cousin as the presumed target of a copycat killer.
This effort satirized remakes and, like the previous installments, deserves accolades for its casting, which updated its original characters in clever ways and added Emma Roberts, Anthony Anderson, Hayden Panettiere, Alison Brie, Mary McDonnell, Adam Brody, Rory Culkin, Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell and many more to the series. It was an unexpectedly compelling follow-up, and director Craven noted that the only reason he returned as director was because Williamson’s script was so strong. Indeed, the final product was a surprise, and also featured an unexpected reveal and clever dispatching of the main villain. No more sequels were planned, with this entry again serving as a fitting close.
But of course, a fifth entry arrived in the form of Scream (2022). By now, original director Craven had passed away and Williamson was no longer involved. New writers and directors had taken the reins, opting to focus on “requels” as the basis of their commentary. While it was a hit and earned strong reviews, this reviewer had issues with it.
This film wasn’t particularly kind to its legacy characters, and despite a good cast (including new, talented cast members like Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, future Anora Oscar-winner Mikey Madison, Jack Quaid and Mason Gooding) it didn’t possess Craven’s charm or sharpness, instead feeling repetitive and more like a rehash, as it once again returned the story to the original setting. Another problem that couldn’t be helped was that it was shot during the COVID-19 pandemic (you’ll see a distinct lack of background performers). The movie also looked significantly less-polished than all of its predecessors.
Scream VI (2023) has its share of flaws, but the New York setting added some freshness. It was the first effort in which original star Campbell doesn’t appear (she couldn’t reach an agreement with producers over her salary and chose to step away). Instead, the young lead characters encounter new troubles as they are stalked by yet another copycat killer in New York.
The new setting doesn’t lend itself to a creepy or claustrophobic mood, but the movie and its Halloween backdrop does feature citizens walking near the protagonists in “Ghostface” costumes. This allows for a couple of effective, tense sequences set on the packed subway. As mentioned, the movie does have some issues, including several exaggerated bits in which multiple characters are violently stabbed but manage to survive (in the real world their wounds would most certainly be fatal). But it offered a fresh idea or two and did seem like a slight improvement.
The latest edition in the franchise has had a troubled preproduction. The filmmakers behind the last two installments decided to move on and a new director was hired. The Writer’s Strike caused a pause in production. Then, Melissa Barrera, the star of Scream and Scream VI, was fired by Paramount executives for her political views involving Gaza. Costar Ortega then bowed out due to commitments to other projects.
Horror fans turned ugly online, incorrectly blaming the new director for Barrera’s firing and posting death threats to himself and his family. He ultimately left the production and moved on to other features. The screenwriters of the last two installments were also forced to try and reconfigure their script before exiting the project.
However, there may be some hope for the upcoming Scream 7. The studio hired original writer Kevin Williamson to return to the franchise as director. He is also credited as co-writer on this updated story.
Campbell has returned as star of the film (a contract between herself and the studio was ironed out), and the new movie also features Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Anna Camp, Mckenna Grace, Joel McHale, Courtney Cox, Ethan Embry, and other familiar names. One hopes that Williamson can recapture some of the original magic that entertained audiences 30 years ago.
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