Scream 7 (2026)

​“Scream 7” stars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Isabel May, Mason Gooding, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Roger L. Jackson, Joel McHale, and David Arquette.  Released on February 27, 2026, the film has Sidney Prescott protecting her daughter from a new Ghostface killer.

The film is directed by Kevin Williamson, who also directed “Teaching Mrs. Tingle”.  He’s also known for his involvement in the “Scream” franchise and wrote other horror films like “I Know What You Did Last Summer”, “The Faculty”, “Cursed”, and “Sick”.  It is the seventh installment in the “Scream” film series.  If you’re a killer in a slasher film, chances are you’ll be successful enough to spawn a horror franchise that exceeds past the fourth, fifth, or even the sixth installment.  Those like Jason Voorhees from “Friday the 13th” and Freddy Krueger from “Nightmare on Elm Street” managed to accomplish that feat despite receiving middling results from their sequels.  Others, on the other hand, are lucky enough to get at least two movies, with their futures being uncertain or, in this case, killed off.  Now, we have another masked murderer who's able to reach lucky number seven in a franchise, one who’s been stabbing the horror tropes for thirty years.  We keep believing that people would get over the whole “Ghostface” phase a couple of installments ago, but given the reception of its recent resurgence starting with 2022’s “Scream”, it seems that isn’t happening anytime soon.  Regardless, we have the latest installment that once again puts our favorite final girl, Sidney Prescott, front and center after letting Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega take over for at least two movies.  Does it offer any more slasher tricks to further expand the franchise’s satirized take on the genre, or should this franchise just die already?  Let’s find out.

The story is set after the events of “Scream VI”.  Sidney Prescott (Campbell), the survivor of several Ghostface killing sprees, has now built a new life for herself, residing in a peaceful town of Pine Grove with her police officer husband, Mark (McHale), and daughter, Tatum (May).  Unfortunately, Sidney’s tranquility becomes short-lived upon learning that there’s a new Ghostface killer on the loose.  This Ghostface is setting his sights on Tatum, who’s at the same age as Sidney during her first encounter with Ghostface.  With the help of reporter Gale Weathers (Cox) and twin siblings Mindy (Brown) and Chad (Gooding), Sidney must face her past once more to protect Tatum and end the Ghostface legend for good.

If you’ve been following the behind-the-scenes journey of “Scream 7”, you’ll know that this new installment had a rough road ahead of its release.  The most notable change is the absence of Melissa Barrera, the lead from the previous two “Scream” films, who was fired from the film because Hollywood executives are allergic to celebrities’ political opinions.  This set off a chain of events that led to Jenna Ortega and former director Christopher Landon leaving the project, prompting a creative overhaul that puts Campbell back in the spotlight.  However, the biggest consequence of this action was the backlash from Barrera’s fans that may have taken them a step too far.  I’ve even read that Landon got death threats from that fanbase despite not being the one who fired Barrera, another reason why online fanbases are the worst regarding their toxic behaviors.  That’s how you know how rocky this movie’s journey has been leading up to its release.  Regardless, I was willing to check out “Scream 7” because I’ve been enjoying the franchise since I got back to it with 2022’s “Scream”.  But, it isn’t without my personal concerns that may keep me from enjoying this one as much as I did with the previous installments.

No, it’s not the behind-the-scenes controversy surrounding it.  Rather, it’s how the marketing depicted “Scream 7” as just another traditional slasher film.  “Scream” has always been known for satirizing the genre amid the “masked killer murdering teens” narrative, adding a unique flavor to its tried-and-true formula.  So, I was pretty surprised to see that the trailers for “Scream 7” felt like any other trailers for a copy-and-paste slasher we’ve seen before.  I guess when you get to number 7 in a horror franchise, you start to see the pattern wearing itself thin.  Despite that, I remained hopeful that it would deliver the devilishly violent and humorous goods from Ghostface's latest killing spree.  Its opening sequence, in which Stu Macher’s house is a horror memorabilia museum, hinted at the promise that it would meet that expectation.  After that, however, it just went downhill from there.  It’s not without a few enjoyable moments that I’d usually see from a “Scream” film, but everything else was a surprisingly big letdown, both in direction, predictability, and screenplay.

It bears repeating that the “Scream” franchise is known for blending the typical slasher and whodunnit tropes with meta humor that pokes fun at horror movies.  From the cliches to the franchises and legacy sequels, “Scream” has dominated the genre for 30 years by making audiences scream in terror and laughter.  These installments know they’re slasher films, yet they’re not afraid to make fun of themselves for following the same blueprint, adding to the entertainment value while staying up to date with their commentaries.  While the recent sequels may have grown rusty with the tropes they’re stabbing at, they still serve as enjoyable films for those keen on seeing more bloodshed.  Unsurprisingly, “Scream 7” continues the franchise’s trend, with the film taking a stab at nostalgia and even artificial intelligence, especially deepfakes, because AI remains the sole enemy of our creativity.  Unfortunately, it also provided a very clear indication that the franchise has not only run its course in terms of humor, but also completely succumbed to those horror tropes it's making fun of.  There were a couple of instances of meta humor courtesy of Jasmin Savoy Brown’s Mindy, but they were overshadowed by the film’s darker tone that somehow wipes its silliness clean.  Sure, “Scream VI” was also a bit darker in tone, but it didn’t stray far from its meta commentary and deranged charm.  “Scream 7” just felt like any other grim slasher film that the franchise has been poking fun at for three decades, and not a very interesting one at that. 

