Over ten years of silence fell upon a bloodthirsty fandom, but very soon, Scream fanatics will have had a new trilogy of movies and memories in the space of just a few years. It has certainly been a great time to be a Scream fan.
New director Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day, Freaky) will take on responsibilities for this third era of the franchise, continuing Sam, Tara, Chad and Mindy's story in the highly anticipated Scream 7. But, which route will this new creative team head in and will the end product greatly differ from what you as a fan imagine it to be? We've all got a list in our heads of what we'd like to see from our beloved Scream franchise and, in my case, when you get to write about your favourite slasher series a lot those lists naturally evolve with every movie and as release dates draw nearer.
So, being both a fan of the Radio Silence era as well as criticising various decisions, mistakes and missed opportunities Scream 2022 and VI have taken, here is my comprehensive list of wants I would like to see included in Scream 7 and, in some examples, the franchise in general, many of which we're all sure to agree on.
AN IMPACTFUL OPENING SEQUENCE
It goes without saying that we need a bang to start this new movie. Something very special. It's not only the third chapter in a new, modern trilogy but this movie can be viewed as the beginning of the third era of Scream, with Christopher Landon becoming the franchise's third director. Scream 2022's opening was as basic as can be, taking the format right back to the beginning and Scream VI fulfilled one of our collective wants of having a Ghostface unmasked and killed before the main story begins. Both openings served their purpose story-wise but, considering we already have a surplus of characters from Scream VI, I feel Scream 7 can go bigger and better and truly make an impact... ideally with the death of an important character...
AT LEAST ONE OF THE 'CORE FOUR' TO DIE
Some love them, others don't. However you feel about our four heroes they are this generation's 'Legacy Three'. When we lose one of them it'll be big for us and should be big for the story too. The problem is, they are to many people, the writers and Radio Silence included, extremely likeable and have become fairly hard to kill off. Scream VI completely subverted expectations by keeping them all alive, even though they collectively have more holes in them than Scream VI's plot. In my showing of the movie I remember several groups of people groaning loudly when Chad turned up alive at the end. It's not that we don't love these characters, or that it should be Chad to die first, cough Mindy cough. It's not that we dont understand that yes people can survive multiple stab wounds, or multiple multiplied by multiple in Chad's case. It's more the fact that this brutal new generation of Scream movies deserves more kills that are impactful. This looked like it was understood when Dewey was ripped from our loving arms in Scream 2022. Scream VI's only meaningful death was Anika's and she was sadly only around for what felt like minutes before her creative kill. Yes, it was cool to see Ghostface rampage through the bodega and slicing through three random strangers like they'd jumped the queue when all he wanted was to grab a hard-earned pack of cigarettes after a 10 hour shift of 'Ghostfacing', but these kills did nothing for the magnitude of the story and a story as big as Scream VI's deserved a death as harrowing and impactful as Dewey's. In a slasher movie characters are built up to inevitably be killed off and leave you fond of their memory. It's time one of the core four left us with theirs. We can only hope that the plan was always to head towards something big to be extra heartbreaking for both the characters and us as the audience.
MAX LAFERRIERE
Max was a breath of fresh air and was born to embody a character such as Ghostface, bringing not only chilling menace but strength to this iteration. Whilst there is no one person behind Ghostface, to have some variation and nuance in the character, and Laferriere wasn't the only actor to portray him in Scream VI (Mathieu Coderre), this generation of movies deserves that familiarity in the way Dane Farwell brought to the franchise in the early days. Laferriere's mannerisms and movement are now ingrained into Scream's legacy and his menace was palpable, coming through the robes and decaying mask loud and clear. That relentless brutality is something Scream 7 needs to continue and his ability in the costume is a weapon the next movie may already have. Who plays Ghostface may again have a lot to do with where the movie will be shot and what stunt team is used... let's just hope it's in Canada again as Max has gained the love of most of the fanbase.
A CREATIVE MOTIVE
We all know that vengeance works in any whodunit and Scream's perfect balance falls somewhere in between that and movies/fandoms. Scream VI's motive worked but for the scale of the movie it was unfortunate that there wasn't another layer of creativity to Richie's family's vendetta. As someone who has written his own Scream fan fiction I quickly found that it was far more exciting for the story to be more imaginative with the motive. After nearly 27 years plain old revenge is just a little too simple for the world of possibilities that Scream is capable of. It's that extra spark of imagination to a motive that could make the final act and your view of the movie more satisfying.
NO NEW SETTING OR SCREAM 3 COPY
Holiday in Hawaii? London calling? Nope, just give me Woodsboro or New York. There's already plenty of history there to work with and I feel NY has a lot more to give. Sidney is off living in Seattle so it's highly unlikely every character will turn up there if Neve is involved, but a scene or two would be nice. Winter seems to be a popular choice for a seasonal change... but let's not set it in a foot of snow, poor Ghostface has enough of a time staying on his feet. I also do not think that Scream 7 should echo Scream 3 too closely just because it's the third entry in this new generation and the previous two movies have had similar echoes of Scream and Scream 2. There seems to be a built-in thought from many fans that this is the way it'll go. Part of me feels like if this is the case, then it'll go very meta movie-wise or very Stab-themed and risk losing the darkness that Scream VI set up.
