Since the original Scream was released in 1996, Hollywood has kept going back to the well for more sequels with diminishing results.
The franchise was largely dead in the water until Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett helmed Scream V in 2022.
That duo returned to direct Scream VI in 2023, which is one of the best horror sequels Watch With Us has ever seen.
Scream VI is currently streaming on Netflix, but not for much longer. If you’ve never seen this great sequel before, here are three reasons to watch Scream VI before it leaves Netflix this month.
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‘Scream VI’ Gives Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera a Bigger Spotlight
Neve Campbell refused to return for Scream VI over a pay dispute. That left the door open for her younger costars, Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, to truly move into the leading roles. Ortega was barely featured in Scream V because her character, Tara Carpenter, was being held captive. This time, Ortega had a lot more to do as Tara tried to settle into her life in New York without being smothered by her older half-sister, Sam (Barrera).
Barrera had an even larger spotlight than Ortega, as audiences glimpsed Sam’s increasingly tenuous grasp on her sanity. Sam had very good reasons to believe that she was losing her mind, including conversations with her dead father, whom she had never met. Sam also had a desire to protect Tara at all costs, even when her constant presence was pushing her younger half-sister away from her. By keeping the Carpenter siblings together for most of the movie, Scream VI finally made them feel like a real family.
There Are Some Killer Cameos From the Past
Although Campbell didn’t return for this sequel, Skeet Ulrich — one of the stars of the original Scream — had a fun comeback as Billy Loomis, Sam’s murderous father. Since Billy had been dead for decades, only Sam could see and hear him as he goaded her to follow in his footsteps. It’s a genuinely creepy turn that never becomes a real ghost story.
Courteney Cox continued her streak as the only cast member to appear in every Scream movie, and seeing her back as Gale Weathers is always fun. Scream VI went even further by bringing Hayden Panettiere back as Kirby Reed, a character who was assumed to be dead in Scream 4. Kirby’s return as an FBI agent wasn’t entirely convincing, but it did play into the larger mystery of the film.
‘Scream VI’ Keeps the Audience Guessing About the Killer’s Identity
Each of the Scream movies has attempted to confuse the audience about the identity of the Ghostface killer, often by introducing multiple killers. Scream VI is no exception, but it ups the stakes by including more killers than any previous film. More impressively, it manages to keep suspicion alive in the minds of the audience by killing some of the most likely suspects.
Even Kirby is suspected to be the killer at one point, and the movie waits until very late in the story to confirm whether she is or isn’t. Admittedly, some of the reveals are a little convoluted, but the current slate of killers was some of the most formidable adversaries in a Scream movie to date. Scream VII is going to have its work cut out for it if the franchise is ever going to top Scream VI.
Scream VI is streaming on Netflix until July 24.
