New Release: Scream 7 Review

Scream 7 showed good gross promise but fizzled out in the end.

Scream 7 (2026)

Scream 7 continues this 30-year slasher-horror film franchise without Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, but reunites us with Neve Campbell and brings back Courteney Cox, Jasmin Savoy Brown, and Mason Gooding, who are once again being tormented by Ghostface for reasons that will only be revealed by a monologue in the end.

Scream 7 tries to burn it all down, but shows that it needs the nostalgia

What works: The forever self-aware makes an argument in Scream 6 that the stakes and killings have to get weirder for this franchise to survive and thrive. Scream 7 takes this to heart, opening with the destruction of the Prescott house and the murder of two unsuspecting dupes, pushing the limits while sticking to the tried-and-true formula that started in 1996. And the killings are fun, the jump scares hit, most of the characters feel right: (Isabel May) Tatum, Sidney, Gale. Showing that as much as Scream is forced to evolve, the regulars and their ties to the past are what keep this franchise humming along.

Sidney is our 30 year Final Girl

What doesn't: I’m not sure Mindy and Chad had a place in this movie, but we got them back for whatever reason, and they don’t fit cohesively enough to justify their return from Scream 6. The AI angle is strange, trying to comment on the dangers of deepfakes (which makes MetaAI partnering with them a strange mix), and the killer reveal puts a cold blanket over the rest of the movie’s momentum. Usually, the killers have a strange connection to the previous films, however thin, so it keeps the ball rolling on killing begets killing, so it’s a never-ending snowball as far as plot lines go. This one is so thin that it makes almost zero sense.

Listen, it’ll make a bazillion bucks because it’s the Scream franchise and people will turn out for it, and although most of the movie is slasher film fun, the ending really makes you wonder how many more films can be squeezed from this franchise.

The Ghostface Killer just didn't land

Personally, it’s a $5-6 night or a wait for streaming. It’s barely 3/5 (yeah, the ending was that bad)

I’m curious as to where you think it’ll land among the rest.