Scream 7 – REVIEW

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Scream 7 – the latest film in the 30 year franchise

Thirty years after the original, Scream 7 brings back Neve Campbell, a key star from the very beginning, and one of the few original cast members still alive after years of Ghostface’s killings. The masked killer’s reign of terror, which started in Woodsboro and continued in New York, now follows Sidney Prescott – now going by Sidney Evans – to a quiet town where she’s started a new life. She owns a coffee shop with her husband, a police officer, and their college-aged daughter, Tatum (Isabel May).

That Scream 7 story

Like previous films in the series, this one starts with a prologue: a couple of college students break into the house where the original movie’s characters died, and predictably receive the chilling phone call from the masked killer, challenging them to a deadly game. This leads to a brutal opening kill. Soon after, the town where Sidney lives begins to experience a new wave of murders, prompting a lockdown. Sidney and, more importantly, her daughter, quickly find themselves targeted by Ghostface.

Screenwriter turned director

Kevin Williamson, the writer of the previous films, makes his directorial debut with this installment, also writing the script himself. The film starts strong, immediately building suspense with clever visual cues, like a Ghostface figure subtly appearing in the background. Throughout the movie, there are several well-executed scenes and particularly brutal moments.

The script

The original Scream movie from 1996 brilliantly deconstructed horror clichés, turning them on their head to create a genuinely scary experience. However, recapturing that originality has proven incredibly difficult. While later films have occasionally offered clever commentary – like the darkly ironic use of social media, with characters treating crime scenes as photo opportunities – the mystery of who the killer is in Scream 7, much like previous installments, feels predictable. The script relies heavily on misdirection and false clues, making it nearly impossible to legitimately guess the killer’s identity or motivation – it’s more akin to a Scooby Doo mystery than a genuinely suspenseful whodunit.

Does Scream 7 kill it?

While Scream 7 delivers the inventive, gory thrills horror fans expect, the excessive violence feels a bit unsettling given current events. Like most of the sequels (excluding the first film), this installment lacks the sharp wit and surprising twists of the original, and some of the callbacks might not land with newer audiences. The film primarily offers a satisfying showdown between Sidney and Ghostface for dedicated fans, but the franchise could really benefit from a new creative perspective to recapture the groundbreaking, subversive spirit of the original.

Here’s the Scream 7 trailer……

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2026-02-26 15:23