New York: The city that never sleeps

Set a year after Scream (2022), half-sisters Tara (Jenna Ortega) and Sam (Melissa Barrera) move from Woodsboro to Big Apple alongside fellow survivors Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown). They hope to finally escape their past, move forward and enjoy their lives. However, it seems that dread and murder find them wherever they go. Soon after their arrival, a series of brutal murders happen, inspired by Ghostface, the Stab movies and everything that has to do with it. Someone is continuing the work of the likes such as Billy Loomis, Roman Bridger, Jill Roberts and Stu Macher and again, the “core four,” as the group calls themselves, fear for their lives.

However, with Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and former classmate/now FBI detective Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), they decide to try and get rid of Ghostface once and for all, but during Halloween night, New York is full of people in Ghostface costumes. Will they be able to find the real killer and bring him to justice?

The perfect combination of nostalgia and modern aspects

When watching Scream VI, it’s clear that this movie wants to honour its predecessors in the best way possible. Think of the massive shrine the killer has set up, Mindy’s monologue about the different elements of a horror slasher movie and the many subtle and not-so-subtle mentions of horror classics. But it’s not all about tradition in this movie. No, by swapping Woodsboro for New York, the filmmakers can use brand-new ideas. A bigger city, more people, and more potential victims all lead to a more inventive, bloodier and funnier film.

While the ‘core four’ certainly has more fun in this movie, they can’t fully enjoy it because Ghostface is always right behind them. With a higher population, the Big Apple is the perfect playground for Ghostface and directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (Ready or Not, Devil’s Due) and Tyler Gillett (V/H/S, Ready or Not). This is highlighted during the subway scene and the bloody and adrenaline-fueled climax. We even dare to say that Scream VI might have the best opening scene since the first movie. We don’t see much of Samara Weaving (The Babysitter, Babylon), but she undoubtedly impacts with her strong performance. 

A new environment, the same old great performances

Speaking of solid performances, both Barrera (In the Heights, Carmen) and Ortega (X, The Fallout) absolutely carry this movie. You might not have liked Sam in Scream (2022), but we’re confident you will change your mind when watching this film. Ghostface having even more rage and a sharper tongue and knife ensures that Sam has to step up her game, and Barrera does that. Her fierce, strong and clever performance ensures you will sympathize and root for Sam.

Barrera’s on-screen sisterhood with Ortega is extremely powerful. This is also because Ortega is in top form. After being stuck in the hospital for most of the previous film, she now gets to shine, and that’s precisely what she does! She’s finally allowed to have fun, stab around and bring out the badass in her. Do we have a new scream queen on her hands? Maybe not, cause Tara still feels a bit underdeveloped.

Because Sidney Prescott didn’t return to this movie, Gale Weathers gets a lot more screen time, and Cox (Scream, 3000 Miles to Graceland) certainly grabs that opportunity with both hands! Weathers is finally standing face-to-face with Ghostface, resulting in a standout scene and a knockout performance by Cox. She brings both power and humour to this movie. While the return of Panettiere (Custody, The Forger) as Kirby is wonderful to see, her excellent acting doesn’t come through as much due to the unfortunate wig and mainly supporting role. It’s only during that climax scene that Panettiere can show us what she got.

Scream is bloodier, creepier and funnier than ever!

After the release of Scream (2022), fans were questioning how the franchise could stay alive after Craven’s death. With his death, we lost a master in horror, but directors Gillett and Bettinilli-Olpin know what they’re doing. They have proven that by creating a frighting 2022 film and even bloodier, creepier, funnier Scream VI. Thanks to the many plot twists that certainly keep you on your toes, the standout performances, and the many wonderful easter eggs, the Scream franchise is still very much alive!

Scream VI is out now in U.K. cinemas

Rating: (4.5 / 5)

Also Read: The Future of Scream Without Sidney Prescott

The post Review: Scream VI appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Scream (2022) Recap

When Tara Carpenter is attacked by a new Ghostface costumed killer, her half-sister Sam seeks help from Dewey Riley, as he helped with the investigations of all the prior Ghostface killings. Following the murder of several of Sam’s friends and Dewey, news reporter Gale Weathers (Dewey’s ex-wife) and Sidney Prescott (Dewey’s best friend) try to help solve the case. Eventually, the killers are revealed as Stab fans (films based on events seen in the franchise) wanting to provide better material for future Stab filmmakers by getting the oldest Ghostface survivors back together. After helping Tara and Sam defeat the killers Sidney assures Sam that, given time, she will heal from her experiences. Gale commits to eulogizing Dewey rather than publicising the killers before Sam accompanies Tara to the hospital. 

