Alli the Book Giraffe

Hello movie lovers! Last night, I went out and watched the newest Scream movie. As a lifelong fan of the franchise, I was beyond excited to finally see the latest installment on the big screen.

The Scream franchise is my all-time favorite horror movie franchise. I’ve loved it since I was very young. The first Scream came out in 1996, so I would’ve been 2-years-old. I do remember watching it for the first time at around 5. I was watching it over and over, and I’ve been a horror movie fan ever since.

I recently read Your Favorite Scary Movie, which I recommend for all Scream fans. The only expectations I had for Scream 7 were those discussed in the book. The book mentioned that Mathew Lillard would be back for Scream 7, but Stu was for certain dead. He also mentioned Sidney would get a happy ending.

Now that I’ve seen the movie and I’ve rewatched the entire series in the past week, I thought it’d be a great time to talk about my thoughts.

I had a lot of doubts going into this movie, particularly before reading Your Favorite Scary Movie. After Melissa Barerra’s firing, I honestly didn’t want to continue with the series at all.

Even though I think the book glazed it over her firing, I did learn that it didn’t come from Kevin Williamson or anyone actually involved in the movie itself.

But I tried to go into Scream 7 with an open mind. I was really excited to see Neve Campbell back. I loved Scream 6, but it obviously should’ve had her in it. I don’t blame her, though! She should be paid what she is worth.

First, I’ll start with what I liked, then what I didn’t like, and at the bottom will be the spoiler section for those who have already seen or want to skip the movie altogether.

What I liked

I loved Sidney’s character, along with her daughter Tatum. I enjoyed seeing their dynamic and how Sidney’s past had affected it.

We know from all the previous movies that Sydney has a lot of mixed feelings about her own mother. She wants to protect her daughter from the world by not sharing these things with Tatum, but slowly realizes that it is having the opposite effect.

Each scene that had the two of them in it together were the strongest part of the movie. The chase sequence throughout their house was the standout moment, capturing that classic Scream tension and suspense we know and love. Also, the parts with Tatum in the coffee shop while on the phone with Sidney.

Their scenes together were what I believe is the essence of Scream. Sidney’s fears are coming to life in real time. And we get to see her fight for not only her life, but for her family’s as well. The horror of Scream is emotional. It’s terrifying because it can be anyone you know, and the people you love the most can die at any moment.

What I Didn’t Like

We were introduced to this movie’s version of Randy, which is Lucas. He was said to be the one who is a big fan of Stab and horror movies. However, he never gave that classic Randy monologue where they call out horror tropes.

Honestly, all of Tatum’s friends were very 2D. We didn’t really get to know any of them, and none of them were particularly memorable, like many of Sidney’s friends were in the past movies.

In previous movies, even side characters and villains were iconic. Tatum (from movie one), for example, has one of the most quoted lines in the entire franchise: “Don’t kill me, Mr. Ghostface. I want to be in the sequel.” Moments like that made the characters feel real, funny, and distinct.

Gale has one really good scene in this movie, and it’s after the chase scene I mentioned through Sidney’s house. Then, she has no real purpose in the film at all. She wasn’t part of the main action, which I think was a big missed opportunity.

I personally see Sydney and Gale as the main characters of the Scream franchise. Therefore, I expect to see both of them having a big role in the movie, typically together.

My biggest gripe with this movie is the shock value horror. That just isn’t what Scream is. I think Kevin Williamson needed a Wes Craven filter. He had control over this movie, but needed someone who really understood Wes’s vision for the series.

After reading Your Favorite Scary Movie, I learned a lot about what the intention of Scream was all the way back in 1996. Scream was created at a time when slasher movies were not rare. The market was flooded with them.

The purpose of Scream was to be the opposite of this trend in the ’80s, where horror movie creators’ goal was just to create more and more shock. Each movie they created would be more grotesque and shocking than the last one.

Scream was the opposite. There wasn’t one central villain who kept coming back in each movie that couldn’t die. It was also self-aware. It was for the fans of horror who were also willing to critique it.

Scream 7 was the type of horror that the original Scream was created to move horror away from. It had a lot of grotesque scenes, and even a death that I thought was a bit silly. I’ll talk about it more in the spoiler section.

Spoiler section

This movie just didn’t have a lot to say. We saw the return of some of the series most iconic characters, such as Stu and Dewey, but I feel as though it was more for nostalgia.

The real killers were hiding behind these faces with AI, but the movie didn’t really have anything to say about the use of AI. It didn’t have that classic scene in this movie where one person just calls out tropes in horror movies.

I also know from Your Favorite Scary Movie that Kevin Williamson’s original vision for Scream was that the villains didn’t have a motive other than just enjoying killing. He then changed the characters to have actual motives of revenge.

The villains in Scream 7 had very weak and underdeveloped motives.

The first villain that was revealed after the chase sequence through Sidney’s house was very similar to when we learned of the killer in Scream 3. Scream 3 is my least favorite in the entire franchise. My biggest issue with it is the fact that the villain of the story is someone that we could not have ever guessed because we never knew that Sidney had a brother.

The man who was chasing Sidney and Tatum through the house was someone we didn’t even know existed.

When we got to the end of the movie, and the 2nd killer was revealed, I looked to my boyfriend, who I was seeing the movie with, and asked him who it was. I genuinely didn’t remember him. The orderly at the hospital was in the movie for less than 2 minutes. As soon as he left, I forgot his face.

I did guess that the neighbor, Jessica, would be a killer in this. However, her reasoning was a bit weird. She first admires Sidney because her story inspired Jessica to escape an abusive husband. Why would she go from admiration to killing her?

Then, we have to talk about Lucas’ death. It was revealed that Jessica specifically killed her son because he might turn out like his father.

Either way, while she was explaining this, I was wondering how this woman picked up her son by the head like that. Jessica is a tiny woman.

Also, the beer tap scene where Lucas died was a little silly. It was a scene I would’ve expected to see in an ’80s shock value movie.

Killing every single one of Tatum’s friends in Scream 7 without giving us memorable or distinctive moments for any of them makes the deaths feel gratuitous, like the film is just tallying kills rather than creating suspense.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I did enjoy some aspects of the story. I by no means disliked Scream 7. However, I didn’t enjoy the shock value horror. Classic Scream horror isn’t centering shock. It’s tension and real-life fear. We also saw very two-dimensional characters. If we don’t care about the characters, what is the point? Why should I care if all of Tatum’s friends die if I don’t really know them?

Let me know down below what you thought! This is by no means my least favorite Scream, but it isn’t one of my favorites either.

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This post was created by Allison Wolfe for www.allithebookgiraffe.com and is not permitted to be posted anywhere else.

Where to find me: https://linktr.ee/Allithebookgiraffe