*There will be spoilers in this review*
There have always been mixed reviews of the American slasher franchise, Scream, due to its satirical nature, because Scream is unique for a horror franchise. It expertly mixes comedy and gore and tends to make fun of horror movies and their predictable cliches, which is sometimes interpreted as cringy. The first Scream movie revitalized the horror genre in the 1990s by having the characters be fully aware of these slasher stereotypes, breaking the fourth wall and creating a sort of meta-horror subgenre. The franchise is also well known for their shocking opening scenes, typically starting off with a graphic murder or attack to introduce the new ghostface killer. The Scream movies have never leaned into the supernatural, unlike numerous movies within the genre—the killer is always a normal person and not an actual ghost, which grounds the threat and makes the setting more relatable and real.
Sidney Prescott is the protagonist of the Scream franchise. She first appeared in Scream (1996), and then in five sequels in the subsequent years, including the newly released Scream 7 (2026).
Scream 7 follows Sidney Prescott and her daughter, Tatum Prescott, who was named after Tatum Riley, Sidney’s best friend who was killed in the original Scream. The seventh installment in the franchise encompasses everything Scream is and always has been: jump scares, ghostfaces, and creepy phone calls.
The film has been critiqued online for being incredibly predictable, which I think is just a given for the Scream movies at this point. All of the sequels have the new killer making some sort of recreation of the original ghostface killings or the fictional Stab movies based off of them within the Scream franchise. There isn’t much you can do to make the reveal shocking after six films, which often leads to disappointment for viewers who know the movies well.
That’s where Scream usually fills in the gap with jump scares and unpredictable choices made by the characters, because one can assume that all of the side characters will end up dead in the end.
Overall, I enjoyed Scream 7 because I didn’t go in with high expectations for it to be something brand new. The jump scares kept me guessing, which I believe is what makes the franchise as fun as it is. I liked that it was revealed that there were multiple ghostfaces pretty early in the film, because it kept me guessing until the end at who the final killer could be. I didn’t love the final reveal, though, because there was absolutely no way to have guessed that the Prescott’s neighbor might be the killer. We only see her once at the beginning of the movie, with no hints that she might be crazy, before she is revealed as one of the ghostfaces with a motive that ultimately had nothing to do with Sidney or her family (and if it did, the logic of how and why was completely flawed).
Apart from the final reveal, I think the rest of the movie was solid. Maybe a bit predictable, but as I said, that’s something you should always assume going into these movies. Scream 7 might’ve been a bit difficult to understand for viewers who haven’t seen all the Scream movies, because there are a lot of references to characters from the original movies without too much explanation for who they are.
Another critique I had for the movie was the heavy use of new-age technology like AI and other gadgets. Throughout the film, the audience is led to believe that the killer is Stu Macher, one of the original ghostfaces, despite the fact that he supposedly died years before. The killers use AI technology to simulate a Stu look-alike. I usually don’t enjoy it when movies, especially horror ones, rely heavily on modern day technologies within the plot.
I thoroughly enjoyed the humor in the movie, which is something else Scream is well known for. While the humor at times can be cringy, or just flat out bad, it makes the experience of watching the movie very fun and unique compared to most horror movies. One minute you’re jumping, and the next you’re laughing, but overall it’s a fun ride.
Scream 7 definitely holds nostalgia for the original films, but to a certain extent that nostalgia has already been visited in the previous sequels. If you’re looking for something new and unpredictable, this movie probably isn’t for you. But if you’re ready to see your favorite characters and watch a familiar story play out—with a few new twists, of course—then Scream 7 will be perfect.
