Scream is back on the big screen and whilst I entered the cinema eagerly excited at a franchise that has never bored me to this date, I lasted 15 minutes before I experienced my first yawn. The hype for this film is relentlessly positive but I very surprisingly came out thinking it was all a bit meh. Here’s my Scream VI 4DX review.

Four survivors of the Ghostface murders leave Woodsboro behind for a fresh start in New York City. However, they soon find themselves in a fight for their lives when a new killer embarks on a bloody rampage.
Sitting down in a 4DX theatre ready to write this Scream VI 4DX review, I was genuinely excited. The film began and I got my usual dose of blood splatter to the face, jerky seats and the wonderful effects you’ve come to know from a 4DX experience.
I was inside the movie with the 4DX adding that extra dimension of immersion, it’s just a shame that the movie I’m watching feels a little tired and doesn’t feel in anyway refreshing or revitalising or any other words from press websites that are hailing this film as better or equal to the original.
2022’s Scream addressed legacy sequels in the horror genre and I actually enjoyed it, the characters as always were self-aware but it just worked and it did so well that a sequel was naturally christened.
Whilst the opening of Scream VI is rather wonderful it just feels like a copy and paste of the film previous but instead of a legacy sequel, it’s now focusing on a franchise. Hopefully not a sign of things to come as for the first time in 6 movies, this one feels tired and lazy.
 
Imagine the scenario, you get the killer down on the ground, they’re hurt, and you’re in prime position to end this once and for all but instead, you run away. THREE times this happens in the movie. THREE times! How lazy can you get when the opportunity is right there as plain as day and our characters choose to run and drag things on instead of killing the main threat/s of the movie?
Having Ghostface in New York instead of Woodsboro is a bold choice and the city doesn’t overshadow the influence of Ghostface and the terror the character brings to our teens.
Having Kirby return is just fan service, having Gale Weathers return is just an excuse to add a few nostalgic trips down memory lane in there and leaving Sidney out for the first time in Scream history, just feels wrong and it clearly shows.
L-r, Melissa Barrera (“Sam Carpenter”) , Jenna Ortega (“Tara Carpenter”), Jasmin Savoy Brown (“Mindy Meeks-Martin”) and Mason Gooding (“Chad Meeks-Martin”) star in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”
I put up with the core cast during Scream 5 but they just can’t carry this movie without the glue that held everyone together, even in the rougher instalments. 
No Sidney, no Scream. It feels a little lost and to write into the script that she’s run away to be ‘safe’ after all the badassery that is Sidney Prescott’s character, It’s just lazy. After 5 movies of her confronting her fears head-on to have her suddenly change her entire character. What gives?
As always Scream is very self-aware, even going as far as to have Jason Takes Manhattan footage playing in the movie as a homage to the last major horror villain who took on the big apple.
I really loved that wink and nod to Jason Takes Manhattan and the fact the filmmakers clearly know what they’re doing and who they took inspiration from. It was a nice touch. I’ll give them that.
What sets Scream apart from Jason within a New York setting is that Jason actually explored his environment. Having the movie in New York City is just a marketing stunt with only one subway scene in the big apple. Every other scene is in an apartment or building which could have been located absolutely anywhere else in the world.
Dermot Mulroney (“Detective Bailey “) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”
This new generation of Scream is cleaning up at the box office hence why this instalment was greenlit so quickly but I just feel empty, and at a loss. Whatever I’m watching has my iconic killer on the big screen, but it feels the least like a Scream movie to date. It feels like an impersonation with its soul ripped out.
If this is the start of a ‘franchise’ it’s a franchise I’d rather not be a part of and with the cliffhanger of an ending as the main characters’ good vs evil alliance is questioned it’s clear that another film is in the works and probably furthermore after that.

None of the characters are really likeable or relatable and the ‘Cute Boy’ in the next building has to be the dullest character I’ve ever seen in the Scream movies. I can only put it down to bad writing but that is single-handedly the most monotone, boring and quite frankly abysmal character I’ve seen written into this glorious franchise and I was crossing my fingers that Ghostface would cut (quite literally) him out of the movie quickly. 
You can’t assert yourself as a major franchise if you’re just rehashing older versions of the films that have come before it. Twice during the film ‘movies don’t matter’ is spoken before Ghostface himself says ‘Who gives a f**k about movies?’. 
This is a sentiment I feel as though the writers wanted to put out there as this film feels exactly that, uncared for.
They’ve ramped up the gore to cover up a sloppy and quite half-arsed rehash of a beloved franchise. Everyone is ranting and raving about the kills being so original and unique and whilst it’s gorier in its delivery, they’re all the same. Absolutely every single kill is just a frenzied stabathon. No creativity in the delivery, nothing. It’s just poor.
Courteney Cox (“Gale Weathers”) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”
Scream always feels like a franchise of social commentary on people’s trust issues, the motto is, trust no one and with this film, I don’t trust one single decision behind this movie. It feels like it’s all for cash now and the fact they couldn’t even pay the person who made this franchise its bitch what she was worth, well, I’m slowly checking out.
Ghostface was a standout killer, self-aware, unique and quite wonderful and slowly… very slowly… Hollywood is consuming its soul to the point where I wouldn’t be surprised to see some sort of branding or company advert on Ghostfaces mask in the next instalment.
It’s all feeling very corporate and quite frankly, shit. Using New York as a marketing stunt, the same old killer reveals, repetitive kill scenes and still some people are lapping up its simplicity. 
Ghostface in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”
I love the winks and nods to other horror franchises, I love the costume design as Ghostface looks as incredible as ever, Roger Jackson’s voice will chill my very soul for as long as I live but sadly… I’m falling out of love with the movie that made 90s slashers so supreme.
Ageing about as gracefully as Cristiano Ronaldo and in the same vein the GOAT is very much getting lost in the pile and people are slowly… very slowly… just losing interest and are looking for that next new and refreshing thing.
The movie tries so hard to touch base on a variety of things such as legacy, forever franchises, collectors and fandom but never dives into them enough for anyone to care.
Hayden Panettiere (“Kirby Reed”) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”
Hayden Panettiere being back again is great for fans to see but in this new FBI agent role, she sucks. I’m sorry, she just sucks. It’s so awkward and forced and it feels like it has been crammed in as fan service.
Her character is naturally new within this New York setting but she’s a legacy character, even she isn’t safe from these new rules and her inclusion (especially in the finale) is ultimately pointless.
Scream 5 gave us all hope about how adapting and changing a film to fit trends can make it relevant. If only Scream 6 could follow its predecessors’ rules as I exit the cinema yawning once again, feeling tired after a long flight and instantly feeling like I have something in common with one of my favourite franchises.
We’re both… very… very tired and it’s starting to show.
Agree or disagree with my Scream VI 4DX review? Comment below.
Scream VI 4DX Review by Sean Evans

Our Rating

Summary
Whilst Scream 5 seemed to reignite the franchise towards a positive future Scream 6 seems to want to destroy it all. Rehashing an old Scream movie with a modern twist but it sadly doesn’t work for me and it all went downhill the second Ghostface picked up that shotgun.