‘Scream 7’ Review: Put a Knife in It — This Franchise Is (or Should Be) Done

Neve Campbell returns as Sidney Prescott in the seventh installment of the Scream horror franchise, directed by series creator Kevin Williamson and featuring a mix of returning stars including Courteney Cox and Roger L. Jackson as Ghostface, hitting theaters on February 27 in a continuation that prioritizes commercial viability over creative innovation. The film finds Sidney living a new life with her husband Mark (Joel McHale) and teenage daughter Tatum (Isabel May), whose boyfriend becomes a potential suspect when Ghostface returns to terrorize the town. The plot revolves around familiar franchise elements including taunting videos, surprising character returns (including the supposed death of Matthew Lillard's Stu character), and modern technology like AI playing a key role in the narrative. Despite the presence of Campbell and Cox anchoring the film, "Scream 7" suffers from a numbingly familiar formula that has become increasingly stale over the franchise's many iterations. The review notes that the film lacks the fresh dialogue and creative kills that characterized earlier installments, instead presenting a "rote quality" that makes it feel like a slog despite its high body count and gore. The supporting cast, particularly the younger performers, fail to match the flair of their predecessors, though Cox delivers at least one memorable entrance. The film attempts to maintain meta-commentary on horror tropes with characters noting "it's always someone you know" and "there's always more than one," but these observations feel tired rather than insightful. Behind the scenes, the production was marked by controversy, with the article questioning whether Melissa Barrera deserved to be fired from the franchise and what prompted Jenna Ortega's departure. Neve Campbell reportedly played hardball to secure her return, highlighting the corporate maneuvering that seems to drive the franchise more than creative vision. The film represents a franchise that the reviewer deems "dead creatively, if not commercially," with the title reverting to an Arabic numeral after the previous installment used Roman numerals. Despite these issues, "Scream 7" is expected to perform well at the box office, potentially delivering one of the year's top openings with $40 million or more, demonstrating that while the creative spark may have dimmed, the commercial appeal of the masked killer remains potent.