SCREAM 7

Ghostface on the loose!

SCREAM 7 (2026). Co-written and directed by Kevin Williamson. 

Sidney (Neve Campbell) has relocated to the new town of Pine Grove with her sheriff husband Mark (Joel McHale) and teenage daughter, Tatum (Isabel May). Then Sidney begins to get video calls from Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), one of the killers in the original Scream. But hasn't Stu been dead for years? When the killings start again with a new Ghostface on the loose, Sidney and old pal Gail Weathers (Courteney Cox) team up to investigate if Stu is somehow still alive or if someone else is hiding behind AI-generated deep fakes. 

Victims: Tatum (right) and her pals

Scream 7 is a fast-paced, often thrilling, and quite suspenseful slasher flick with generally good performances. The best sequences are the prologue with a young couple running into trouble in a house that commemorates the murders back in Hillsboro, and a sequence in which a poor victim in a bar is sort of turned into a beer spigot. Usually the Scream movies are comparatively restrained and tasteful, but a gross and sadistic sequence in a theater features a graphic disembowelment that might be more at home in one of those Terrifier movies. The motive for the gruesome murders, as many others have noted, is so lame as to be laughable, but fortunately it doesn't ruin the movie. Although the Scream flicks were originally black comedies with as many jokes as screams, this installment -- aside from the dumb finale -- is basically played more or less straight. As usual the film glosses over the utter misery faced by the loved ones of the victims left in the wake of the maniac. Campbell and Cox also appeared in 2022's Scream. Mason Gooding, one of Gail Weathers' team, was also in the slasher flick Heart Eyes. 

Verdict: Still fun despite its flaws. ***. 

HEART EYES

HEART EYES (2025). Director: Josh Rubin.

A serial slayer known as HEK (Heart Eyes Killer) has already struck on Valentine's Day, targeting couples and others who get in his way, when he makes his presence known in grisly fashion in Seattle. Advertising woman Ally (Olivia Holt of Totally Killer) and newcomer Jay (Mason Gooding), carry on a budding, awkward romance while dodging attacks from the killer. Finally cornered, they find out the dread secret of the Heart Eyes maniac.

The Heart Eyes Killer

Heart Eyes begins with a sequence in a winery where a female victim is literally crushed in a wine press, her head being graphically smushed for the edification of disaffected gore geeks. Then we get a whole series of rom-com type scenes which are completely out of sync with the opening sequence. There's a scene when our young couple inadvertently lead the maniac to a drive-in theater, where he proceeds to hack and slash at dozens of people -- this is a highly uncomfortable reminder of such real-life scenes of slaughter (albeit this killer doesn't use a gun). 

Gooding and Holt

Okay, Heart Eyes doesn't get points for good taste, nor for its rather self-absorbed lead characters (Ally takes forever to start thinking about the many innocent victims and never really expresses much dismay over the people she literally sees killed right in front of her.) However, the climax, which has at least one surprise, is well-done and satisfying. Mason Gooding, an appealing actor, is the son of Cuba Gooding, Jr. 

Verdict: An odd mix of humor and gore that unlike the early Scream movies, doesn't quite work. **1/4.