Scream 7 First Reviews: Neve Campbell is Fierce in Brutal but Familiar Thriller
Critics say it's a fairly by-the-books affair, but it's elevated by great performances and packed with Easter eggs for fans.
With the franchise’s 30th anniversary approaching, Scream 7 heads to theaters this weekend, and the first reviews have arrived online with mixed appreciation. Neve Campbell returns for the new installment, which is co-written and directed by the original’s scribe, Kevin Williamson, as a new Ghostface killer terrorizes her family. While some feel this sequel marks a comeback after the last few movies, and Campbell’s performance and some fresh kills are worthy of admission alone, others see a stale series limping along in pursuit of relevance.
Here’s what critics are saying about Scream 7:
Is the Scream franchise back?
The Scream franchise just got fun again… Scream 7 is a return to form.
— Kristy Puchko, Mashable
Scream 7 proves sturdier than expected… enough to justify its existence.
— Peter Gray, The AU Review
It may have taken 30 years for Williamson to finally get to steer his own ship, but with Scream 7, it proves well worth the wait. Fans will approve.
— Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
Scream 7 is far more engaging than any seventh film in a horror franchise has any right to be… a solid entry in a franchise that felt like it was beginning to lose its way.
— Anthony O’Connor, FILMINK
It is an entertaining movie, but it isn’t unmissable.
— Grant Watson, Fiction Machine
If you skip Scream 7, you’re not missing the best film in the franchise.
— William Bibbiani, TheWrap
Williamson has gone back to basics, but the result is a Scream sequel that, while it nods in the direction of being seductively convoluted, is really just… basic.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
A disappointing sequel in a saga that has never failed so evidently.
— Manuel São Bento, Movies We Texted About
For fans of the franchise, Scream 7 will prove to be nothing but a waste of time.
— Gregory Nussen, Screen Rant
Does it improve upon the last few installments?
Scream 7 operates as an exercise in what those films are ironically lacking: horror filmmaking fundamentals.
— Taylor Williams, Slant Magazine
This sequel makes terrific departures from the franchise’s weakest points.
— Kristy Puchko, Mashable
Where Scream 7 works best is in its intergenerational dynamic… The mother-daughter relationship provides emotional grounding amid the bloodshed.
— Peter Gray, The AU Review
It’s one heck of an apology to Neve Campbell. Almost every scene is about how important Sidney Prescott is.
— William Bibbiani, TheWrap
Where does it rank in the franchise?
Scream 7 may not be the best of the bunch, but it’s damn close.
— Kristy Puchko, Mashable
Tonally, this is one of the campier entries in the franchise.
— Peter Gray, The AU Review
It’s one of the weaker films in the series, but it manages to pull off everything you’d expect from a Scream movie.
— Jonathan Sim, ComingSoon.net
[It has] one of the worst Ghostface reveals of the series.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
It snatches the title of weakest entry in the series away from Scream 3.
— Cain Noble-Davies, FILMINK
There are no bad Scream movies (yet). Even the worst one is kind of alright, and this is the worst one.
— William Bibbiani, TheWrap
How is the screenplay?
What makes this franchise so appealing is… a well-worn formula that still works and keeps us guessing in classic murder-mystery fashion.
— Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
The film commits to the mystery structure with admirable patience.
— Peter Gray, The AU Review
Well aware of the fatigue that inevitably surrounds a series this old, Williamson and co-writer Guy Busick’s script fixates on, well, age.
— Taylor Williams, Slant Magazine
The premise is strong… It’s a shame the screenplay cannot live up to that promise.
— Doug Jamieson, The Jam Report
The overfamiliarity would be more palatable if the dialogue were as fresh and funny as it was in the early installments.
— Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
The minor gags throughout cause a few eyerolls, but the attempts to juggle them along with the more serious moments give the film an odd vibe.
— Cain Noble-Davies, FILMINK
The script by Williamson and Guy Busick just doesn’t give Neve Campbell much to work with.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
Does it feel fresh enough?
Williamson clearly knows how to freshen up a series long in the tooth.
— Pete Hammond, Deadline Hollywood Daily
It seems like Williamson’s motivating factor in making this film is partly just to demonstrate that there’s still life in the Scream franchise, and he proves that he still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
— Taylor Williams, Slant Magazine
This one does have surprises, but they are quite tame by Scream standards.
— Lou Thomas, NME
For a film series that’s been consistently forward-thinking and made by those who don’t just love horror, but study horror, it’s quite the letdown.
— Cain Noble-Davies, FILMINK
What we’re left with is a sequel that is repetitive, bland, and ultimately generic, possibly the worst thing for a Scream movie to be.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
Is it still properly meta?
It winks knowingly at its own formula – particularly during the killer’s inevitable motive monologue, which is delivered with an almost gleeful self-awareness.
