Warning: This text comprises main spoilers for “Scream 7.”
Who knew that “Scream 7” would flip right into a far greater reunion than anybody might’ve anticipated? The advertising has actually performed up the nostalgia of all of it, from Neve Campbell’s return as Sidney Prescott (now going by the title Sidney Evans) to the extra meta narrative surrounding unique “Scream” author Kevin Williamson taking his flip within the director’s chair. There have been even all of the sly hints and teases about the potential resurrection of 1 Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), including yet one more layer to what this sequel has going for it.
Whereas the overly-nostalgic ultimate outcome is not what a few of us might’ve hoped for with “Scream 7,” the movie’s greatest surprises are sure to depart followers buzzing. No, the Stu who ceaselessly tortures Sidney in all these Skype calls might not have been the actual Stu, however the impact this has on our franchise ultimate woman’s psyche isn’t any much less profound. And that is earlier than the largest gut-punch of all goes down within the third act, when Sidney is lured again to the not-so-safe confines of her residence and he or she’s handled to a haunted home stuffed with some critically sick thoughts video games.
This includes a parade of cameos displayed in much more of these AI-recreated movies depicting varied figures from Sidney’s previous. There’s Stu, in fact, who seems to be Anna Camp’s unassuming mother, Jessica Bowden, pulling the strings. However her deviousness extends to much more traumatizing reminiscences of Sidney’s previous experiences. Longtime “Scream” followers will acknowledge the acquainted face of Laurie Metcalf’s Nancy Loomis, the heartbroken mom of Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), and Scott Foley’s Roman Bridger, Sidney’s half-brother from “Scream 3.” And, naturally, there’s David Arquette’s Dewey Riley for some further heartbreak. Here is how they match into “Scream 7.”
Scream 7 options blasts from the previous for followers of each Scream 2 and three
“It is at all times somebody you understand,” as “Scream 7” reminds us on a number of events concerning the true id of the killer sporting the Ghostface masks, however that is taking it to a complete different stage. For individuals who know their “Scream” lore, just like the poor “Stab”-obsessed sufferer within the movie’s chilly open sequence (performed by Jimmy Tatro), the climactic moments in Sidney’s home should have set off all types of alarm bells. The primary unfriendly face that Sidney sees on a display screen is Mrs. Nancy Loomis, the girl who initially goes by the alias of Debbie Salt. The ending of “Scream 2” unmasks her as one of many killers (alongside Timothy Olyphant’s companion in crime Mickey), reminding Sidney of the earliest betrayal she skilled with Billy within the unique 1996 movie.
The second cameo hits simply as near residence, particularly for many who keep in mind the occasions of “Scream 3.” The trilogy-capper focuses most on Sidney’s fractured way of thinking and her makes an attempt to maneuver on from the primary two movies. However, unbeknownst to her, she has been associating all together with yet one more threatening determine bent on revenge. The ultimate act of “Scream 3” reveals that Roman Bridger is each Sidney’s half brother and the person answerable for killing her mom — a double whammy that clearly nonetheless haunts Sidney all these years later.
However it is not till the AI picture shifts to a ghostly video of Dewey Riley, our lovable hero brutally killed off in 2022’s “Scream,” that Sidney clearly has had sufficient. This and the visage of Stu Macher taunting her incessantly are merely an excessive amount of to take. It is solely when she steps exterior, nevertheless, that she realizes the gravest risk of all.
Scream 7 saves its greatest twist of the knife for final
Man, Sidney actually wants a protracted trip. The truth that the franchise’s unique star has needed to undergo all of those harrowing nightmares is unhealthy sufficient, however “Scream 7” nearly takes issues a bit of too far. Not solely does this unearth all of the PTSD from her previous (which “Scream 3” admittedly tied right into a satisfying conclusion to her arc), however her family members at the moment are positioned instantly in hurt’s means. Making issues worse is the reveal that her husband Mark (Joel McHale) and daughter Tatum (Isabel Could) are subsequent on the chopping block. Mark is already close to loss of life, however the villainous Ghostface Jessica Bowden forces Tatum to observe as she plans to homicide her mother proper in entrance of her — thus creating a complete new cycle of violence that, in her twisted thoughts, would flip Tatum into the following Sidney Prescott.
It is a brutal twist of the knife, and “Scream 7” actually makes a meal of it … however at what value? It would not assist that the assorted cameos really feel proper on the sting of turning into gratuitous. Since they solely seem in video calls, somewhat than any dream sequences or hallucinations (because the earlier two motion pictures did with Skeet Ulrich’s Billy Loomis), they can not assist however really feel oddly indifferent from the motion. And looming massive overhead is the Sidney of all of it as effectively. Here is but one other horrific occasion added to her ever-growing checklist of traumas. With the ending leaving itself considerably open to extra sequels to return, together with the movie’s wholesome field workplace prospects, it is honest to wonder if our favourite scream queen will ever truly get the closure she deserves. That is as bleak because it will get.
“Scream 7” is now enjoying in theaters.
