I genuinely believe that the Scream franchise might be the most consistent in the world of horror. All of them have been consistently entertaining, with solid performances and fun kills. However, my opinion changed slightly with Scream 6, which relocated the series from its classic Woodborough setting to New York City. That film also didn’t include Neve Campbell’s Sydney Prescott, the grounding character from throughout the entire series. What Scream 6 did include was the worst performance in the entire series, courtesy of the usually reliable Dermot Mulroney. I remember walking out of the theatre disappointed by the film. While I enjoyed it a little more on a subsequent rewatch, it nearly ruined the series’ consistency for me.
While Scream 7 was supposed to continue the trajectory set by the fifth and sixth films, behind-the-scenes politics meant changes were afoot. Previous stars Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera exited the sequel, along with director Christopher Landon. In return, though, Scream 7 sees Neve Campbell back in her rightful place as the series star, while Scream creator Kevin Williamson steps into the director’s chair. What we get is a Scream film that has everything in its right place.
There are minor changes, mind you. We’re no longer in New York or Woodsborough; rather, the setting is another small town, Pine Grove, where Sydney now lives with her family, including her Police Chief husband (an excellent Joel McHale) and teenage daughter Tatum (Isabel May, also good), alongside two smaller children whose names aren’t mentioned and have been shipped off to Sydney’s mother-in-law’s home offscreen when the new round of Ghostface killings begin. This time out, the possibility is raised that Stu Macher, one of the original killers from the first film, survived and is behind the latest rash of killings. What this gives us is the return of Matthew Lillard to the role (not a spoiler), and seeing this excellent actor eat up the screen is reason alone to see Scream 7, no matter what Quentin Tarantino might tell you.
Under the direction of Kevin Williamson, Scream 7 ups the gore, but also finds some real human moments between its main characters, as it explores the mother-daughter relationship between Sydney, a survivor of so much trauma, and Tatum, named after her mother’s best friend, killed during the original events. Watching Neve Campbell’s Sydney evolve over 30 years is part of the grip this series has had on viewers, which makes Campbell’s omission from Scream 6 all the more of a misstep that’s now been corrected.
Scream 7 isn’t perfect, of course. Few of these films are (though I’d say the first two and fourth hover in the ballpark), and the revelation of the killer (or killers?) isn’t surprising when you know how the series works. Overall, though, I found myself completely entertained by Scream 7, jumping in my chair when I was supposed to, and laughing regularly (the constant mention of how Sydney should have gone to New York rang really funny and true). It’s a welcome return for Neve Campbell, one of the genre’s greatest scream queens, and a lock to return in the inevitable Scream 8.
