A "SCREAM 7" Review with Spoilers
These days, you gotta have a sequel!
I finally had the chance to see Scream 7 last week, and since then, I’ve been taking it all in. Let’s get a few things out of the way right off the bat:
Was Scream 7 a bad movie? No.
Was it a box office success? Yes.
Was it a fun watch? Absolutely.
Was it a strong installment in the franchise? …That’s highly debatable.
Don’t get me wrong, sitting in the theater with a bucket of popcorn watching Ghostface do their thing is always a good time. And let’s be absolutely clear: Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox were flawless. In my opinion, they are not at fault for the movie falling short of the massive hype surrounding it. I still enjoyed it very much. But as a long-time fan of the franchise, I have some serious bones to pick with the story arc we were handed.
Let’s be honest with ourselves—we all love Matthew Lillard. How can anyone NOT love Matthew (shame on Quentin)?! The sheer anticipation of Stu Macher’s return is arguably the main reason this movie shattered the box office compared to other recent installments.
And what did the writers do with that perfectly good story arc? They wasted it on an AI deepfake.
Finding out that Stu wasn’t alive was extremely disappointing. At the same time, the complexities surrounding his (possible) survival in 1996 are just too hard to ignore.
The logistical gymnastics required to make this work just don’t hold up. First of all, how and why would Stu’s parents fake his death in the first place? It makes zero sense. Keep in mind, at the time of the events of Scream (1996), Stu was only 17-18 years old, so most likely Stu’s parents would’ve had to carry this out. I can’t imagine that a teen would be able to pull this off. Is it possible that he could’ve just run away after the events? Yes, but at this point in time, the franchise has already committed itself to the fact that Stu’s family had a funeral service and buried Stu.
Is it possible that Stu could’ve survived? Maybe. However, those old tube televisions were HEAVY back then!
Second, we are supposed to believe that thirty years later, both Gale Weathers and Sidney Prescott—two women who have literally written books on these massacres and investigated every corner of their trauma—would have absolutely no idea he was still alive? I don’t buy it.
The Missed Opportunities
By relying on a deepfake, the movie completely undercut its own emotional weight. Because the focus was so heavily skewed toward this AI misdirection, the actual killers of the movie ended up feeling completely irrelevant (and let’s be honest; they mostly were!).
Imagine how much more rewarding the storyline would have been if Stu was actually alive. Picture this: a heavily scarred, older Stu Macher who has spent the last three decades living with immense remorse, finally stepping out of the shadows with one goal—to save Sidney. The “Hannibal Lecter” of the franchise. That is a character arc. That is the kind of legacy-sequel payoff the fans deserved, rather than an AI deepfake.
The film could’ve gone so many ways. I would’ve liked to see an interaction between Sidney, Mindy, and Chad where Stu could’ve talked about his remorse and the loss of his friend Randy. This could’ve been possible if they had gone in the direction of Stu being a runaway who went missing after the events of the first film. I think that many fans would’ve been happy with this direction!
Sidelining the Meeks Twins
Aside from the Stu fumble, the other glaring issue was the roster balance. We desperately needed more of the Meeks twins. They bring such a great energy and foundational connection to the lore of the films, and it felt like they were pushed to the background to make room for a convoluted tech-plot that didn’t stick the landing.
Final Verdict
Scream 7 is a highly entertaining slasher, carried by the undeniable star power of its legacy cast and the allure of Matthew Lillard. But as a coherent chapter in the Scream franchise, it fumbled the ball on what could have been the most satisfying character redemption in horror history.
As for my thoughts on Scream 8? Honestly… meh, but I will always watch any film in the franchise.