Scream VI
Movies

“Scream VI” Review Round-Up: A Clever, Homicidal Shell Game in the Big City

March 8, 2023
By The Credits

The Radio Silence team that brought you last year’s Scream (the fifth installment in the franchise, although it lacked a number in the title) are back, and it seems they’ve delivered an even nastier, naughtier, more tightly-wound slasher with Scream VI. With reviews no longer under embargo, critics have begun weighing in on what the first film in the franchise to be set outside of Woodsboro, California, delivers now that the action has moved to New York City.

The directing team of Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin have made the most of their decision to bring Ghostface to the Big Apple, and they sic him on some familiar faces. Gayle Weathers (Courtney Cox) returns alongside sisters Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), who moved to New York to rebuild their lives after the horrific events back in Woodsboro, as well as Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding). And then there’s the glorious return of Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), back after surviving the bloodbath in Scream 4 (2011) and her Easter egg appearance, via a photograph, in the last Scream. 

Newcomers include Jack Champion, Henry Czerny, Liana Liberato, Dermot Mulroney, Devyn Nekoda, Tony Revolori, Josh Segarra, and Samara Weaving. All of them have their hands full with a seemingly even more sadistic and unhinged Ghostface as the franchise, now firmly in meta mode and helmed by two Scream superfans who know what they’re doing, put all these characters through the wringer.

The Independent‘s Clarisse Loughrey writes that the sequel is “wholly satisfying and ridiculously fun.” Staying on the far side of the pond, the London Evening Standard‘s Charlotte O’Sullivan writes, “Bloody hell. Number 6 in the post-modern horror Scream series is gory… as well as hot-under-the-arms tense and properly funny.”

Stateside, the Chicago Sun-Times Richard Roeper says that Scream VI is a “gruesome and wickedly funny horror film that still hits all the right notes we’ve come to expect from the franchise.” IndieWire‘s Christian Zilko says, “If they keep making ’em like Scream VI, the future is as bright as it is bloody.”

Now let’s take a quick peek at what some critics are Tweeting:

Scream VI hits theaters on March 10.

For more on the Scream franchise, check out these stories:

Paramount Reveals “Scream VI” Super Bowl Spot

“Scream VI” Trailer Finds Hayden Panettiere Back Fighting Ghostface in NYC

How the “Scream” Team Created The Best Film in the Franchise Since The Original

Featured image: Ghostface in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”

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The Credits

The Credits is an online magazine that tells the story behind the story to celebrate our large and diverse creative community. Focusing on profiles of below-the-line filmmakers, The Credits celebrates the often uncelebrated individuals who are indispensable to the films and TV shows we love.