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Scream VI First Reviews: A Brutal, Top-Notch Addition to the Series

Early reviews say the latest installment is a gory treat for franchise fans that makes great use of its new setting and delivers satisfying thrills.

by | March 8, 2023 | Comments

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Ghostface takes Manhattan in Scream VI, which arrives just one year after the hit legacy “requel” simply titled Scream, and based on the first crop of reviews, this sixth installment looks like another success for the horror franchise. The movie’s initial positive Tomatometer score almost matches the 1996 original, improving upon the previous entry with gorier kills from returning directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (a.k.a. Radio Silence). However, most reviews point out that Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott is sorely missed this time around.

Here’s what critics are saying about Scream VI:


How does it compare to the other Scream movies?

The best Scream movie since the original.
– Lupe Rodriguez Haas, CineMovie.tv

The best sequel in the franchise yet.
– Amelia Emberwing, IGN Movies

Scream VI is… probably the most terrifying a Scream installment has been since the ‘90s, and it includes probably some of the most sweat-inducing set pieces yet.
– Joe Passmore, Attitude

Scream VI is one of the franchise’s best sequels and the series’ most inventive and character-driven entry.
– Phil Pirrello, AV Club

Scream VI is not the best movie in the Scream franchise, but it delivers exactly what it intends: horror entertainment that serves up plenty of gore with self-deprecating laughs.
– Carla Hay, Culture Mix

The film might be the most violent one to date, which is really saying something.
– Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

Scream VI cranks up the gore, but it lacks the sharp, clever nature of some of the earlier entries.
– Jeff Nelson, Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Ultimately, Scream VI delivers exactly what the fans expect, which is more of the same.
– Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter


Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega in Scream VI (2023)

(Photo by Philippe Bosse/©Paramount Pictures)

Does it improve upon the last movie?

Scream VI is even better than the last.
– Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

As successful, and incredibly fun, as the previous film was, Scream VI is even better.
– Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

Scream VI takes everything fans enjoyed about the previous movie, and turns the heat all the way up.
Joe Passmore, Attitude

It’s a step up from the fifth entry, but it could be so much more.
Jeff Nelson, Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Scream VI is the movie we should’ve gotten in the previous installment.
Lupe Rodriguez Haas, CineMovie.tv

It makes its immediate predecessor even better in retrospect.
– Heather Wixson, Daily Dead

To its credit, Scream VI is less cluttered with characters than 2022’s Scream.
Carla Hay, Culture Mix


Do you need to have seen the other movies?

Scream VI can be your intro to the series [as it] feels like the first story that detaches itself from the original Woodsboro survivors.
Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

It can be appreciated for what it brings to the proverbial table by long-time Scream fans and series newcomers alike.
Heather Wixson, Daily Dead

It expects viewers to know a lot about the Scream movies, in order to get most of the jokes.
Carla Hay, Culture Mix


Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mason Gooding in Scream VI (2023)

(Photo by Philippe Bosse/©Paramount Pictures)

Is it one of the better recent slasher films?

It’s a top-notch slasher, one that clearly is enjoying playing around with various tropes.
Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

It is a really exceedingly well-crafted modern slasher… It totally rules. Hard.
Heather Wixson, Daily Dead


How are the kills?

The murderous assaults in this film set a new bar for viciousness in the franchise.
Heather Wixson, Daily Dead

With new gutting moments and inventive stabs, Scream VI is bloody and finessed. The film manages to up the ante on kills without drowning them in blood.
Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

There are some satisfying kills along the way that will leave longtime fans cheering.
Jeff Nelson, Showbiz Cheat Sheet

It’s hard for any horror-thriller to shock me… but I was genuinely stunned at the level of bloodshed, and dammit I LOVED IT!.
Travis Hopson, Punch Drunk Critics

Knives also go inside body parts that even the most bloodthirsty viewers might wince watching, especially with a brutal blade twisting for good measure.
– Robert Kojder, Flickering Myth

The faint of heart will certainly look away during the most graphic scenes in the franchise.
Lupe Rodriguez Haas, CineMovie.tv

Some of the kills feel repetitive.
– Sean P. Means, Movie Cricket


The Ghostface Killer in Scream VI (2023)

(Photo by ©Paramount Pictures)

Is Ghostface really different this time?

Ghostface is a lot more terrifying, in that he slays in public with no fear of onlookers which is something we have not seen in any of the prior movies.
Lupe Rodriguez Haas, CineMovie.tv

This Ghostface is different, more brutal, and intent on punishment.
Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

Ghostface takes a more brazen approach to kill their victims, echoing public slaughters of the past. It’s the most brutal installment in the franchise yet, unafraid to show sheer barbarity.
Jeff Nelson, Showbiz Cheat Sheet

With Ghostface now bullish enough to enjoy a crowd, [one] scene becomes stiflingly tense as it progresses, the viewer unsure just how far it will go.
– Kat Hughes, THN


How is the change of scenery?

