Three decades after the original phone call, the phone rings again. But this time, it is different. There are new rules, higher stakes, and the mask return to play the same game. The question however remains the same, “What’s your favorite scary movie?”
Ghostface came for screams but left with a crown. “Scream 7” has an estimated $64.1 million box office domestically making it the biggest weekend in franchise history.
The “Scream” franchise falls under the meta-slasher genre because it does not just scare to scare; it is meant to examine. All the films are self-aware and follow the “horror rulebook.” With this, we see how the characters analyze past Ghostface(s) to predict what will happen next, making the franchise unique and sets it apart from the traditional slasher films.
The return of the legacy cast — Sidney Prescott (now Sidney Evans) Dewey Riley, Stu Macher and Gale Weathers made a nostalgic reunion that longtime fans waited to see. Their presence back on the big screen goes to show that the “Scream” franchise is not just about jump scares or the Ghostface reveal, but rather that it is about legacy and survival through the same shared trauma. While the characters are now older, seeing them again helps add weight to the stakes of the new generation of victims of Ghostface.
The movie starts back to where it all began: Woodsboro, California, inside the Macher house for the opening kill and the return of Ghostface. But goodbye Woodsboro, hello Pine Grove. Evans now has a daughter, Tatum, who is the same age as Evans was when the game all started, making her the new target. Pine Grove becomes the new center of terror, while there is a new generation and a new friend group who is going against the terror of Ghostface; Evans remains to be the emotional anchor.
Coming out of the game emerges a new “final girl,” Tatum. Unlike the traditional “final girl” trope, what is interesting about Tatum is that she truly is the parallel of her mother. Tatum finds herself in a similar situation that her mother was in a generation later. The film intentionally mirrors their situations of mistrust, fear and more to set up the new “scream queen” and the ultimate “final girl” trope. However, the circumstances are different, there is now the added factor of Evans going through this endless cycle in her teen years, so now Evans is doing everything that she can to protect and make sure this does not happen to Tatum. Yet even the protection is not enough to prevent it from happening, making the trauma generational.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, “Scream 7” ranks the lowest in the franchise at a 32 percent. “Scream 7” is seen to work well as a horror movie, but not as a “Scream” movie. The low reception of this film is due to the script feeling weak, boring and too nostalgic. But the true thing that the audience did not agree with, Ghostface reveals. In this film, what sets Ghostface apart from past ones is that these kills are far more brutal, and the chase scenes keep the audience on guard and on their toes.
We are now in the modern day with AI, or deepfakes, being involved with the kills. Yes, in the original “Scream” movies we always had a phone call, but now we have video calls using deepfakes to heighten the tension. With the integration of new and modern technology, it is bridging the old and new generation due to shared manipulation and psychological horrors.
As “Scream 7” most importantly warns, never trust anyone, never assume that the killer is dead and never answer the question, “what is your favorite scary movie?” Once you do, the game never ends.
