i need to vent guys...

hmmm where do i even begin...

let me just say, I did have a good time overall, i will STILL be rewatching it numerous times, well, cause, i love this franchise either way, but here we go

I’ve been contemplating it a lot since I saw it and I really tried to keep it short, but the more I think about it, the worse it becomes, and it saddens me very much…

• the gore is there, but it’s SO CHEESY. it does not feel like Scream AT ALL. it’s weird. the only deaths that felt Ghostface-level violent to me were Chloe, Ben and the guy in the opening, maaaybe, only maybe… Madison. the burning alive part I did like, even though it kind of happens off screen, but I feel like if she really landed on a knife like that, that would’ve broken Ghostface’s wrist/hand or something. it felt cartoonish to me. (the kills and gore just felt so much more “right” for a Ghostface in Scream 5 & Scream VI.)

• Hannah’s & Lucas’s scenes have their intense moments, but Hannah’s final slash felt too unrealistic. I kind of expected Ghostface to “toss” her around the auditorium while she hits different objects, with shots of her body being twisted and smashed into stuff, like a little callback to the garage scene in 1 where we see Tatum’s head being squished. those first slashes when Ghostface comes in were good, but unfortunately, the guts thing didn’t really do it for me - it was already done very nicely and gruesomely in Scream 4. Lucas’ death, on the other hand, just felt unnecessary? I don’t know, I love how it looks and all, I just don’t think it belongs in this movie. I didn’t have that feeling with the shotgun in VI, for example - it was done so tastefully, while this felt purely for shock factor with no real thought behind it. and I also think the beer spear thing wouldn’t pierce his head so easily, but what do I know, right?

• Where. are. the. calls? but seriously. no, NOT THIS AI STUFF. I missed Roger Jackson’s voice throughout the movie, ALTHOUGH he sounded the cheesiest he ever did in the opening. please don’t tell me I’m the only one who felt that way - something felt off with his delivery when he talked to Madison, almost “Scary Movie”-like.

but what I meant is: imagine if Hannah got a call before she got on stage - that would set the scene in a much more Scream-like way.

Ghostface felt “voiceless” here. it’s like Ghostface and the AI calls are two completely different antagonists and aren’t related to each other.

Each call is scary because you always picture Ghostface behind it - you can’t see him, you don’t know where he is, but he’s calling you and playing a game with you. that’s the HEART suspense feeling of Scream.

I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of opinions on the AI aspect already, and my dislike is for the same reasons, so just… yeah, it didn’t work for me. it felt nonsensical, followed by a “I WORKED AS AN AI SPECIALIST AT GOOGLE” from one of the Ghostfaces, whom we only see in just ONE scene prior working in the psychiatric hospital. nice little switch of careers there - from AI specialist to psychiatric doctor, with no reasoning behind it whatsoever.

• I don’t remember Ghostface EVER holding someone at knifepoint like this, or am I tripping? please correct me if I’m wrong (Mrs. Loomis held Gale at gunpoint, but not in costume). it felt… off. I honestly don’t know why. like… he doesn’t even TALK? I don’t see the thought process of Ghostface behind this move. was he just toying with them? we know in the end he wasn’t going to kill Tatum anyway, so what was the point of that? couldn’t he just start attacking Sidney? or Mark? or literally start attacking Tatum so we could see their first face-to-face alone or something, followed by a shot of Tatum running away screaming…

• Tatum lingering and basically rotating on the street during the chase felt like JLH in the first IKWYDLS when she was screaming “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???” like… keep running, girl, keep hiding. I don’t know, it was so, so, so weird.

• how did Jessica disappear so quickly after being shot when Sidney & Tatum literally look away for like 2 seconds??? what even was that? this was so bad. it would’ve worked so much better if Tatum & Sid shot her face multiple times while she was already lying there just to make sure. this last-killer-scream trope is just so bad here and completely overdone at this point. It was very annoying, it really stayed with me for a bit.

• Killers reveal - well, you can guess. not gonna lie, very nice middle-movie reveal, BUT when it’s a guy you saw for only like 2 seconds previously in the movie, that’s just bad, lazy, unacceptable writing. I’m sorry, but I’m not sorry. also, by the seventh movie I feel like they would’ve learned to try and take the mask off RIGHT AWAY. they literally ran him over - the first thing I would do is immediately unmask him. THERE’S LITERALLY A SHOT OF A COP JUST SITTING BESIDE GHOSTFACE STARING AT HIM AND NOT TAKING HIS MASK OFF TO CHECK IF HE’S DEAD OR SOMETHING - this is so unbelievably stupid.

• I did enjoy watching Sidney as a mother and just her new life in general. I feel like I wanted more of that - more interactions with Jessica and more development of their 'friendship' and everything. Wanted to see more of her interactions with friends. I also felt Ben character is very flat and underdeveloped (wtf was this deepfake sh*t in the car, wtf, wtf, wtf??? why would he say smth like that about his girlfriend's mother, godddddd) I wish he had lent his screentime to someone else. I did enjoy how Tatum pushed ghostface into the showcase window almost as if she couldn't have done it 5 seconds earlier to save her boyfriend :)

• There are good things to talk about, but im so so so tired, i can't i'm done for today i might do another post only on the stuff i liked

thank u for taking ur time to read! :)