Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for “Scream 7.”
The seventh installment in the “Scream” franchise debuted in theaters on Feb. 26. On opening day, there was a small crowd at the theater, buzzing with excitement. The novelty Ghostface popcorn buckets and soda cups were sold out — although the concession was still fully stocked with “Melania” movie merch. The theater was only half full, but “Scream” fans of all ages sat excitedly, decked out in franchise apparel. There were even two moviegoers dressed as fully masked Ghostface killers, although nobody thought to charge to the front of the theater, feigning a stab wound (hello, Jada Pinkett Smith).
“Scream 7” is the latest installment in the long-running franchise. Neve Campbell has been the franchise’s primary lead from the start. In her role as Sidney Prescott, she has been regarded as one of the most popular “final girls” in horror movie history. For 30 years, Sidney has fought and survived various Ghostface killers (the franchise’s antagonist), while also subverting the usual stereotypes of a “scream queen.” This film reintroduces us to a seemingly well-adjusted, middle-aged Sidney. The owner of a small town’s coffee shop, she now lives in Pine Grove, Indiana, with her wholesome police-chief husband and a sometimes angsty, but popular, teenage daughter. What could go wrong?
The film is filled with nostalgic callbacks to its most iconic predecessor, 1996’s “Scream.” The movie opens with a young couple vacationing at the first film’s murder house, now an Airbnb. We are introduced to Sidney’s teenage daughter, Tatum (Isabel May), when her high school boyfriend sneaks through her bedroom window — Billy Loomis style—for a late-night make-out session. Tatum herself is the same age Sidney was when the Ghostface saga began and is the namesake of Sidney’s childhood best friend, one of the first movie’s victims. When Pine Grove goes under curfew in response to Ghostface’s rampage, “Red Right Hand” by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds plays in the background, just as it did in 1996. And the movie’s big finale even has Tatum tied to a chair in the family’s backyard, an homage to the franchise’s first on-screen victims, Steven Orth and Casey Becker.
“Scream 7” is a movie that deliberately plays on nostalgia. But this would not have been the case if one firing and a series of resignations had not altered the film’s leadership, casting and creative direction. In 2019, Spyglass Media Group acquired the rights to the “Scream” franchise and, in partnership with Paramount Pictures, brought renewed focus to a reboot. After an 11-year hiatus, “Scream“ (2022) finally premiered, with Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega cast as the film’s new leading ladies. Campbell played only a limited role in 2022’s “Scream” and did not reprise her role at all in “Scream VI” the following year. It was clear that the films were going in a new, and unfortunate, direction compared to their predecessors. Campbell had taken a back seat and was passing the torch to a new generation of supposed “final girls.” This was until Barrera was fired by Spyglass Media in November 2023, following a series of antisemitic Instagram posts after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks.
On social media, Barrera’s firing immediately caused an uproar. Some fans couldn’t possibly understand how her sharing content that accused Israel of genocide, ethnic cleansing and colonization, or likened the Gaza Strip to a concentration camp (among other posts) could possibly be considered antisemitic. Especially when these baseless attacks came mere weeks after the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Shortly after Barrera’s firing, her co-star, Ortega, and director Christopher Landon resigned. With “Scream 7” lacking a director and lead cast, the franchise thankfully turned back to its roots. The role of director was offered to Kevin Williamson, screenwriter for the first “Scream,” “Scream 2” and “Scream 4,” and a plot overhaul put Campbell back into the spotlight. The franchise was coming home.
The film’s world premiere took place at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, one day before its release to the public. The red carpet was filled with actors and actresses of the franchise, both past and present. Among them were Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard, the actors who played the original Ghostface killers in 1996, as well as David Arquette, who played the fan-favorite character, Dewey Riley, before his death at the hands of Ghostface in “Scream” (2022). But the “Scream 7” debut was not without its own scares when anti-Israel demonstrators arrived at the premiere touting the holy trinity of performative activism: keffiyehs, flags and greasy hair. They were still angry about Barrera’s firing and deemed the seventh installment in a horror movie franchise an effective target for advocacy efforts.
Ironically, there are some issues with the “Scream” franchise that these demonstrators could have been justifiably frustrated about. Perhaps, most notably, that Campbell stepped away from the series entirely in 2023, complaining that she was being low-balled by the studio after being the lynchpin of the “Scream” franchise. Or they could’ve taken issue with how the Ghostface character, rather bizarrely, develops a more Michael Myers-like indestructibility with each passing iteration. Whether knocked over the head or shot multiple times in the chest, our supposedly human masked maniac, doesn’t seem phased in the slightest. But according to the protestors, the primary problem with the “Scream” franchise is that Barrera was not given free rein to spew antisemitic slop on her Instagram account.
Regardless of what these anti-Israel protestors hoped to accomplish, it doesn’t seem that their calls to boycott “Scream 7” and Paramount Pictures had any effect on the public. The film set an opening-weekend box office record, outperforming every other movie in the franchise. And although Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a franchise-low 31%, audiences seem to disagree, as they rated it 76%. “Scream 7” has been a major success. It seems that Barrera – and those who followed her off set – may have inadvertently saved the franchise from itself. In getting back to basics, the film found a way to connect with audiences from both the past and the present. And it’s making a lot of money along the way.
“Scream 7” is not a perfect movie, but it’s a lot of fun. Sure, the seventh iteration of the Ghostface killing squad seemed incredibly random, but this isn’t entirely uncommon for the franchise. It was difficult to follow when Jessica (Anna Camp) is revealed to be the film’s main Ghostface killer. While her performance was commendable, that a Pilates princess turned husband-killer ended up as a Sidney Prescott stan boggles the mind. But Jessica did get something right. She said that because Sidney Prescott wasn’t in universe for “Scream VI,” those Ghostface attacks don’t count. She couldn’t be more correct. “Scream” just isn’t “Scream” without its queen.
Source:
jewishjournal.com