Scream VI
July 9, 2023
4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY REVIEW:
Street Date 7/11/23;
Paramount;
Horror;
Box Office $108.16 million.
$25.99 DVD, $31.99 Blu-ray, $34.99 UHD;
Rated ‘R’ for strong bloody violence and language throughout, and brief drug use.
Stars Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Hayden Panettiere, Dermot Mulroney, Jack Champion, Josh Segarra, Liana Liberato, Devyn Nekoda, Tony Revolori, Samara Weaving, Henry Czerny, Roger Jackson, Courteney Cox.
The self-aware “Scream” horror franchise finds yet another twist in how to resurrect the ubiquitous Ghostface killer while transplanting the mayhem to New York City.
After surviving the attacks of the previous film, Sam (Melissa Barrera) has moved to the Big Apple to be closer to her sister, Tara (Jenna Ortega), who is now in college with their friends Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding).
Predictably, they are attacked by the latest iteration of the Ghostface killer, and in accordance with the rules of long-running franchises, no one is safe, particularly legacy characters such as Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox).
Sam and her pals, now dubbed the “core four,” are aided in their efforts to stop Ghostface by a detective (Dermot Mulroney) who happens to be the father of Sam and Tara’s roommate, as well as returning legacy character Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), a former Ghostface target from the 2011 fourth film who is now an FBI agent with a keen interest in the case.
The film has some inventive action scenes and some effective fake-outs to keep the audience guessing as to the identity of the killer, while cleverly tying in the lore from all the previous films. Adding a wrinkle to the proceedings is that Sam, as the illegitimate daughter of original Ghostface Billy Loomis, has seemingly awakened an instinctive bloodlust thanks to defending herself from multiple murderers, which raises the question of whether she may be more dangerous than those trying to kill her. Her story arc would nicely bring the reign of Ghostfaces full circle should this be the final “Scream” movie (though based on the box office numbers, it seems unlikely it will be).
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The Scream VI Blu-ray includes a fun and informative commentary from several of the filmmakers, including directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, writers James Vanderbilt (also a producer) and Guy Busick, and executive producer Chad Villella.
Also included are more than an hour of behind-the-scenes featurettes. The eight-minute “Death Comes to the City” delves into moving the action from Woodsboro to New York; the 14-minute “Faces of Death” showcases the film’s cast and their appreciation for the franchise; the 10-and-a-half-minute “More Meta Than Meta” explores the many ways the franchise continues to reference itself; the five-minute “Bloodbath at a Bodega” focuses on the scene in which Ghostface attacks the characters in a market; the seven-and-a-half-minute “An Apartment to Die For” dissects Ghostface’s attack at the main characters’ apartment; the six-minute “The Night Train to Terror” checks out the film’s subway sequence; and the 11-minute “Theater of Blood” explores a key setpiece devoted to the nostalgia of the previous films.
A gag reel is available exclusively with digital copies of the film.