Take 58: Scream 7
Neve Campbell makes her return as Sydney (Prescott) Edward’s in Scream 7 as a new Ghostface Killer emerges, this time targeting Sydney and her daughter, Tatum (Isabel May). The Killer claims to have a direct link to Syndey’s past. In no time at all, the quiet calm life that Sydney has been living is in jeopardy, and Mama Bear ain’t having it. The question is, Syd will she be able to get to the bottom of this latest mystery before it destroys her family?
Scream 6 was still good, but it is so nice to see Neve Campbell back. War torn and battered after 30 years of this mess (yes, it’s been that long), she still looks great and can still carry the bulk of the weight of the series. This is a mature Sydney who has been there, done that, too many times for her liking, but she’s not without flaws.She tries, but has made mistakes in raising her daughter and her husband, Mark (formerly portrayed by Patrick Dempsey, now played by Joel McHale) is caught in the middle and but remains impartial, even calling Syds when she’s wrong. McHale is okay, but his presence is jarring. Isabel May is the spitting image of a young Sarah Chalke. It really is uncanny. Like—wow. Anyway, she’s good. She’s relatable and not too annoying even though she often playing in opposition to our heroine. Do I see he taking over the franchise as the lead? Not sure, but she definitely makes a strong showing.
It’s Scream, so once again there is a slew of new cannon fodder, people you know won’t make it to the end. Jimmy Tatro and Michelle Randolph get the coveted opening death scene and nail it. There is the boyfriend, Ben (Sam Rechner) who may or may not be involved, Tatum’s friends Chloe (Celeste O’Connor) who may or may not be involved and Hannah (McKenna Grace- spoiler, she’s defintely NOT involved), weird kid Lucus (Asa Germann) who is obsessed with the lore of Sydney Prescott who may or may not be involved and his mother, Jessica (Anna Camp), Syd’s next door neighbor and current best friend. Returning for their third appearances are Mindy (Jamin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding) who, at this point almost act act comic relief at this point having survived several encounters with Ghostfaces and continue the role that uncle Randy would no doubt have were he still alive- the voices of reason who guide us through the meta landscape and remind us of “the rules”. And of course, Courtney Cox as Gale Weathers who has one of the best entrances of the entire series and the stage is set for a good time.
Being the seventh film, there is a lot of history and this movie does a great job of honoring the rich history of the series. Tatum is named after Rose McGowen’s iconic character. Her first scene is homage to our introduction to Sydney way back in the first film. Mark Consuelos makes his debut as Robbie Rivers, a reporter who, much like Gale, shows up hoping to make a name for himself by breaking this story. And the cameos. So. Many. Something I have always loved about this series is its willingness to acknowledge technology into the story going back as far as the second where Sydney uses caller ID to defang a prank caller. Here it’s A.I. which allows for those cameos.
I have noticed a lot of negativity regarding this one. BULL. This is a Scream movie, through and through. It click all of the boxes. The first ands second jump scares got me. That rarely happens so I was please as punch when they got me. Kevin Williamson directed and co-wrote it and is shows. I was at home out the gate. I freakin’ LOVED it. This was a good time from start to finish. It may have the lowest Rotten Tomato score but has the biggest opening of the franchise, so you do the math. It’s well-deserved. There is one bit that bothered me slightly that seemed like it could have been a plot point, but alas, it wasn’t so I was left scratching my head, but other than that, I was not disappointed at all. Still by far my favorite horror franchise. It was definitely a SCREAM.
My score: 9.5
Your thoughts? Spare your vocal cords and leave it in the comments. And until next time…