DON'T SHOEHORN SIDNEY INTO THE STORY
Sidney the victim. Sidney the survivor. Sidney the star! I'm part of the fanbase that believes that Scream still has a long life after Sidney Prescott, but welcomes the character back with open arms if the story truly calls for it. It has to be necessary and a big enough story to warrant her inclusion. Don't try to shoehorn her into the plot and if she is involved then make the payoff a little more fulfilling and give our beloved scream queen the screentime (and pay) she deserves. I still vehemently maintain that the 'passing of the torch' movie Scream 2022 was a good enough send-off for Sidney... it was at least a decent opportunity to leave things there. Sure, the story for a final Sidney-fronted Scream movie would have suited Scream VI's mask idea more fittingly, something that transported her back through the legacy, but Scream 2022 seemed to be her finale and I was fine letting her go live her life and for Sam to take over her role. But, here we are talking about Neve returning once again and it naturally brings up thoughts of where I want the franchise to go and the potential there is in other stories and other generations. If Sidney is involved, maybe give her true finality this time.
THE CONCLUDING CHAPTER OF A TRILOGY?
As much as I love Sidney and Gale and our 'Core Four' I feel that Scream is a universe of many possibilities that are too tempting to not explore and those possibilities include other characters and plots to truly keep the franchise consistently fresh. I feel there is a great chance to wrap up both the legacy and requel characters in one massive, momentous movie. I'd like Scream 7 to at least treat itself as the 'final' one in terms of truly wrapping up several character's stories as well as the scale of its importance, even if it isn't the last. Don't make it for the sake of it, make it to matter, make the motive matter, make the characters matter and make the kills matter too. Gale and Sidney have to find their absolute conclusion sometime and the requel cast, apart from Sam, have probably almost reached the limit of where you can take their characters. Just because we love a character it doesn't mean that their stories need to be drawn out beyond what is needed. Scream is a franchise that can easily do a trilogy of movies and then move on to another trilogy of stories, one-offs or spin-offs focusing on other characters. Whatever the case I genuinely feel that there is plenty left in the franchise but a longer break in between movies might just suit it.
GO DARKER, GO BIGGER
Let's face it, we're not in the early 2000's anymore. The Scream of this era isn't a twisted Scooby Doo movie like Scream 3 was (and that's why we loved it) so as we move further into the franchise the tone should continue to grow darker, the killers more serious and the motives bigger. No more giggling Ghostfaces.
RECTIFY GALE'S STORY
Gale refused to acknowledge or give Amber and Richie any fame at the end of Scream 2022, but then writes a book about it that also paints Sam in a bad light in Scream VI. It was a very strange move and one of Scream's most recent talking points which has raised a hefty amount of fan conflict. Many fans thought it sent Gale spiralling back into her old self instead of showing character progression from losing Dewey, but many like me think that in a movie about unmasking people Gale is who she'll always be beneath hers. But, I would still like her to see the error of her ways and turn over a new leaf. Having her write a book that pays respect to Dewey's memory would be one way of showing her in a new light. When we see Gale for a final time, I sincerely want her to have her happy moment, at peace and doing a good thing with her memories. Let's face it, the writers wanted that punch and to give Ghostface a reason to be mad at her actions.
ATMOSPHERE AND SCARES
With Christopher Landon taking over directing duties we have a chance for more layers of atmosphere to be added. The director is known for writing movies that have a lot of tension building such as Disturbia as well as jump scares having written many of the Paranormal Activity movies. He's also no stranger to the integral comedic moments peppered throughout the Scream franchise.
SAM'S INNER DARKNESS/A PSYCHOLOGICAL GHOSTFACE
It took time to accept Sam as our new final girl but by Scream VI'S conclusion we were all chanting her name. But, did she truly conquer her darkness? To me, this is what gives her that extra nuance as a leading lady. Not many can compare to Sidney Prescott, but Sam has this internal battle deep inside that just makes her that bit more interesting to create a story around and has so much more potential to explore. She needs to fight, she needs to protect but cannot bear the idea of becoming like her father. Every time Ghostface enters her life she is forced to be dragged further into darkness and the frightening possibility that she is destined to wear the Ghostface mask. I really hope the writers of Scream 7 recognise this and give us a serious Ghostface who is there to psychologically torment Sam and use her darkness to bring her down. This was hinted at in Scream VI but the payoff never really reflected the hype.
