SPOILER ALERT: This is your only warning that I will be discussing “Scream 7” in full detail, along with the previous six films. Do not read any further if you don’t want answers or if you haven’t seen the other six movies — do not continue reading. Come back afterwards when you’ve caught up on everything. I have not watched the anthology TV show, so I cannot comment on how that ties in.

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Growing up, I was never a big horror movie fan, simply put — I was a chicken. Ironically, I have distinct memories of Halloween trick-or-treating nights where I was a fearless child, only caring about the candy. Who can blame me? We all love our sweets! The original Jurassic Park movie was shown to me when I was about eight, and we got up to the T-Rex scene towards the end, which led to a sobbing breakdown for me; no, we did not finish the movie. To this day, I have seen it several times now, including some of the later and newest releases. I’m not entirely fearless, but I have a different appreciation and enjoyment for horror movies now. I especially love a good thriller suspense that may not actually have a killer, but a super creepy feeling that gives you goosebumps while watching. Gory films are a hit or miss; I can handle blood and needles, generally speaking. However, the 2026 release of Primate was TERRIFYING. The kill scenes with the gore and squelching sounds paired together made it a whole different level of experience. I admit that I listened to most of that film while hiding under a blanket in theaters. I’m getting a little off track here, all just to remind you that everyone has different enjoyments, and we change as people over time. 

I was introduced to the first Scream movie last October because you have to watch spooky-themed movies all month — I don’t make the rules. I LOVED it so much. So when I found out a new one was coming out, I wanted to make sure I was ready for it. My husband had only seen the first one, so getting to watch Scream 2-6 together was a fun, new experience for the both of us. About seven weeks before the official release of “Scream 7,” we watched one of the movies each week. The part I enjoyed most about the films was it’s kind of set up like a murder-mystery killer movie, so we always tried to guess who Ghostface was before the final revelation. I was pretty close or on spot with a majority, which makes me feel pretty good. Maybe that means I’d survive? I don’t know? I don’t think I really want to know, to be honest. 

Anyway, I’m a pretty firm believer that original movies and/or the book are always the best version. Sequels are almost never as good, because sometimes I think the plot gets lost, particularly when there’s a time jump in the storyline. Oftentimes, I think there are plot holes left unanswered, and the gaping hole is not something I can overlook; I need answers!

I’m going to gloss over the specifics for the Scream movies because if you’ve read this far, then you have seen all seven films, or don’t care about spoilers. I’m just going to provide a couple of bullet points as a recap before I actually dive into my overall thoughts on Scream 7 and the movies prior. If you make it to the very end, I’ll even throw in my personal ranking of them all.

1. Our main protagonist and final girl — Sidney Prescott
2. Never trust the love interest!
3. New final girl introduced in Scream 5 and Main for Scream 6 — Sam Carpenter
4. Always shoot them in the head, or they will come back…
5. Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers were endgame; you cannot change my mind.
6. The number of Ghostfaces changes throughout the franchise. Beware!

I loved the first “Scream” — no notes at all, the final reveal fighting scene is both laughable and terrifying, from the quotable lines to the casting choice for our main Ghostface. Skeet Ulrich does a phenomenal job playing the seemingly sweet boyfriend, yet psychopathic, driven by revenge. I especially love Stu Macher’s character because sometimes he just feels like he’s dying, man. 

From there, the movies were about what I expected. I will give major props to “Scream 6” even though it’s the only movie not featuring Sidney at all. I loved the twist at the end where we get not one, not two, but THREE Ghostfaces. The twist on how the killers connect with Sam sort of parallels “Scream 2” in how it connected to Sidney. The counter sides to the movies and how they’re connected together are well done, making this one of the first franchises to keep me interested. There are still bits that leave me questioning, and for me personally, I think casting choices could have been better. But up to “Scream 6,” well done. Then there is “Scream 7.”

“Scream 4” was not especially my favorite, just because it felt a little copycat to “Scream 3,” and the casting choice was okay. “Scream 7” is sloppy and poorly written. I understand there were rewrites and that a lot was changed, but that’s still no excuse. Also, I need movies to last longer than “a week or two” in the storyline. That makes the pacing feel rushed and makes no sense when the final reveal is given in the end. My biggest issue was that Ghostface did not have any “real” connection to Sidney Prescott and her daughter, Tatum, other than that she was obsessed with her life. Her end goal was to create her daughter into the new “final girl,” which maybe hints to “Scream 8.” I have nothing against the killer being a weird, obsessed fan — it’s fine — but we don’t really know much about her character, Jessica Bowden, other than that they’re neighbors and her son’s a little bit weird. In all six past movies, Ghostface is driven by hate, revenge, and jealousy. Jessica portrays all these characteristics, but no personal vendetta against Sidney, except that she wants the story to start over. For what real purpose, though?

Additionally, the movie starts off with the burning down of the OG killer house from the first “Scream.” For what? They also never mention or refer to it, which makes no sense to me. There were three Ghostfaces in the movie, and we get one right off the bat because he gets run over by a car. No one shoots him in the head though?! What happened to that? This one is even more bizarre because his character, Karl Gibbs, gets screen time for all of a few seconds when Sidney serves up his coffee at the little cafe she works at. Then the next thing we know, he’s dead after Gale Weathers runs him over with her car. What was even the point in using him? 

The buildup all throughout the movie to its big finale is a letdown. The kill sequences and jump scares are great. From the cinematic point of view, it was done so well. But overall, the storyline and as a movie, it flopped big time. I’m pretty certain “Scream 8” is already planned and in the works; they’ve got some big shoes to fill from this one. It was a tremendous disappointment, considering I did really enjoy “Scream 6.”

MY OVERALL RANKINGS:

1. Scream 1: 10/10 — No notes, it ate and devoured, left no crumbs
2. Scream 6: 9.5/10 — Too many characters, missing quotable lines
3. Scream 2: 8/10 — Solid movie and plot, maybe would have liked a bigger Ghostface twist
4. Scream 5: 7.5/10 — I didn’t like the “underage” relationship and felt too predictable
5. Scream 3: 7/10 — Decent storyline, but for one Ghostface, needed someone more unhinged
6. Scream 4: 5/10 — Copycat of Scream 3 imo, casting choice was fine
7. Scream 7: 2/10 — Sloppy, bad pacing and timeline, it was bad