Scream 7… yes, we’re doing this dance again.
In the latest entry for the septet of films to date, there’s the usual opening death scene, this time with a young couple visting the murder house where Stu Macher lived in the original film, and which is now decked-out as a tourist attraction.
It comes complete with the phone ringing, asking the guests trivia questions about “Scary Movies”, although the voice is a bit different to the usual from the franchise’s main Ghostface voice actor, Roger L Jackson, and actually sounds more like Krusty The Klown!
Since the first film came out 30 years ago, there’s references back to that time, not least the above, but even when Sidney’s (Neve Campbell – The Glass Man) college daughter, Tatum Evans (Isabel May, from Apple TV’s Masters of the Air, and looking like a young Jennifer Lawrence), irritates her by insisting she wears her mother’s old leather jacket from back then… Hang on, it’s still intact after 30 years?!
Well, it’s a bit more clothed than when we first meet Tatum, parading around in boxer shoots…*
The problem with this film – like all the rest – is that it’s all just so stupid. Apart from my usual irritation where Sidney, hubby & daughter are walking around inside with outdoor shoes on, along floor surfaces where they’ll later be barefoot, there are scenes in this film where two people use a panic room… but rather than stay in there and call the police, they exit out the back and go through the crawlspace, thus putting themselves in further danger. You deserve everything you get.
In another scene, why would asylum staff give journalists a tour of the facility, along with information about the patients, without breaking confidentiality? A typical example of how the plot jumps the shark. Well, as if it even pretended to do anything else.
And after Sidney and Gale (Courteney Cox) have a big argument and the former leaves, she goes to use her car to get to a particular destination, can’t get in for no apparent reason, but rather than do the sensible thing and go back inside and tell Gale she needs her to drive her there… she just runs, instead. She is NOT Jean Claude Van Damme in Hard Target!
The trouble with this series, and it’s probably me getting older, but I’m rather done with gory, slasher horrors and blood pouring all over the place. I’ve never liked films and TV shows where tertiary characters are just bumped off for no good reason, because they did nothing to deserve it, but decades on since such films first came about, and it’s just so unpleasant. Trouble is, if they make them, I’ll go and see them to review them, but they’re mostly overlong and shite.
I’ll only detail one death in this film, because it gave me a good laugh, but it’s simply when one person is killed by impaling their head on a beer pump.
Still, there’s nothing more frightening in Scream 7 than Courteney Cox’s disturbing plastic surgery! Apparently, it’s just Botox and fillers, but something else is clearly at play, since she looks like the Bride of Wildenstein!
WOMEN! STOP MESSING WITH YOUR FACE! (and everything else) YOU ARE GREAT AS YOU ARE!
What’s been most odd with this sequel, though, is in the casting and directing changes.
While I didn’t see them in the cinema, Scream 5 (I’ll still call it that, since “Scream” was fucking stupid!) and Scream 6‘s leads have changed because Jenna Ortega was too busy for this film because her time was taken with filming Wednesday, while Melissa Barrera was fired because she was happy-tweeting about “Free Palestine”. Shame she didn’t call for the death of Benjamin Netanyahu!
Writer/directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (aka Radio Silence) exited stage-left because they were scheduled to film 2024’s Abigail, even though that was filmed in 2023, and Scream 7 wasn’t shot until early 2025. So, not sure what happened there, but either way, we’re back with the original’s Kevin Williamson. And he just largely rested on his laurels.
Meanwhile, Neve Campbell wasn’t in Scream 6, because she couldn’t negotiate the right pay packet. It’s the only film in the series in which she has not appeared, so it’s just explained that she staying away at the time that took place in New York.
(*Isabel May is 25)
Oh, and one Easter egg in this film…
NOTE: There’s a sort-of mid-credits scenes, as Mindy and Chad attempt to record a news report about what took place. This happens quite early on in the credits, so you don’t have to wait too long for it.
Scream 7 is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on 4K Blu-ray, 4K Blu-ray Limited Steelbook, Blu-ray and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 113 minutes
Release date: February 27th 2026
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (Anamorphic Panavision, X-OCN ST(8.6K))
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 5/10
Director: Kevin Williamson
Producers: Paul Neinstein, William Sherak
Screenplay: Kevin Williamson, Guy Busick
Music: Marco Beltrami
Cast:
Sidney Evans: Neve Campbell
Gale Weathers: Courteney Cox
Tatum Evans: Isabel May
Mindy Meeks-Martin: Jasmin Savoy Brown
Chad Meeks-Martin: Mason Gooding
The Voice: Roger L Jackson
Jessica Bowden: Anna Camp
Mark Evans: Joel McHale
Chloe Parker: Celeste O’Connor
Ben Brown: Sam Rechner
Lucas Bowden: Asa Germann
Hannah Thurman: Mckenna Grace
Karl Gibbs: Kraig Dane
Marco: Ethan Embry
Robbie Rivers: Mark Consuelos
Deputy Meadows: Victor Turpin
Deputy Cooke: Amy Louise Pemberton
Madison: Michelle Randolph
Scott: Jimmy Tatro
Ghostface: Jeremy Conner
And some cast members and characters who are listed publicly, but I’m hiding them here, as I do at least like SOME surprises when I watch a film!
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.