The Scream franchise has been an iconic slasher film series since the original movie in 1996, created and written by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. The Ghostface mask itself is still one of the most recognised costume pieces often seen during Halloween month, costume parties and pop culture conventions. The franchise has had six films, and the phone is now ringing for Scream 7, ready to slash its way into cinemas worldwide.

Sidney Evans (better known as Sidney Prescott) has been trying live a normal life with her husband, Mark, and raise their teenage daughter, Tatum. Soon, Sidney starts to receive video calls from Stu Macher, one of the original Ghostface killers, who is believed to be dead, to show he is indeed alive and a new Ghostface killer has emerged. Sidney’s darkest fears are realised as Stu tells her that her daughter is the next target. Determined to protect her family, she must face the horrors of her past to put an end to the bloodshed once and for all.

Scream 7 features a lot of familiar faces from all the past films. Neve Campbell once again reprises her role as Sidney, who has clearly gone through so much since the original film. She tries to live a normal life, but is also prepared for the worst with contingency plans in place in case she or her family are threatened.

Isabel May stars as Tatum, Sidney’s teenage daughter, who was named after her best friend, Tatum Riley from the earlier films. Tatum feels like her life is controlled by her mother because of her past experiences, so Tatum constantly goes behind her back just to be with her boyfriend.

When she realises her life is in danger, May’s performance is able to show her go from a slightly rebellious teen to someone in fear for her life, but still has that rebellious side to her with some subtle references to Sidney when she was around her age in the first film.

Matthew Lillard also returns as Stu Macher, despite being confirmed as dead in the first movie in 1996. He is shown to be visibly older with his face covered in scars, making it convincing that Stu has been alive this whole time. Seeing Matthew Lillard reprise one of his iconic roles after 30 long years will be a treat for longtime fans, who will be speculating how he managed to come back from the dead.

Another big return is Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers, a reporter and constant survivor from every Scream movie. Joining her are Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding as the twin siblings, Mindy and Chad Meeks-Martin, respectively, who return from the more recent films, and the three get a big moment when they first appear.

The film features various other stars, including Joel McHale as Mark, Anna Camp as Jessica, Asa Germann as Lucas, Celeste O’Connor as Chloe, Mckenna Grace as Hannah, Sam Rechner as Ben, Ethan Embry as Marco and various others who could be victims, survivors or maybe the Ghostface killer himself.

The real star of the movie is, of course, the Ghostface killer, and audiences will be constantly guessing who it is. Roger L. Jackson has voiced the character in every Scream film and returns to provide the voice of Ghostface in phone calls and recordings.

Ghostface is as terrifying and unpredictable as ever, even to Sidney, who had all the time to prepare, constantly finding ways to outsmart his victims before sticking the knife in and leaving them in a pool of their own blood.

He may not be as unpredictable to audiences watching the movie, especially longtime fans of the series and horror fans in general, but the film still finds creative ways to keep the character interesting. His best moments are not just when he catches and kills his victims, but how he kills them.

Without giving anything away, horror fans will be in for a treat as Ghostface decides what to do, and the film makes sure to highlight certain things in his surroundings to create intrigue, excitement and build up tension leading up to the kill scene. Some of the kills are certainly messed up and could be tough to watch, in the best way.

The story of the latest film is certainly interesting and will keep audiences engaged. The film does drag on a bit at certain points, but it doesn’t take long before it gets interesting again. The Ghostface killer is known to usually be more than one person, so the main characters have to keep their guard up, knowing that anyone could be the new Ghostface killers.

When it’s eventually revealed who the killer or killers are, it might be surprising to some, though not as much to others, but overall, it isn’t anything groundbreaking. Despite this, the film’s storytelling will still keep audiences engaged to see what happens next. If there are more scream films in the future, hopefully, they’ll be able to find ways to reinvent things and surprise the entire audience.

The bigger mystery in this film, however, is how Stu Macher managed to return when he was clearly dead in the original movie. Fans of the Scream franchise will see plenty of callbacks to past films and the development of returning characters.

Unfortunately, Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega do not return from the previous two films as the sisters, Sam and Tara Carpenter, due to some real-life controversy on the studio’s part. This is a real shame because there was some interesting lore building up, and it would’ve been nice to see how it developed in the latest film.

The film has a nice balance of light and dark scenes. Even during broad daylight and everything seems normal, there’s always an uneasy feeling that things could suddenly become dark. Returning characters and the audience will always be on edge, especially when Ghostface outsmarts his victims and gets the upper hand.

The latest Scream movie may not be one of the best in the franchise, but fans will still find plenty to enjoy with legacy characters returning, the mystery of Stu Macher somehow surviving, callbacks to past films and, of course, the violently creative kill scenes.

Ghostface proves once again why he is an icon of the slasher/horror genre for 30 years as he lays waste to his victims. It’ll be interesting to see if another sequel were to happen, because longtime fans wouldn’t say no. Until then, Scream 7 is calling, and you’d better answer the phone!

Written by: Sammy Hanson