Reel Reviews: Scream 7

Hey y'all let's see what's up today! Last weekend I went to see Scream 7 at the Regal Grand 15 Theater in Asheville. Aside from the fact that my family loves going to Asheville, this was my first time in a Regal Theatre. My area only has an AMC, so getting to experience how another theatre is laid out was really neat. Before I get into the review,  I have to sing Regal's praises, that was the most comfortable movie watching experience I have ever had. I love how spaced out the aisles were, it didn't feel like we were sitting on top of one another, and the display screen was huge! Additionally, their facilities were super clean, that's probably the cleanest movie theatres I have ever and will ever set foot in, and the one that I went to had a really fun retro feel to it, which I liked. 

Being a legally blind person, I also liked the lighting situation both in the auditorium and on the signs that directed you to said auditoriums. It's these type of accessibility features that I really appreciate because while I can see a little bit, I don't like having to strain my eyes to read the numbers for each auditorium and aisle way. Additionally, for the wheelchair users out there, the way into the theatre was also incredibly accessible. At my home theatre wheelchair users have to find a ramp that is barely visible behind the concession stands, as the auditoriums are only accessible by dimly lit stairs. This was not the case at the Regal Grand 15 in Asheville and though I don't use a wheelchair, I feel that needs to be mentioned.

With that being said, let's get into the review of the film itself. This installment of the Scream franchise has been the talk of the horror community since it's release on February 27th. Some fans boycotted the film entirely, in solidarity with actress Melissa Barrera who had starred in two previous installments of the franchise. Others were a little disappointed in the film, especially because of it's ending and I must say I share their disappointment marginally. These factors came together to earn Scream 7 a disappointing 31% on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm going to be giving a summary of the film as well as my final thoughts here at the end.

Summary

Retired final girl, Sidney Prescott, has rebuilt her life in a small town away from Woodsboro. However the emergence of a new Ghostface killer now targeting her daughter brings Sidney out of retirement as she attempts to protect her family. 

Review

We'll start with the good stuff first. I loved the idea of Sidney bringing in a new era of final girls. Tatum is actually one of our first Gen Z final girls along with Sienna Shaw from the Terrifier franchise, Sam and Tara Carpenter also from the Scream franchise, and Millie Kessler from Freaky (2020). It seems to me that the slasher era is making its comeback bringing with it some fresh faces and some old favorites as well. This film also heavily relied on practical effects, which will always get praise from me, The acting was amazing, and I liked the set designs because they really gave the feel of a late 90s slasher movie by leaning more into the darker grunge aesthetic.

I liked the use of "AI" as part of the tactics used against Sidney in this film. While a lot of people didn't like it, the use of deepfakes is a very real threat, especially as AI becomes a more prominent and accessible thing. This commentary on how it can be used for nefarious purposes was pretty needed in my opinion, and the fact they used CGI animation instead of AI was really cool. Despite the new plotlines and location, the callbacks to the original 1996 film were really refreshing and I thought they made things come full circle.

However, moving into the bad areas of the film. Much like Terrifier 2, the kill and chase scenes felt just a little too long to be enjoyable. It also felt like Scream 7 was really trying to keep up with the Terrifier franchise in terms of brutality and gore. While normally I'm not opposed to splatter horror, the Scream franchise has always ridden that line between camp horror and serious horror with a slight lean towards the campy side of things. This movie, however, pivoted violently to the more serious side of horror and I feel it just really didn't hold up to the rest of the franchise in that regard.

Then we get to the Ghostface reveal. This Scooby-Doo like moment is my favorite part of the Scream movies, where we get to see who was hiding under the mask the entire time. The reveal in this film was just disappointing, and it seemed the audiences believed that as well. The killers were fairly unimportant throughout the film and it just didn't line up with what we've come to expect from the Scream films, or even what we were led to believe in this one. With that being said, I have heard from numerous sources that plot lines were changed due to leaks, as well as the feed back from the test audience and that kind of adds up looking back on the film now. You can see the direction they were going to go and you can also see where things began to take a sudden and sharp turn away from the original direction.

Closing

Overall I liked the film, I have kind of mixed feelings about it because I like some aspects of it, and others simply fell flat for me. That being said, I don't think it deserves necessarily all of the criticism that it's getting, and it certainly deserves a higher rating than 31% on Rotten Tomatoes. Have you guys gone to see Scream 7 yet? Do you plan to? Let me know in the comments! If you want to see more from me feel free to click the link below where you can find my other socials. Y'all take care, and thanks for stopping by! 

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