Scream VI (2023) * *

Directed by:  Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Starring:  Jenna Ortega, Melissa Barrera, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Dermot Mulroney, Courteney Cox, Hayden Panetierre, Liana Liberato, Jack Champion

While the 2022 version of Scream worked in nostalgic and suspenseful terms, Scream VI behaves like the sequels of the original Scream (1996), in which the original idea slowly became watered down and tiresome.  Last year's Scream was called a "requel", a sequel which pays homage to the original, but it also pointed out that the characters were trapped in a horror film and understood its rules and conventions.  It's all so...meta.  

The survivors of Scream all moved on to college in New York City, but quicker than you can say, "New York City", there's another Ghostface killer (or more) and our heroes are now trying to deduce who is trying to kill them while trying to avoid being Ghostface's latest victims.  Scream VI, however, feels more like a retread than a sequel to a requel.   The murders are particularly gruesome and we soon run out of patience with the hopes that the killer would simply reveal himself or herself already.

Scream VI should instill a new rule into the characters' minds:  Without giving away too many spoilers, the killer in the sequel will most likely be a relative of one or more of the previous killers looking for revenge.  The killers who are themselves offed in this movie will have a father's brother's uncle's cousin's former roommate trying to eviscerate them in Scream VII.   Bet on it.  And one more thing:  We know Samantha's father was Billy Loomis, one of the killers in the original film.   He appears to Samantha as a ghost trying to urge her to embrace her lineage and become a homicidal maniac, but the ghost appears as actor Skeet Ulrich at his present age.  The original Billy died at about 18 or 19 years old.   Did the ghost age?   Just wondering.