Scream Without Sidney

Many horror fans have asked why Neve Campbell is not returning for Scream 6? In a statement, Campbell said her exit was related to pay. After 25 years with the franchise and fighting hard to be valued in the industry she said she was not offered enough to justify her return. Which is entirely understandable. After all, Neve Campbell has given Scream she has the right to step away if she isn’t paid her worth. Especially given how much the series makes at the box office. But this raises the question, how can the franchise continue without its main star?

Not All Horror Heroes Return

Many of Scream (2022)’s survivors have already been confirmed to be starring in Scream 6. Courteney Cox will be returning as Gale, the only series mainstay, along with prior series cast members like Hayden Panettiere. This is an unusual angle for a long-running horror series to take. Usually by the sixth entry horror franchises have become about new characters fighting the series killer. But pivoting to lesser-known characters has worked in the past.

The Saw franchise for example was originally a mystery before turning its focus to Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) in Saw 2 and 3. Then after his death Detective Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), a minor Saw 3 character, became the lead antagonist. With Jigsaw remaining a constant fixture through flashbacks. And after Jamie Lee Curtis didn’t return as Laurie Strode for Halloween 4 the Halloween series made Laurie’s daughter Jamie (Danielle Harris) the series protagonist. Meanwhile, Donald Pleasence continued appearing as series mainstay Dr. Sam Loomis.

Although the choices of these series displeased some fans of the established leads they ensured that their series went on. These approaches provided series continuity. They also kept fans on board by including other beloved characters in their stories. And because the writers focused on making Jamie and Hoffman interesting they quickly became fan favourites. So as long as Scream’s good character writing remains intact and they don’t ruin Sidney’s legacy by killing her off-screen the series could go on with new leads.

Can Scream 6 Succeed?

Some may say continuing the Scream films without Campbell means the series will lose its unique identity. But both the TV series and Scream (2022) managed to shift the focus in whole or in part onto new protagonists. Despite mixed critical reception, the series lasted 3 seasons and Scream (2022) earned over $140 million worldwide. Proving that the franchise can continue and be popular without focusing on Sidney.

Unfortunately, the films have wrung every drop out of satirizing slasher films. So short of a full reboot if the series is to remain ongoing Sidney can’t be a constant forever. But with interesting new leads like Sam and Tara and legacy actors still on board the series has the potential to please fans old and new. Of course, Sidney could always return if next time the studio makes Neve Campbell a better offer. But why bring back one of the most beloved final girls when you can save some money?

Also Read: Carry On Screaming: Scream 5 Revives The Series

The post The Future of Scream Without Sidney Prescott appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Today we will review how Scream (2022) managed to succeed at the box office. As well as what we know about the upcoming sequel and what this means for the franchise moving forward.

Screaming Success

On a budget of around $24 million Scream (2022) managed to rake in over $138 million. This makes it a much more successful franchise revival than Scream 4 and shows that the franchise can still draw an audience.

How did the film achieve this? Firstly, the film was released on January 14^th and it didn’t have much competition from new releases. Many of the high-grossers on the week of release were films like Spiderman: No Way Home, The King’s Man and Sing 2. Which had been in the box office charts for weeks. Scream (2022) gave cinemagoers something fresh to watch.

Secondly, it had a strong marketing campaign that hit the ground running. The first trailer was released in October 2021 and a steady stream of social media and physical campaigns helped keep interest up. There was not 6 months of long build-up, Scream (2022)’s marketing was very tight and well-paced.

And it had the benefit of being a franchise film. Meaning it already had an existing audience. But with it also marketing itself as a requel focusing on new characters it drew in new viewers as well. All of this came together to make Scream (2022) a solid box office performer.

Scream 6: What We Know?

Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment officially announced the development of the next Scream sequel less than a month after Scream (2022)’s release. All we currently know is that directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett as well as writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick will be returning to helm the project. It is set to start shooting this summer.

Good or Bad?

Now on the one hand it is nice to see the Scream franchise return triumphantly to the big screen. The series holds a special place in many horror fans’ hearts. So to see it return at the height of nostalgic requels is incredibly appropriate. Even though series creators Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson (beyond an executive producer role) were not involved fans and critics seem to appreciate this film’s handling of the series’ legacy.

