While still a far cry from the elegance of Wes Craven’s original, Scream VI is the best installment in the series since the second film. It’s tart and suspenseful and has reignited my faith in a once cherished, then tarnished brand.

| May 9, 2023

With Scream VI, Scream (2022) filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are so interested in reinventing Wes Craven’s saga and keeping audiences guessing and grossed out that they’ve made a film that makes no impact at all.

| Original Score: D+ | Mar 21, 2023

Don’t be shocked if there are more laughs and whoops in the cinema than there are shrieks and gasps – but Scream has never tried to take itself too seriously which has always been part of the charm.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 19, 2023

You’re gonna get your classic killings, the violence of which is three looking-through-my-hands worthy.

| Mar 13, 2023

There just isn’t enough juice behind the stagecraft. The Scream movies have thrived because they’ve always stayed one step ahead of their source material -- but as the franchise grows more bloated, they risk becoming their own punch line.

| Mar 13, 2023

Scream VI shows there’s still life in this series, and now that a new generation has been given control of the story, I’m curious to see where things go next.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 13, 2023

The only notable development is just how rapidly a satirical skewering of genre formulas can become thuddingly formulaic.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 12, 2023

But behind the iconic mask and the smug prattle, this franchise has lost its spirit. And what’s left behind are grisly kills without the frenzied fun.

| Mar 11, 2023

It’s all pretty clever -- but ultimately, not quite clever enough. The current Scream team have given themselves too much to do and lack the energy to keep it all in focus.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Mar 11, 2023

Aside from one effectively tense sequence set in a New York City bodega, there’s a weariness to this entry that it tries to make up for by being in love with itself.

| Mar 11, 2023

... There's no soul at the center of the movie. Plug a bunch of "Scream"-related keywords into ChatGPT and Scream VI is what gets spit out.

| Original Score: C | Mar 10, 2023

Despite my antipathy toward the Scream-quels, I found myself gripped by enough of Scream 6 that I imagine fans of the series will embrace it.

| Mar 10, 2023

Even in those well-executed gnarlier moments and winky character beats, Scream VI feels a lot more dated than the genre it’s deconstructing.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 10, 2023

Returning directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett seem less inspired than last time, but returning writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick still have a knack for red herrings, subliminal hints and fake-outs.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 10, 2023

"Scream VI" cycles through nearly the entire cast as possibilities for whodunit but, when we finally know it, the solution is both improbable and entertaining.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 10, 2023

There are only so many places on the human body a knife wielded by a superhuman killer can go. While “Scream VI” lovingly and graphically explores those places, it becomes monotonous. In the film’s defense, there are some delightfully nasty kills...

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 10, 2023

If you're able to stomach characters who sound like they’ve swallowed a film studies manual, Scream VI still manages to be gorier and truer to Wes Craven’s original movie than any of it

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 10, 2023

With its ho-hum script and flat direction, Scream VI seems to exist only to fulfill a grim corporate duty.

| Mar 9, 2023

One of the sillier series entries in terms of plot, but still scary enough and funny enough to leave you hoping Ghostface might yet kill again.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 9, 2023

Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, who directed the 2022 reboot of the franchise, have decided they’ll make little more than silly, nostalgic retreads of the 1990s favorite that don’t need to scare anybody. That’ll be $20, please!

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Mar 9, 2023