‘Scream 7’ – Film Review: The Biggest Letdown of My Favorite Horror Franchise?

Following last year’s success, 2026 is expected to be another strong year for the horror genre. However, as a devoted fan, it’s surprising to say the anticipation for Scream 7 was almost nonexistent shortly after the trailer dropped. I never thought this would happen, especially since the original Scream remains my all-time favorite horror film and holds a place in my heart. The franchise even received a significant boost with the fifth and sixth installments, directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, which I enjoyed more than many other fans. The success of those sequels practically guaranteed a continuation. But it wasn’t a smooth path: Melissa Barrera (who was fired for her pro-Palestine comments) and Jenna Ortega wouldn’t be returning as Sam and Tara Carpenter, prompting the original director, Christopher Landon, to step down. Although Kevin Williamson, the series creator, was involved as director and co-writer, that should have been enough to build confidence that this new installment would be enjoyable. Instead, for a horror franchise that maintained consistency for so long, I will remember Scream 7 as one of the most disappointing sequels I’ve seen recently.

What’s the Story: Since leaving Woodsboro, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has been living a quiet life in the small town of Pine Grove, married to local police chief Mark Evans (Joel McHale) and raising their three children, including their oldest, teenage daughter, Tatum (Isabel May). She has become a protective mother, although everyone in town knows her story from true-crime documentaries and the “Stab” movies. Their happiness doesn’t last long, as a couple is murdered inside an Airbnb designed to replicate Stu Macher’s home, and a new Ghostface (voiced by Roger L. Jackson) reemerges, targeting not only her but also her daughter.

Honestly, even with all the drama surrounding the film that led to boycotts and heavy skepticism, I will still be looking forward to a new Scream movie because it’s always a blast getting another sequel that leaves me guessing who’s behind the mask every time. They have a very simple formula, which shouldn’t be complained about this many movies into the series. But why does Scream 7 feel duller than the previous entries? It doesn’t take advantage of any clever commentary on what we’ve been seeing in the horror genre lately, which is the bread and butter of why each film prior worked in its favor. It’s more focused on being a slasher, Sidney just protecting her daughter, in a way that felt like a retread of Halloween H20 or Halloween (2018), while trying to reel us in with nostalgia for the original. The problem is that it takes away from making the situation less interesting on-screen and is probably more interested in having us remember the first, from coping with a scene of Tatum and her boyfriend Ben (Sam Rechner) kissing while the cover of “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” plays or when the town goes into curfew mode set to “Red Right Hand.”

It just felt good to see Neve Campbell back after a pay dispute left her character absent from what was going down in New York in the sixth movie. I’ve always loved Sidney and liked the direction she’s in, where she already knows the game, whenever a stranger uses the Ghostface voice to threaten her, where it could be someone from her past? Now it hits differently once her daughter and friends could be next, becoming the protective badass mother we hoped for. Her relationship with her daughter is seen as strained because Sidney tends to keep her traumatic history to herself. Tataum knows about what happened since the “Stab” movies in their universe are popular, but not directly from her. Though thinking about the timeline of it all, wouldn’t she have been pregnant during the events of the fourth?

If I’m looking at this as another Scream movie and knowing the very simple formula to go by, I found a large chunk of this was missing the great tension and cleverness we’ve come to expect and having Williamson to take on the director’s chair from Radio Silence was a no brainer since who better to take on the franchise than the man who wrote the first two and four? The effort is there to harken back to the classic, but his direction, surprisingly, came off as uninspired, lacking the slickness of the last two. The writing from Williamson and returning screenwriter Guy Busick didn’t hit, as it all felt rushed with little momentum between the kills. Some of the changes that’ll subvert audiences’ expectations are what I’ve been envisioning for years, even if the rest of the movie doesn’t go through with them. There are a few cool moments, from a fine opening sequence to a scene in which Sidney and Tatum try to escape Ghostface from the crawl space. It’s just the anticipation of them being few and far between, and the guessing about who’s next, that made them less memorable. I might be in the minority with one kill, in particular, that I thought was dumb.

Aside from bringing back Sidney and Courtney Cox’s Gale Weathers, the new cast—Asa Germann, Celeste O’Connor, Anna Camp, Mckenna Grace, etc.—are introduced as potential suspects and/or killed off by Ghostface, leaving the audience with no reason to attach to them. I don’t even remember their names, honestly. Isabel May delivers a solid performance as Tatum, who aspires to be strong and confident like her mother. Does a lot of development come through? Not always. They should’ve delved into the trauma theme more, and that dynamic never got the opportunity to go in-depth about how it affects those around her, making this have a more emotional weight to it. Bringing back the twin siblings, Chad and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown, respectively), who are working with Gale to restore her credibility as an investigative journalist, was a positive move. However, they didn’t have much to do. I honestly miss Barrera and Ortega this time around, and find myself wondering if they will return. Joel McHale’s appearance (the second Community star in a Scream film, after Alison Brie in the fourth) is always welcome, though it’s also underutilized; I’m not sure why they couldn’t bring back Patrick Dempsey. Has she only dated guys named Mark?

When it touches on the dangerous aspects of AI technology involving crime, it all comes down to being used in questionable ways, given who may have announced they are somewhat involved in the sequel, and it makes the execution pointless.

Once it gets to the third act, what makes the Scream movies rewatchable is figuring out who is behind the mask(s) when it’s time for the reveal, and the eventual motives that sound convincing. This, however, was unbelievably anticlimactic and frustrating, representing what has to be the worst finale in the series to date. It made me think about how I hated how obvious the Fisherman was in last year’s I Know What You Did Last Summer, but at least the reason for it made sense (sort of). You can tell this had the feel of a rushed production and that the script had been rewritten. Knowing why they’ve taken on the “mendle” to turn Sidney’s life upside down didn’t work for me, and anyone who’s seen it will agree. Trust me, it’s annoying when one of your favorite franchises has a movie that stands out in the worst way. For the longest time, Scream 3 was the one I cared about the least, but it does have a few moments that stand out, and it was intended to wrap up a trilogy. Was this going to be the best? No, but it’s one worth rewatching when the mood strikes. When the credits rolled, I said to myself, “Well… this was my first trip back to the theater in over two months, huh.”

With all that said, am I down to see a potential eighth movie? Regardless of how I felt about Scream 7, I’d still see it, but at this point, I won’t be surprised if they finally tap it off before it gets very ridiculous. People have been saying the franchise was already dead, which I disagree with, considering I do defend the last two. You start to worry that they don’t hold many surprises and that their decisions make it worse.

Overall, as a massive fan of the franchise, Scream 7 falls short of matching the scares and cleverness of its predecessors. While it’s amazing to see Neve Campbell back and delivering on a few good kills, it suffers from a thin story that’s too predictable to enjoy fully and doesn’t always bother to bring anything exciting. It’s not terrible by any means, but very underwhelming. Easily the worst the series has to offer, and I don’t feel the need to talk about it anymore.

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