Updated Feb. 27, 2026, 9:14 p.m. ET
One character in the latest “Scream” movie dares to call Neve Campbell‘s iconic final girl Sidney Prescott past her prime. No, that would better describe this slasher series, which is a stale desiccated corpse of what it used to be.
What’s even more disappointing is this seventh installment goes back to the original horror film’s roots: Screenwriter Kevin Williamson made a fantastic team with director Wes Craven back in ’96 and now helms “Scream 7” (★½ out of four; rated R; in theaters now) himself. But even Williamson doing both jobs – and including some fleetingly intriguing AI/deepfake commentary – can’t lift a woeful retread or resuscitate a flagging franchise.
“Scream 7” catches up with Sidney in small-town Pine Grove, Indiana, where the survivor of California’s infamous Woodsboro murders has tried to build a new home and family but is reminded constantly – by “Stab” movie nerds or true-crime junkies – of her bloody backstory. With the help of her police-chief husband Mark (Joel McHale), she has tried hard not to pass that trauma down to her 17-year-old daughter, Tatum (Isabel May), though all that’s accomplished is building an emotional wall between them.
Sidney gets a call at her coffee shop from her old pal Ghostface (again voiced by Roger L. Jackson), and she thinks it’s just another kook. Soon she realizes that the masked villain is actually back and has followed her to the Midwest, targeting Tatum and hinting that this iteration of the killer’s return might involve a former foe from her past.
Original franchise star Courteney Cox also returns as tabloid reporter/Sidney’s best frenemy Gale Weathers, and twin siblings Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Chad (Mason Gooding) – who appeared in the past two “Scream” flicks – are back playing Gale’s interns and give the movie some scene-stealing life.
Though May is a talented addition to the franchise, Tatum’s friend group of possible suspects/easy victims (including Mckenna Grace and Celeste O’Connor) are maybe the dullest crew of new kids in a “Scream” movie. There are some recognizable franchise faces as well: No spoilers here, but Matthew Lillard, who played OG killer Stu Macher, does find a way to appear in No. 7, and his delightfully demented presence lends the kind of needed electricity that no one else in this thing can muster.
“Scream” has always been a hit-and-miss franchise, but it does seem a bit cursed at this point. After 2022’s fifth movie rebooted the series, Campbell turned down a role in “Scream 6” because of a pay dispute – the fact that Sidney wasn’t involved in Ghostface crashing New York City becomes an awkward subplot in the latest film. The bigger losses are Melissa Barrera, a standout from the past two outings fired from “Scream 7” because of pro-Palestinian social media posts, and Jenna Ortega, who quit partly because of Barrera’s exit.
The franchise was put squarely on their shoulders, and it being hotshot back to Campbell for “Scream 7” feels like painful desperation. Yes, the kills are still gory – one guy gets gruesomely turned into a beer tap – but it’s just not any fun now. The joyous gallows humor and horror-movie commentary of old are gone, and some inspired working-in of new technology falls apart. Even the violent cold opening – a beloved “Scream” signature going all the way back to poor Drew Barrymore meeting the business end of a knife – is a boring fumble here.
The franchise needs to blown up again. Or repeatedly stabbed into submission. Or just given to Chad and Mindy to run wild. Because right now, even Ghostface wouldn’t recognize it.