Scream VI has its first official teaser, and we’re not entirely sure what to make of it. This footage is equal parts suspense-building, intrigue-fueling creepiness…and kind of confusing. In a lot of ways, it looks like this is going to be a very good slasher flick that happens to have Ghostface in it. But something just doesn’t feel like Scream.
So, the best part of this teaser is pretty much everything about the way it’s put together, to be honest. It just screams “scary.” That fear kind of crawls up the back of your neck when you see Ghostface just…materialize on that subway car. Or, at least, it would if we were at all able to be scared by this dude anymore. The fact that our hearts even come close to pounding with dread says quite a lot, actually.
And maybe, to be fair, the fact that we’ve seen it all before and aren’t really afraid of our favorite “guy with a knife who just…snaps” anymore is why the “bad” part exists at all. We’re not even necessarily calling it “bad.” Not exactly. It’s just not necessarily what we’ve ever considered the Scream franchise to be about.
Now, hear us out before you get stabby.
The Scream 6 teaser has a series of title cards that add up to this:
In a city of millions…no one…hears you scream.
But even when the original trilogy took a trip to Los Angeles for the filming of yet another Stab movie, Ghostface still had a plan and stuck to a core group of people. More to the point, Woodsboro itself was always this small town where you expected to be safe — yet, ultimately, if you got too close to Sidney Prescott…you weren’t. Between this premise, the lack of Neve Campbell (why. Like, how is it Scream without “hello, Sidney”???), and a ton of press about how much more intricate the kills are going to be, there seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of what made fans flock to theaters to see these movies in the first place.
Now, to be fair, keeping it fresh is important. And a single promo isn’t going to make or break anything. Not to mention, a subway car attack surrounded by other folks in scary-looking costumes…at least seems like it could be in the spirit of the utterly devastating tragedy that was Maureen Evans’ (Jada Pinkett Smith) murder in a packed theater. Which means nobody’s writing this sequel off yet — especially not after how much we loved the 2022 film.
We’re just kind of scratching our heads here. That’s all.
So, are we giving this latest sequel in the franchise a chance? Absolutely. For starters, we can’t wait to see more out of Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera, regardless. And maybe it is time for the next generation to shake the genre up, yet again. This franchise is known for breaking the mold, so maybe it was only a matter of time before it broke its own.
But, like Ghostface, we’ll be watching…waiting…and ready get a little stabby if anything fails to go our way.
Check out the first Scream VI teaser below.
Thoughts on the Scream 6 teaser? Ready for more Ghostface? Over it? Still too bitter over what happened to Dewey to get invested? Leave us a comment!
Scream VI premieres March 10, 2023, only in theatres.
