Scream VI

I’m a moron for always expecting any kind of basic logic in these movies. That's as naive as believing in Santa Claus at 24 or that vaccines cause autism. In terms of the slasher genre, it's certainly a good piece – the murders, the blood and the body-count, which by no means essential, innovative or devastating, are all pretty much okay and not offensive. Likewise, the occasionally built-up atmosphere (subway...), the attempted twists and turns, or the on-again, off-again "guess who the killer is" game can keep the viewer entertained, and the New York setting is a decent change. But for God's sake the rest is one big mess and shitfest. I'm literally amazed that any sane person puts this out into the world and no one is surprised at the overall stupidity. The characters? Total idiots over and over again. Logic? The director left that in his living room before coming on set. In short, nothing outside of the slasher genre works here at all, everyone does one f*ck up after another, running around like confused chickens and charging at Ghostface with open arms, and if anyone counters me with the "you're being an asshole again and not enjoying a slasher flick" argument then sorry, but even this has its limits and to have all the characters running around with 20 (yes, 20) stab wounds, smiling at each other like they're on a moonlit walk and pouring their hearts out with adorable dialogue, that's just odd and it’s unfortunately becoming more common in this franchise and getting worse from generation to generation until I'm actually curious where this will eventually end up. From a purely entertaining slasher standpoint, it’s a passable 4*, but everything surrounding it drastically spoils the experience, and when you laugh at the comical aura around the murders, something is wrong. Purely on the basis that it's thankfully a good popcorn movie for the cinema, I give it a merciful 3*, but objectively I won't remember the film tomorrow and it's just stupidly below average. Now go on, go to the cinema and pour your biased five stars here, so the sheep have something to cheer about (03/09/2023)

"Liposuction for everyone!", or looking at Courteney Cox here, I wonder if this wasn't originally made as a sequel to The Mummy. Man, why can’t Hollywood actresses age naturally? And the film itself? Well, it actually it needs a heavy dose of botox, a dose of botox of invention, because this is nothing but a compilation of what we've seen many times before and even breaking the fourth wall in one scene doesn't help. (05/06/2023)

Ghostface in the bright lights of the big city. The change of setting revitalized the most notorious horror meta franchise, as did the decent push towards aggressive actions by the killer(s) with dubious motives. However, the bloated length and the smearing of excrement on faces without masks once again revealed the staleness of previous entries. Two things struck me: the fact that some characters get a seven-inch-long Buck 120 hunting knife plunged into their abdomen and then, after a while, act as if they were just having their belly button cleaned, and that Courteney Cox is starting to look like a vampire from The Lost Boys. (05/03/2023)

Ghostface takes Manhattan. The final revelation is again pulled out of the filmmaker’s ass and this time it’s also a bit ridiculous. But the setting in New York City is nicely refreshing. There are a few surprising scenes, e.g. the store (the killer brazenly carries out his attacks in the public space), scenes with great but insufficiently exploited potential (the subway) and more multiple stabs to the gut after which the characters continue to function as if nothing had happened. The successfully revitalized franchise is becoming a strong but not very clever ditto machine for teenage audiences that could run forever. Scream VI is half a star weaker than the preceding instalment. The coolest scene is after the closing credits. (03/19/2023)

The new environment did not entirely benefit the series, but fortunately there is still something to build on. Courteney Cox is still great, we even got Hayden Panettiere back, and from the new party from the previous episode, the clear number one is Wednesday Jenna Ortega. If the creators keep their word, then I am already looking forward to the seventh film in the series. (05/31/2023)