The new setting in the big city really adds an element of freshness to a franchise that has been heavily accused of relying too much on the past.
Joe Passmore, Attitude

The city becomes a menacing playground where you have no idea just where the danger could be coming at you from, and the NYC locale heightens the tension at play here in a truly exciting fashion that we’ve never really seen in a Scream movie before.
Heather Wixson, Daily Dead

The move to New York was my biggest concern heading into Scream VI, but it wound up being one of the film’s greatest strengths.
– Charlie Ridgely, ComicBook.com

The filmmakers taking advantage of that setting, namely with a supremely tense sequence inside an apartment complex.
Robert Kojder, Flickering Myth

While New York does figure into the setpieces – there’s an extended subway sequence with Ghostface knifing someone while the carriage goes dark – it feels as though it has little in the way of a purpose.
– Brian Lloyd, entertainment.ie


Ghostface in Scream VI (2023)

(Photo by Philippe Bosse/©Paramount Pictures)

Are there any surprises?

From the get-go, horror movie rules are broken with some shocking revelations you don’t see coming. The opening sequence will leave most viewers with their jaws on the floor.
Lupe Rodriguez Haas, CineMovie.tv

[The filmmakers] do something in this sequel so audacious that I loudly exclaimed, “Holy s–t” to myself while I was trying to determine if I was really seeing what I was seeing.
Heather Wixson, Daily Dead


How are the returning characters?

Barrera, Ortega, Gooding and Savoy Brown all get a ton of opportunities to shine in their respective roles… I truly fell in love with these characters.
Heather Wixson, Daily Dead

Barrera in particular is a force, while Ortega is even better this time around.
Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

Sam and Tara are stunning characters alone, but together they bolster each other with undeniably stellar sibling chemistry.
Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Savoy Brown is a sassy scene stealer with the Libby character, who has much better character development and funnier lines of dialogue than in 2022’s Scream.
Carla Hay, Culture Mix

Gale’s showdown with Ghostface [gives] Courteney Cox the best sequence she’s had in a Scream movie in some time.
– Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

Courteney Cox has her best scenes since Scream 2 – this really feels like the sharp and ruthless Gale that we knew so well.
Joe Passmore, Attitude

Courteney Cox’s Gale Weathers gets a face-off with Ghostface that proves one of the film’s highlights.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter


Samara Weaving in Scream VI (2023)

(Photo by ©Paramount Pictures)

Are there any standout newcomers?

Scream VI delivers with its secondary characters more than any franchise entry before.
Amelia Emberwing, IGN Movies

Dermot Mulroney really hams it up and delivers some of his lines in ways that are pure camp.
Carla Hay, Culture Mix

Of the new additions – and there are a lot of them – none quite hold attention, with the exception perhaps being Samara Weaving’s Laura.
Kat Hughes, THN


Will we miss Neve Campbell’s Sidney?

Campbell’s absence is felt… The story tries to explain her away, but it’s a miss.
Jeff Nelson, Showbiz Cheat Sheet

The problem isn’t the absence of Neve Campbell’s Sidney, though. It’s that said absence is explained in a throwaway line that’s about as well delivered as it was written.
Amelia Emberwing, IGN Movies

The absence of Neve Campbell doesn’t do anything to slow things or set things back, and in fact, it actually helps to free the thing from its past.
Brian Lloyd, entertainment.ie

Neve Campbell’s presence is still missed to a degree, but the rest of the cast more than make up for her absence.
Joe Passmore, Attitude

The returning Hayden Panettiere is an excellent legacy stand-in for Sidney’s absence.
Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy


Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega in Scream VI (2023)

(Photo by Philippe Bosse/©Paramount Pictures)

Does the movie stick the landing?

The film’s final act manages to be the biggest ending of a Scream film in ways that made me lean in and even restrain myself from jumping out of my seat in the middle of the theater.
Kate Sánchez, But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Of all the ridiculous and overblown albeit entertainingly grisly Scream finales, this might be the most outlandish and spectacularly brutal ending of all.
– Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times

There are several scenes in the third act that marry the beautiful and the macabre in very exciting ways.
Amelia Emberwing, IGN Movies

The revelation of the killer in the final act is jarring because it comes out of left field but at least it wasn’t predictable.
Lupe Rodriguez Haas, CineMovie.tv

The story hits a particularly sour note in its third act that it simply isn’t able to recover from, relying on an underwhelming reveal.
Jeff Nelson, Showbiz Cheat Sheet

The lackluster big finale… ends up being a mash-up of Scream elements we’ve seen before.
Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy

It’s almost as if the writers chickened out of the ending they initially wrote, and reverted back to something familiar and safe instead.
Brian Lloyd, entertainment.ie

Scream VI ends in the way all good horror movies should: With fans dying for more.
Phil Pirrello, AV Club


Ghostface in Scream VI (2023)

(Photo by Philippe Bosse/©Paramount Pictures)

Should the Scream franchise keep going?

Bring on another sequel!
Joey Magidson, Awards Radar

We cannot wait for the next one.
Joe Passmore, Attitude

The future of this franchise is bright with both Bettinell-Olpin and Gillett at the helm.
Heather Wixson, Daily Dead

If they get to return for a third outing to complete a “requel trilogy,” hopefully all bets will truly be off.
Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy


Should we see this one in theaters?

Scream VI is a communal experience and should be seen in a theatrical setting.
Lupe Rodriguez Haas, CineMovie.tv

Scream VI has all the right ingredients for a perfect Friday night at the movies.
Kat Hughes, THN


Scream VI opens in theaters everywhere on March 10, 2023.

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