“Scream 7” has no right to be as good as it is.
A franchise that began as a meta take on horror has outlived its purpose, at least on paper. You could argue the “Scary Movie” franchise picked up that baton, albeit clumsily.
What’s left to mock, at least from a series that isn’t full-on camp?
We got winks and nods toward the saga’s roots in subsequent sequels, but that’s mostly it. The rest is up to a list of filmmakers, new and especially old, to keep the saga on life support.
For a good long while, “Scream 7” outkicks the coverage, with apologies to Clay Travis. The film proved a monster hit earlier this year, and it’s now available on Blu-ray, Steelbook and DVD formats.
The film’s signature opening is all meta, with two “Stab” fans visiting the house where it all began. It’s not a spoiler alert to say it doesn’t end well, but it’s still fresh enough to register.
We’re soon reunited with Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who has a teen daughter (Isabel May) and cop hubbie (Joel McHale). Sydney is glad to be rid of a certain serial killer, hoping for a life filled with the usual mother/daughter grief.
But said killer isn’t done with her or her daughter.
Killers?
The sequel leans hard on the remaining “Scream” players, including reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and, surprisingly, Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard).
Wait … what?
Director Kevin Williamson, the saga’s original screenwriter, impresses early and often behind the camera. One Ghostface reveal, which lasts all of a second, is as chilling as any image from the franchise.
The sequel still suffers from the franchise’s incurable disease – the late third-act syndrome. The saga must squeeze silly motivations and explanations for its killer reveals, and they rarely make much sense.
“Scream 7” can’t avoid those groaners.
Plus, we see so much of every new Ghostface iteration that there’s zero sense of mystery or menace. It’s just one of the cast of characters, lacking the superhuman mystique that Freddy, Jason and Michael Myers bring to the genre.
To be fair, the stunt people playing the various Ghostfaces bring a specific verve to the character, which is both unrealistic yet oddly necessary.
Far better? The integration of new and “legacy” characters, a balance that shouldn’t be this fun or successful, but it is.
That, plus surprising character beats from Campbell and McHale, who need but a few minutes on screen to develop their bond, and we care about the poor souls scrambling for survival.
And the story’s nod to A.I. proves darn near brilliant. We’ll say no more for spoiler reasons.
The special features include “Scar Tissue: The Making of ‘Scream 7.’” The filmmakers break down the story’s in-depth approach, which reflects on the finished product. Williamson is all-in on this storyline, and it shows.
The standard, “I loved working with so-and-so” snippets are balanced by smart insights into the film’s creation.
Franchise fans will savor the callbacks to earlier “Scream” films and homages to OG director Wes Craven. Left unsaid? Why the films keep seemingly killing off characters who later return as if they suffered a mere flesh wound, not severe stabbings?
Other extras in this packed edition include “Building Tension: Production Design,” “Dance of Death: Stunts” (fun and comprehensive) and some inconsequential deleted scenes.
Turns out the film relied on one of the original stunt experts to bring Chapter 7 to life – .Jennifer Badger.
And, yes, they use CGI to produce knife blades to keep the production safer. That’s movie magic. So is a seven-picture series with life still left in it.
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