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Scream 7 Review
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures
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Directed By: Kevin Williamson
Written By: Kevin Williamson, Guy Busick, and James Vanderbilt
Runtime: 114 minutes
MPA Rating: Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, and language.
Neve Campbell – Sidney Prescott
Courteney Cox – Gale Weathers
Isabel May – Tatum Evans
Jasmin Savoy Brown – Mindy Meeks-Martin
Mason Gooding – Chad Meeks-Martin
Joel McHale – Mark Evans
Mckenna Grace – Hannah Thurman
Celeste O’Connor – Chloe Parker
Sam Rechner – Ben Brown
Asa Germann – Lucas Bowden
Anna Camp – Jessica Bowden
Mark Consuelos – Robbie Rivers
Tim Simons – George Willis
Ethan Embry – Marco
Michelle Randolph – Madison
Jimmy Tatro – Scott
Neve Campbell returns to the Scream franchise for its landmark seventh entry, as it nears its 30th anniversary. However, after sitting out Scream VI, is the return of the original final girl, Sidney Prescott, exactly what the franchise needed to maintain its integrity? Not to mention, original franchise co-creator Kevin Williamson steps into the director’s seat for the first time in the franchise’s history. Sadly, the answer is no, as Scream 7 exemplifies the traps of all movie franchises that far outlast their desired expiration dates.
For those who were confused by the reveal of Sidney Prescott’s teenage daughter, Tatum (May), in Scream 7, considering Sidney was seen walking about with two small daughters in her last appearance in 2023’s Scream, at least Williamson attempts to rectify those potential plot holes, albeit not very well. Unfortunately, there’s no getting around the disappointment of the reveal that Sidney’s husband turns out to be Mark Evans (McHale), rather than Mark Kincaid from Scream 3.
No offense meant to Joel McHale, a great actor, cast as a poorly developed, underutilized character in Scream 7. It would be interesting to learn more about the small-town police officer whom Sidney finally married, and who is the father of their three kids. Unfortunately, the movie never divulges that much about him.
Scream 7 centers the story back on Sidney, who lives with her family in Pine Grove, Indiana. However, her daughter is now 17, the same age that Sidney had her first run-in with the Ghostface killers. Tatum’s high school boyfriend is also sneaking into her bedroom, much like Billy Loomis did with Sidney back in the day. Sidney desperately wants to shield her daughter from her past trauma, but now, her daughter must learn how to fend for herself, as a new Ghostface killer emerges, targeting Sidney and Tatum.
Scream 7 only has two redeeming qualities, chief of which is the plot exploring Sidney as a mother desperate to protect her teen daughter from her past trauma. Sidney is a good mother, but she’s at odds with wanting to protect her daughter versus potentially isolating her or pushing her away emotionally because of that protective instinct. It’s the movie’s most interesting thread, and Campbell and May play those aspects relatively well, but the script is not strong enough to dig deeper into those ideas.
The movie does put together some suspenseful, creative kills and some shocking moments of R-rated gore. At the very least, horror and gore fiends will likely enjoy what the movie brings to the table, even with the atrocious plot and threadbare character development.
Problematic for the franchise is the uneventful return of longtime legacy cast member, Courteney Cox, as Gale Weathers, who is now joined by new generation vets, Mindy (Savoy Brown) and Chad (Gooding), who join Gale as her new interns.
Gale’s role in the movie is utterly pointless and absurd. She has nothing to do here. Considering Gale has been a victim of this madness as well, going back thirty years, one would think she would have some better insight or commentary on all this insanity. She’s an utterly inconsequential character who only appears to get a pop from the audience.
The Meeks twins are even more useless than they were in their last two go-arounds with Ghostface. They act as more than literal human Muppets in the story, serving as the franchise’s new collective Randy, without any of the charisma or witty humor.
Much like Gale, the Meeks twins serve no discernible purpose other than bringing continuity from the previous two movies since the Carpenter sisters are MIA. Despite the twins knowing all the rules and possessing horror movie genre-savviness, they have the survival instincts of dodo birds and the intelligence of goldfish. They’re not even good comic relief in Scream.
Along with Tatum, Williamson introduces a new friend group, the usual run-of-the-mill character archetypes, r to serve as hapless victims for Ghostface. However, the ground Williamson treads is so tired and familiar that even less effort is expended for the new group of kids, who are nothing special and do not leave an impression.
The problem with Scream 7 is that the franchise has been around so long that every type of meta beat and angle has been covered. The first movie was a glorious post-modern angle on slasher movies. Scream 5 attempted a dialogue regarding franchise reboots and toxic fandom, although the execution was puerile. Scream 6 attempted to talk about being a legacy franchise, and Scream 6 has little of anything interesting to say. There is one contemporary idea at play, but it’s poorly executed.
Perhaps Williamson, out of desperation, wanted to create a shocking and genuinely surprising ending. However, in that attempt, the big reveal becomes so predictably underwhelming that it’s frustrating. The worst part about Scream 6 was how painfully obvious the movie telegraphed the killer’s identity. Similarly, that happens again here.
Scream 7 showcases how the franchise, lasting nearly thirty years, is a sign of absurdity rather than impressive longevity. Additionally, considering this is literally the sixth time Sidney Prescott has had to live through this terror, it’s confounding that she does not have better contingency plans by now. Sidney has a panic room and multiple handguns, but they don’t seem to offer much defense against a knife-wielding Ghostface.
Considering new Ghostface killings are cropping up all over the country every other year now, one would think the FBI would have a heavily-armed Ghostface task force ready for action. If Williamson wanted to truly subvert expectations, it would have been fascinating for some Ghostface counter-experts show up because Gale Weathers and Meeks twins offered little in the way of competence.
Unfortunately, Scream 7 now represents the traps of successful franchises that keep making money, so studios must continue pumping them out until they become atrocious and stop being profitable. When that happens, studios then become desperate to reboot them all over again. It’s a vicious cycle, much like the continuous terror Sidney faces in her everyday life.
Unfortunately, as the lead in a horror movie franchise, Sidney Prescott can never know peace. The bloodshed in her life will only stop until it’s time for the next one. Ghostface’s knife has become so rusty and dull that ending the franchise at this point would be a relief.
Where To Watch Scream 7
Scream 7 hits theaters on February 27. Tickets and showtime information are available at the movie’s website.