TIGHTER SCRIPT AND PLOT
Scream VI had its plot holes. The issue with the masks was one such thing that could have been tightened and served as a missed opportunity to strengthen the motive too. A killer leaving behind a mask from the Ghostface legacy was intriguing, but ultimately ended up being a little confusing for the audience as we didn't get to see all the masks and the victims had no connection to their original wearer... also you'd feel that Bailey would want to keep possession of Richie's mask or use that to attack Sam too. The idea of the masks counting down and leading backwards to Billy's was decent and worked in the context of framing Sam, but could have been shaped a little better. We didn't even get to see Mickey Altieri's mask due to a scene with Bailey and 'Quinn's' body being cut from the movie, which makes the whole plot device of using the masks seem less necessary, or even important, in the end. A modus operandi like this begged for a bigger, more important motive and the story would have worked just the same with only Billy's mask involved.
MORE CHARACTERS, MORE SUSPECTS, MORE KILLS
One thing Scream VI lacked was a big enough list of characters (why wasn't Frankie in a bigger role as an additional suspect?), one thing it didn't lack was plenty of survivors. This is one thing the Radio Silence era has given us, with Scream 5 and 6 having 6 and 7 lucky souls respectively, whereas the first four movies had around 4 in each. So, luckily for Scream 7 we already have a decent start. Let's just hope it doesn't end with 8 survivors. The problem is fans are expecting a bloodbath now so people may judge the movie poorly if that doesn't happen. One thing it definitely needs are people to suspect and people to kill, so hopefully they'll load up the characters and make this one trickier to guess the killer.
CONTROL THE META/DON'T SACRIFICE MYSTERY
Scream VI saw the perfect opportunity to allow its most self-aware character, Mindy, to use her Ghostface spidey-sense to guess the killer's identity, but the writers didn't know when enough was enough. The idea of Mindy absolutely knowing who one of the killers was is a funny thought and started out as a nice meta moment. Unfortunately, we as the audience shouldn't know his identity until the end and Mindy's constant Ethan spoiler alerts became unbearably annoying for those who understand that no character should really know who Ghostface is. Scream 7 needs to focus on mystery and not sacrifice it to try to be clever. Being force-fed the killer for a punchline is not something a whodunit actually needs. A simple attack on Ethan would have helped divert attention enormously, so the writers need to recognise where to run with meta and where to conceal mystery so the unmasking is still impactful.
If you've read my Mindy, Ethan and Frankie article/rant you will know how I feel about this...
A CLEVER, PIVOTAL SCENE/REAL MISDIRECTION
I still believe that Scream VI's subway scene could have gone a different way and thrown in a twist to divert the insurmountable heap of suspicion towards Ethan that the writers neglected to try to cover. It was clear that Mindy was the target, but what if the disorienting, strobing lights were used to conceal an 'attack' on Ethan and at least put doubt into our minds. It's a clever scene like this that could turn the movie from good to great and flip your guesses upside-down.
GHOSTFACE, GHOSTFACE, GHOSTFACE
Our beloved ghoul. The perfect slasher movie villain. We've come to know Ghostface over the past 26 plus years and have our own ideas of what we'd love to see from him. It's cool, spine tingling moments from our favourite ghost that help drive the franchise on into new things. Moments like the synchronised double blade wipe or simply just seeing two Ghostfaces on screen at once... this is pure fan excitement. After Scream VI's success, Scream 7 can do what it likes with Ghostface and more teamwork kills or attacks would be very welcome. A movie shouldn't be afraid to show a possible number of killers as long as it stands by its mystery and writes its killers well. Scream 7 should continue to play with what we see Ghostface do. Yes, to an extent he should remain a mystery... the face of the unknown... but it doesn't mean he shouldn't have screentime or just rush in, stab someone and exit. I want to get up close and personal with Ghostface and for the writers to explicitly write more memorable moments for fans, anything from his silly comedic touches to chilling mannerisms and for the director to continue to create epic shots that you could frame on your wall.
NEW WRITERS, NEW BLOOD
The writing on both 5 and 6 has gained its fair amount of criticism. I must be clear, I love what Guy Busick and James Vanderbilt have done. I'm a fan and we have a lot to thank them for. But, with a new director it feels right that fresh writing blood is also injected into the franchise. I also feel that maybe they've done what they came to do and along with certain plot holes, decisions and lack of impactful kills, new writers could build upon what they've laid out in a better way. It's looking possible that Michael Kennedy (Freaky and It's A Wonderful Knife) and new director Christopher Landon could be contributing. Landon tends to have a part in writing anything he directs so that's at least looking fairly certain and with Kennedy's recent mysterious photo with Landon and Radio Silence you get the feeling his involvement is a likely possibility too.
NEVER FORGET ABOUT LEGACY
Finally, it's important to mention legacy. It runs throughout the Scream franchise and is made more glorious and significant with every victim that falls to Ghostface's blade, every survivor who escapes it and every killer added to its shrine. I believe it's important to continue to show reverence to its history, its victims, its Ghostfaces and more specifically its legacy characters who still remain. If the writers want legacy characters for Scream 7, then make their story matter and bring their presence closer to the front.
