Scream VI: Almost There

 Scream VI has recently released and I was fortunate enough to see it last week. For me, the movie was great as a horror film but leaves a bit to be desired in the Scream department. My reasoning boils down to the mystery being lost in this film as the Ghostface crew this time around felt half-baked. If you couldn't tell already, I will be going into spoiler territory. Now let's dig in.

In Scream VI, we follow the Carpenter Sisters along with Chad and Mindy to New York as they attend college. Very similar to Scream 2 when Sidney and Randy head off to college. When we get into the Ghostface department, the VI team seems to just kind of blend into the background. Being an ensemble film with a large cast, it is hard to give every character their time. Yet the core returning cast felt very defined and established when the credits rolled and I was very content with where the Carpenter's and the Twins were heading. 

This led to the new characters who were mostly killed off except for the neighbor, Danny. Even as a survivor of the film, Danny has a very small presence in the movie as a whole. He has a couple of scenes to make you doubt his trustworthy demeanor, like when he shows up late or even just being a caring person to Sam as he understands the situation to a degree that is uncommon in horror movies. To me, Danny was simply existing in the chaotic world. That doesn't mean I dislike Danny or the performance, moreso that Danny could have been any character that made Sam feel safe and understood. 

On the contrary, Detective Bailey was the best of the newcomers. Even though he was easy to pick out as a leading suspect, the twist of him being the Father of Richie, one of the Ghostfaces in Scream V, was certainly well done. The motivation being a retread of Mrs. Loomis from Scream 2 did not bother me as much as I just wanted him to lose his goddamn mind and give me that same manic performance that Mrs. Loomis gave from Scream 2. I would've definitely would've jived more with him if that was the energy he brought, yet he kept a fairly level head given the situation. Detective Bailey would never don the mask which would lead to another twist as when they unmask the killers we see Ethan, Chad's roommate, and Quinn, Sam and Tara's  roommate. 

To start off, it's very funny that they both ended up being roommates with at least one of the Core Four. For Ethan, he was very background in this movie and was mostly just Chad's nerdy roommate. The biggest identifier for his character was that he was a virgin. Even when he does appear in scenes, he doesn't really offer anything. If we're talking about characters that just exist, Ethan was just coasting on the fact that he rooms with a main character. When he reveals himself, I was shocked because he never showed malice before this, which is good, but at the same time I thought that could have been anyone. For a two hour runtime, I found that to be unacceptable. I would say that Ethan is the worst Ghostface before the unmasking simply because he just never stood out at all. That lands on the writing team. Maybe a rewatch saves him, but Ethan never made a difference in the film on my initial viewing. 

As for the other killer, I thought Quinn was a remarkable twist as she "dies" midway through the film offscreen in a chaotic apartment scene that kills off Anika. Quinn was delivered to us as the daughter of Detective Bailey. When she was "killed", I wrote her off like a rookie. Offscreen deaths are always sketchy. The Quinn reveal was good and I was fine with her character in the film and it made the confrontation with Kirby very intense when it was made to look like she was a Ghostface during the climax. I would still put her in the bottom of the Ghostface Killers in terms of on-screen presence, but I did not feel that her character was nearly as egregious as Ethan. To just give a little context, Quinn was in her slut era and it made for some solid comedic moments. So, it gave you enough information for a character that would "die" midway through the film. 

The Ghostface team this time around was all about family and revenge as Bailey, Quinn, and Ethan were the Father and siblings, respectively, of Richie from Scream V. The motivation works for me along with the Quinn twist and overall trio set-up that we had not seen before. Aside from their Father, Quinn and Ethan never manage to stand out enough to make their dent on the Ghostface history. 

That's what I want in future installments, the mystery. Make me question everyone in the film like in in the first two. Fake-outs are fine and dandy, but I want to have one that turns my world upside down. And don't forget to give other characters in the movie time to develop, even if they die. Don't let my opinion dissuade you, this movie still rules and excels in other areas. I just want that vintage Wes Craven feel to ooze back in.