THRILLS & CHILLS: “Scream 7” (2026)

(Source: IMDb) 

One of the most famous moments in the original Scream from 1996 showcases cinephile Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) as he presents the three rules for surviving horror movies. In a similar vein, there are things that have been common in this intriguing-yet-complicated film series over the last thirty years. 1) It represents meta commentary, as well as satire, on the tropes and cliches within the genre. 2) It’s made iconic figures out of its engaging, up-and-coming cast with each respective installment. And 3) The narratives in each film (plot or not) have had at least one or more chilling, whodunit murder-mystery reveals. 

That certainly was the case with the last two “re-quels” (2022’s Scream and 2023’s Scream VI), the former of which had series veterans Neve Campbell (as final girl Sidney Prescott), David Arquette (as officer Dewey Riley), and Courtney Cox (as reporter Gale Weathers) teaming up with a new group of young adult victims (led by Marisa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, as sisters Sam and Tara Carpenter) to face off against the mysterious Ghostface killer. A third film would’ve centered on the Carpenter sisters once again. But then Barrera was fired over controversial social media posts, while Ortega had scheduling conflicts with another project. As such, prior directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Oplin (a.k.a. Radio Silence) were eventually replaced by series creator Kevin Williamson, with a new story centered on Sidney Prescott (a return for Campbell after a pay dispute that resulted in her absence from the previous entry) and her teenage daughter and friends becoming Ghostface’s next victims. (They did the same thing with the Halloween reboot in 2018.) 

If you’ve seen every movie up to now, and have been paying attention to the trailers for Scream 7, it might seem obvious who the masked killer is this time around. (Or is it?) On one hand, it’s great to see Campbell and Cox back, and leading a dynamic cast (including Isabel May as daughter Tatum, Joel McHale as husband Mark, and Mason Gooding & Jasmin Savoy Brown as siblings Chad & Mindy; and yes, that’s still Roger Jackson as the voice of Ghostface) in a potential revenge story that initially seems like a full circle moment for Sidney’s decades-long arc. Plus, any expectations we have regarding plot twists, iconic franchise elements, generational trauma, the use of AI, motifs of characters with trust issues and/or hidden agendas, and potential suspects, are kicked to the curb. The effect can also be polarizing and nihilistic. Not to mention violent and gory to a fault. (Seriously, if you thought the last two were gruesome, this one takes it up many notches.) 

But the biggest problem this film has isn’t just that it’s less meta and more plot-driven (many steps down from Scream VI, if you ask me). Its resolution and final twist proves to be a letdown. The more I think about it, the more I’m unsure how this effectively connects to the rest of the movie. Ghostface’s targets are less directed towards movies than to the real people that influenced them. If it had more of the former, it would’ve been more effective. Which is not to say that Scream 7 is devoid of genuine thrills, chills, and scares. It has plenty to spare, with help from Marco Beltrami’s score. Still, the end result makes what could’ve been a continuing—though now abandoned?—arc with the Carpenter sisters sound more promising. At least, from an effectively aesthetic perspective. That would’ve been a scream.