The danger of another sequel this soon is that it risks transforming Scream into just another slasher series. Previous films always skewered a breadth of horror and general movie tropes. Slasher tropes, sequel tropes, tropes of trilogy conclusions, tropes for reboots, and now tropes for requels. But with requel sequels being less of a phenomenon the series has comparatively little to parody. Thus it could be less effective. Alternatively, it can just focus on its own mythology however that means it would lose part of its unique identity.

A new Scream sequel should be handled carefully. Especially if, as James Vanderbilt admitted, a sequel was not planned.

Conclusion

Scream (2022) proved me wrong. It became a huge success thanks to its tight marketing, a good choice of release date with a lack of new competition, and it pulled in a huge audience of horror fans and general audiences, old and new. Scream 6 was inevitable. Still, cranking out another sequel so soon risks the series losing something special. Personally, I want the series to wait for the right moment to return. Rather than rushing ahead simply to chase box office returns.

Also Read: Netflix Horror Movie Written Entirely Using Artificial Intelligence

The post Carry On Screaming: Scream 5 Revives The Series appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

09:00 – Start off with something light and gentle the brilliant Gravity Falls. A Disney cartoon about twins Dipper and Mabel Pines who spend the summer with Great Uncle (or Gruncle) Stan in the mysterious and bizarre town of Gravity Falls. Try episodes Headhunters and Little Giftshop of Horrors, the first concerning sinister wax dummies and the second a trio of scary stories.

Streaming Service: Disney+.

10:00 – Still in more comic territory move onto What We Do In The Shadows (the tv series), the story of four vampires and one familiar living in Staten Island. The couple of Laszlo and Nadja are currently the best couple on television and their vampire nature only adds to their greatness. Recommended episodes – The Curse, the technologically challenged vampires believe they are cursed by a chain email, and On The Run, where Laszlo goes on the run to get away from a vampire who wants to kill him and takes on the persona of Jackie Daytona, a “regular human bartender”.

Streaming Service: Disney+.

11:00 – We all know the best Halloween special episodes are The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror. The undisputed champion is Treehouse of Horror V, containing three short stories of a brilliant homage to The Shining, Homer upsetting the timeline with his time machine toaster and the nightmare scenario of cannibalistic teachers.

Streaming Service: Disney+.

12:00 – Moving more into horror we have Cabin In The Woods the fantastic meta-horror film. Funny and genuinely horrific it is a reference heavy fan letter to horror films and finally explains why people make all those terrible decisions in films.

Streaming Service: Netflix.

14:00 – To make it a double-bill of reference-laden homage to horror next we have Scream, perhaps the definitive 90s horror. This film spelt out all the rules you need to know to survive a slasher horror and the Drew Barrymore phone conversation opening scene is genuinely brilliant.

Streaming Service: IMDB TV via Amazon.

16:00 – One of the best horrors of recent years is the Iranian film Under The Shadow, set during the Iran-Iraq war of the 90s a mother and daughter find themselves trapped with an evil spirit whilst a literal unexploded bomb has smashed through the roof of their apartment building.

Streaming Service: Netflix.

17:30 – Film legend Bruce Campbell returned to the role that made him famous with Ash Vs Evil Dead where a much older Ash is once again drawn into the world of deadites and general evil.

Streaming Service: Netflix.

18:00 – One of the most shocking films I have ever seen is up next with Hereditary. A film with about three different kinds of horror going on at once with amazing performances from the cast (Toni Collette deserved an Oscar nomination at the very least). It’s a film that for the next few months you’ll flinch every time you remember it.

20:30 – The fantastically fun Ready or Not is a great recent horror film filled with horrible rich people, excessive violence and creepy games. Grace is marrying into a super-rich family who made their money through games and has a number of unsettling traditions regarding people joining their family.

Streaming Service: Disney+.

10:30 – A film that is so scary it continues to cause phobias to this day – Jaws. Proof that you don’t need anything supernatural to be scary or even see the bad guy for most of the film Jaws is a masterpiece of horror and tension. There are not many films that can scare you with a monologue – Jaws can.

Streaming Service: Netflix.

