While the narrative and undercooked characters could use development, Scream 7 delivers some fun thrill withs a decently fast-paced script and strong action showdowns with the Ghostface killer.
Scream 7 follows a new Ghostface killer who targets Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her daughter Tatum (Isabel May). It is directed by Kevin Williamson from a screenplay he co-wrote with Guy Busick, from a story by James Vanderbilt and Busick.
The Scream franchise occupies an important place in horror cinema right now. After an 11-year break between Scream 4 (2011) and Scream 5 (2022), the franchise is back to having a regular cadence for its release schedule, with a new film coming out every 2–3 years. The result is that gives horror fans a solid, familiar franchise which they can keep returning to for no-frills slasher fun. And the approach of providing just enough new twists and character dynamics alongside the well-oiled formula the franchise has become known form means it continues providing what fans expect.
With Scream 7, director Kevin Williamson with his co-writing team deliver a film with a strong mother-daughter relationship, classic whodunnitt wists around questionable friends and lovers, along with a layer of deepfake AI uncertainty on top. The action choreography is excellent. A standout opening sequence builds suspense through clever double-cross twists when a couple stays at a scary-movie themed homestay experience. The meta-textual layers of them being scary movie fans while being in a movie where Ghostface terrorizes people provides a good mix of comedy and uncertainty.
The slasher thrills keep coming through the second act, where a high-school theatre setting plays host to an entertaining Ghostface attack with high-wire stunts on a theatre stage. It’s high-intensity scenes like this that deliver enough fast action, brutal kills, and surprise for the film to still feel satisfying.
Another standout scene takes place at Sidney Prescott’s home where Ghostface follows his victims through the walls of a panic room hideout and tries to stab them through the wall framing. Wide angle close-ups make you feel all the intensity of being trapped in such a claustrophobic area, while the cross-cutting to Ghostface’s point of view keeps on edge about whether each stab will hit the victim.
That said, the narrative and character elements could be developed further. While there’s some welcome commentary on the proliferation of AI deepfakes, it’s mostly surface level. This is matched by fairly lacklustre dialogue and tacky performances from the main cast. Most of the more dramatic scenes fall flat, whether it be the romantic tension in the young cast, or the scenes where Tatum argues with her parents. They suffer from stale dialogue and choices that miss the chance to build convincing stakes.
One core emotional part of the film arises through the relationship that Courteney Cox’s character Gale Weather’s has with Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). Courtney’s screen presence is immense, and she commands every scene she’s in. More importantly, her conversations with Sidney provide a good counterbalance to the more zany and romantic scenes of the high school characters that are drenched with teenage irony and attitude.
The standout of the younger cast is Isabel May, who confidently takes on the new co-lead playing Sidney Prescott’s daughter Tatum. Her rebellious relationship with her mother plays into all the usual teenage tropes and can seem a bit predictable. It comes together nicely enough in the final act when she steps up under pressure though. Sam Rechner also doce a good job of playing the over-enthused boyfriend with a great sincerity that plays into the parent’s fear of him being too nice to be good.
To the film’s great credit, the pace rarely slows down. The Ghostface attacks come thick and fast all throughout the film, it’s just that they are mostly small in scale despite having some really fun and creative set-pieces. It’s a particular shame that the final act plays out mostly in the confines of a dimly-lit house and comes to a fairly fast conclusion, which doesn’t quite match the intensity of the earlier fight scenes.
Scream 7 is another solid episodic entry into the franchise. While it doesn’t offer many surprises narratively and in terms of compelling characters, it’s still a fun movie with slasher thrills.
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