— Peter Gray, The AU Review
There’s a tiny bit, but it does lose one of the key ingredients that make this franchise so smart from time to time. That may be the biggest disappointment because it can feel like a more generic slasher without that ingredient.
— Jonathan Sim, ComingSoon.net
This surprisingly refreshing take on familiar material is unconcerned with meta discussions about where the film stands in the canon.
— Taylor Williams, Slant Magazine
The self-awareness that once made these films razor-sharp is largely absent. This is a Scream entry that feels oddly uninterested in dissecting its own existence.
— Doug Jamieson, The Jam Report
does it cater too much to fans?
Scream 7 doesn’t just wink at the long-time Scream fans, who are greedily eying every frame for Easter eggs. It waves at us with a fervent reminder that knowing about these movies doesn’t mean you’d survive them.
— Kristy Puchko, Mashable
Williamson does what all horror fans crave by giving them the genre tropes they’re entitled to, along with a splash of surprises. It’s a demanding double act accomplished with aplomb.
— Jim Schembri, jimshembri.com
At times, the callbacks threaten to overwhelm the narrative, but the affection behind them is palpable rather than cynical.
— Peter Gray, The AU Review
Is it too nostalgic for the original?
Williams gives us a hearty dose of nostalgia and Easter eggs while providing new ideas, weird reveals, and fresh chills.
— Kristy Puchko, Mashable
It’s an exercise in nostalgia that… ends up becoming a victim of its own lack of vision and originality.
— Manuel São Bento, Movies We Texted About
Nostalgia becomes a crutch rather than a tool.
— Doug Jamieson, The Jam Report
How are the kills?
Several kills rank among the most violent in the series.
— Doug Jamieson, The Jam Report
It does deliver a couple of impressively brutal kills.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
The kills in Scream 7 are excellent, with a few eliciting genuine winces and groans from myself, and the opening sequence was brilliantly executed.
— Matt Hudson, What I Watched Tonight
The gore is deployed with mischievous creativity… A brutal dispatch involving a beer tap stands out as one of the series’ more memorably grisly moments.
— Peter Gray, The AU Review
Although [the] kill sequences are never as stylish as those in the previous two films, they’re often more impactful for their simplicity and brutality.
— Anthony O’Connor, FILMINK
There are at least two kills in Scream 7 which rank among the best, or at least goriest, in the series, but most come and go with little fanfare.
— William Bibbiani, TheWrap
The kills in Scream 7 are more vicious than they’ve been before, but never in a way that comes as a result of genuine tension building.
— Gregory Nussen, Screen Rant
With the exception of an initial murder on a theater stage, there isn’t a single death in Scream 7 that truly stands out.
— Manuel São Bento, Movies We Texted About
Is it scary?
Ghostface still knows how to stage great jump scares that feel earned rather than cheaply thrown in.
— Doug Jamieson, The Jam Report
The Scream films have rarely been “terrifying” in a traditional sense, and Scream 7 follows suit: tension is amped rather than oppressive, jump scares are efficiently staged.
— Peter Gray, The AU Review
Simply put, Scream 7 isn’t very scary.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Does anyone in the cast stand out?
I especially found Isabel May to be perfect as Sidney Prescott’s daughter, Tatum.
— Karina Adelgaard, Heaven of Horror
May is the great revelation, managing to make Sidney’s daughter the most interesting and empathetic figure in Scream 7, demonstrating enough talent to deserve a more robust script.
— Manuel São Bento, Movies We Texted About
If there is one unequivocal triumph here, it’s Campbell. She understands Sidney in a way few actors understand a character this long-lived.
— Doug Jamieson, The Jam Report
Campbell is at a franchise-best here… the single-best reason to experience this latest sequel.
— Grant Watson, Fiction Machine
You can always rely on Neve Campbell to bring the goods… She delivers another solid performance to further cement her legacy in the genre.
— Matt Hudson, What I Watched Tonight
MVP is Courteney Cox, back as tart-mouthed reporter Gale Weathers.
— Simon Foster, Screen-Space
Will we be left wanting more Scream movies?
If Scream 7 is a hit (and it should be), then I’m sure we’ll get yet another sequel. And yes, I will be ready to watch that one as well.
— Karina Adelgaard, Heaven of Horror
Maybe Tatum can become the new new lead character of this series going forward. If that happens, though, let’s hope there’s actually some new ground for her to follow rather than this bland retread.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
Fresh blood could keep the series alive while finally allowing Sidney to step away in peace. But should this be the last we see of her, it functions as a satisfying, if slightly overstuffed, farewell.
— Peter Gray, The AU Review
Maybe the next one should be about what happens when horror franchises spin their wheels. The filmmakers could watch Scream 7 for research.
— William Bibbiani, TheWrap
The time has long passed for the franchise to end… Sidney and the Scream franchise deserve peace. Or at least we do.
— Gregory Nussen, Screen Rant
Scream 7 opens in theaters on February 27, 2026.