01:00 – Trust the BBC to bring in some classics to end the evening and send you off to bed with nightmares and so we move to Poltergeist, this 1982 film should have been directed by Steven Spielberg (and some suggest it really was) but wasn’t contractually allowed to direct it at the time. A landmark in horror and has entered the common cultural landscape with references to people talking to their tv and the dangers of building houses on cemeteries popping up in many films and tv shows.

Streaming Service: BBC iPlayer

Also Read: A Horror Fans Film Guide To 2021

The post Halloween: A Whole Day Of Horror appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.

Now with Scream 5 being announced, it seems like a good time to ask what will be coming from the new movie? What the franchise mainstays have been up to? As well as reflect on the series as a whole and ask if Scream’s return is good or bad?

Scream 5: What to expect

Currently, details about Scream 5 are thin. Apparently, the films plot, “will follow a woman returning to her hometown to try to find out who has been committing a series of vicious crimes.”

However Scream 5 will mark a huge departure for the franchise, as writer Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven won’t be involved. Instead, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett who made the well-reviewed Ready or Not and the poorly received Devils Due will be directing. And Guy Busick (who wrote Ready or Not) and James Vanderbilt (whose credits include Zodiac and the Amazing Spiderman series) will be writing.

David Arquette is returning as Dewey Riley but it’s currently unknown if Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox will return as Sidney Prescott and Gail Weathers (Campbell is apparently in talks to appear, but this hasn’t yet been confirmed). Which could leave the series without two of its main stars.

Where are they now?

So, what have the series regulars been up to since Scream 4?

Series creator Kevin Williamson has created several original TV shows including The Following and Stalker. And has adapted several pre-existing properties for the small screen. Including continuing to write for Vampire Diaries; creating Time After Time and Tell Me a Story.

David Arquette remains a prolific actor, with starring and supporting roles in a variety of cult projects. Such as the film Bone Tomahawk and tv shows like Creepshow. Neve Campbell has continued with a steady workload. Starring in the likes of Skyscraper and lending supporting turns to the likes of House of Cards, while also focusing on raising her two children. And Courteney Cox has been very busy since Scream 4. She released her directorial debut Just Before I Go in 2014. She continued her starring role in Cougar Town until 2015. Produced several projects, through her production company Coquette Productions (including Cougar town, Just Before I Go and Celebrity Name Game) and solo (recently producing 9 months with Courteney Cox and the upcoming Last Chance U). And coupled with being an activist and a parent it would be understandable if Cox is too busy to return.

And Wes Craven sadly passed away in 2015. Scream 4 was his final directorial credit.

Can Scream maintain its power?

But is it possible for Scream to hold up in today’s world? Unfortunately, the series’ diminishing returns indicate that a new Scream won’t perform well.

The original Scream was a hit, making $173,046,663 worldwide. It also received critical and audience praise for its ridiculing of slasher tropes. Scream 2 focused on slasher sequel trappings, more elaborate death scenes, bigger body count etc. and while still a hit, it wasn’t as big as its predecessor, making $172,363,301. This entry received critical praise, but audiences were more lukewarm. Scream 3, the supposedly final entry (written by Ehren Kruger but still directed by Craven), which took broader shots at movie trilogies made $161,834,276 and was hated by audiences and critics. Scream 4, released 11 years later, parodied horror remakes while being more of a soft-reboot. With the surviving original cast members teaming up with younger leads. It was more well-received by audiences and critics than Scream 3 (Williamson returned as the writer) but only took $97,231,420. A series low.

Truthfully, Scream has done everything it can with its premise. It’s parodied slasher movies, their sequels, their supposed concluding chapters, and even the soft-reboot before its modern popularity with the likes of Halloween (2018). A full-on reboot with new leads is all that’s left. But by bringing Arquette’s Dewey back, Scream 5 doesn’t seem to be doing that. Also, full-fledged slasher films aren’t as prominent anymore. And with the likes of A24 and Blumhouse delivering horror films that play with conventions and audience expectations in a more effective and braver way (tackling race relations, religion, and more), a new Scream film wouldn’t offer much new. Lastly, it doesn’t seem respectful to continue on without Wes Craven. He was the man who directed every franchise entry. And without him, the franchise should be left in peace.

Conclusion

But those are just my thoughts. What do you think about the Scream 5 news? Please let me know.

Also Read: What Happens To Your Brain When Watching A Horror Film

The post Scream 5: What We Know and Is Scream Still Relevant? appeared first on Big Picture Film Club.