This is Kevin Williamson’s first movie he directed since “Teaching Mrs. Tingle” back in 1999, which wasn’t very well received at the time.  I haven’t watched that movie yet, so “Scream 7” will be my first exposure to his directorial vision.  In the horror genre, Williamson has been quite successful as a writer, notably with the “Scream” franchise.  But, after watching “Scream 7”, it’s safe to say that his writing is still his strong suit.  His direction wasn’t entirely awful, as his passion for the franchise he worked on for so long glimmered as much as Ghostface’s knife in the moonlight.  His approach to the film’s tension was respectable enough to make my heart race despite the predictable jump scares.  As for the murders performed by the Ghostface killer, they’re as grisly as one would expect from a slasher film, notably “Scream”, with one creative kill that provides a serviceable blend of dark humor and grossness.  Besides that, the other kills were just okay.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Other than those two silver linings, Williamson lacks the compelling edge in his vision and tonal balance that Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett brought to the previous two installments.  However, his love for the characters persists in a nostalgic form, even at the expense of storytelling and meta commentary.

As for his screenplay, which he co-wrote with Guy Busick, it’s very clear that the franchise may have run out of ideas.  As I mentioned before, “Scream 7” follows the basic tropes the franchise has been making fun of for years, especially the ones from other slasher movies.  The most notable one is the mother-daughter relationship between Sidney and her daughter Tatum, which is torn apart by Sidney’s trauma, forcing the “final girl” to confront her past.  It followed the usual narrative pattern we’ve seen in similar movies, but lacked the charm and heart in the characters’ development.  But the worst part of the film’s script, aside from its weak meta humor, was the third-act twist.  The “Scream” movies do have their share of surprises when it comes to those twisty reveals, but the twist in “Scream 7” was something I saw coming a mile away.  I won’t go into specifics, since it is a “Scream” movie after all, but I wasn’t very surprised by the outcome.  What I’m really surprised at is that despite Williamson’s knowledge of “Scream” and its characters, he only came up with a story that’s this basic and even lackluster to continue the franchise…on its 30th anniversary, no less.  Maybe the Ghostface killer should be targeting him instead of chasing after Sidney all the time?

Out of the slew of actors in the film, the only ones that stood out were Neve Campbell and Jasmin Savoy Brown.  Campbell’s Sidney Prescott has dominated the “final girl” trope…by being the one who lasted for that long, making her one of the more memorable characters in the slasher genre.  “Scream 7” sees Sidney dealing with the trauma of her multiple encounters with Ghostface and ensuring Tatum doesn’t follow the same path she did.  Neve Campbell once again shows that no one can depict Sidney’s growth better than her.  She did a job conveying Sidney’s emotional restraint regarding her character’s motherly instincts and survival knowledge.  No matter which way you put it, Neve Campbell is Sidney Prescott, through and through.  Jasmin Savoy Brown also impressed me for the third time through her charismatic portrayal of Mindy and her character's attention-grabbing film knowledge.  While it didn’t match the similar heights as her performance in the previous two installments, Brown still proves she can carry the franchise alongside Campbell and Courteney Cox, whose return as Gale Weathers was good enough.  That is, if the franchise does continue, which it probably will.  Isabel May was also decent in her role as Tatum, despite the one moment that demonstrates the stupidity of the genre’s characters.  Other than that, the rest of the supporting characters were very forgettable, which isn’t much of a surprise considering the genre’s trend of one-dimensional slasher victims.

Overall, “Scream 7” lacks the sharp edge of the horror franchise’s meta knife, leaving me with a redundant, trope-heavy attempt at nostalgia-baiting.  It still possesses the killer instinct seen in the previous installments regarding its suspense, but it’s not enough to hide that the cliches it’s stabbing at have been fully rusted.  Kevin Williamson’s involvement in the film as both the writer and director should’ve provided something meaningful for the franchise’s 30th anniversary, especially given his experience with its characters and lore.  Instead, he gave me a dismal and disappointing sequel that sliced the franchise’s legacy into multiple pieces, and not in a good way.  It’s mildly entertaining in terms of its tension and cast, but the latter’s nostalgia couldn’t save the film from burning itself to the ground.  It’s far from the worst movie I’ve seen this year, horror or otherwise.  However, in terms of its cliched screenplay, weak meta humor, subpar kills, and predictable twist, I would consider it the weakest “Scream” installment I’ve seen since “Scream 3”.  Fans of the “Scream” franchise would enjoy some moments in “Scream 7”, but not enough to make them want to scream in delight.

D+