262: Scream VI (2023)

SPEAKER_00 0:04

They're gonna keep blue balling us is the problem, and I'm not here for it.

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hackerslash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. I'm here because it felt right. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack, a total joke, a waste of time, or a slash.

SPEAKER_02 0:31

Totally killer, pun intended.

SPEAKER_01 0:33

We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies for the perspectives we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of here we fancy most. My name is Chris, I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the Superfly Space Guy Mac.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

You know you're like the tenth guy to try this, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:49

The classic horror connoisseur Sean.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

Sorry to interrupt, I'm just gonna tase you in the balls real quick.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

And the paranormal paramour Binks. Smile for the camera, motherfucker. Support for this episode is provided by Hunter Killer, makers of the immersive mystery game that allow you to be the detective, sort through evidence, and crack the case. You can put those skills to good use for this one too, because this week we hit up our local theaters for our first release night episode of the year. Previously on Hacker Slash, we retreated to the return of a particular slasher icon who had been dormant for about 11 years. When the fifth entry of this franchise released in January 2022, we spent episode 195 discussing the longevity of the original cast members, debating the quality of its red herrings, and reflecting on having a film without Wes Craven. While that episode only featured Paris and I, our current team just revisited it this week in our latest edition of the Rewind, a series of patron exclusive episodes focused on revisiting films we've previously covered on the show. You can find the link to that episode down in our show notes. Now, we're here to discuss a film that takes us from the bloody suburbs of Woodsboro to the hustle and bustle of New York City. This newly released film features Ghostface survivors, past and present, looking to live a new chapter in a new city. But as we know, and there are certain rules to a continuing franchise, and where you go, Ghostface follows. This week we're talking about Scream Six. What were you all expecting going into this?

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Well, we're in a new city. We've got this new cast joining us. I'm expecting things to be bigger and bolder with grander stakes and a whole new set of rules.

SPEAKER_03 2:26

Yeah, that's fair. I I think only having seen the teaser trailer and the trailer that came after that, I was expecting this one to feel a little bit different since it takes place in the city of New York and not in a small town. And especially coming out of the last film after seeing Dewey die, I was bracing myself for some more potential legacy deaths in this one as we enter this new era of Scream.

SPEAKER_00 2:51

Yeah, I, you know, I mentioned it in the Scream 5 rewind episode that you just mentioned, Chris, that I was a little nervous going into Scream 6 now that we have this new main character that I'm honestly not the biggest fan of. So either way, I was still expecting to have a good time with this film and try to stay open-minded with this new direction, but that skepticism of like, how is this franchise continuing without two of the three main characters was still lingering for sure.

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Yeah, that's a huge question that this movie you know poses. And I really try to go into this with no expectations. I got into the point where I had some predictions of what would happen, but I honestly just purged them completely as predictions because I couldn't possibly think clearly after a run-in I had with someone who slid into my DMs a few weeks ago. I got a DM from someone I didn't know, and I assumed it was gonna be pretty chill. That was gonna be what I always get. It was gonna be a new listener discovers the show, enjoys it, starts binging. They realize, oh, I can't see past episode 84. Actually want to know where they can find it and want to see where they can listen to all the old stuff. Little did I know, friends, and this is where it really gets spicy, that while it appeared to be someone new to the show, they actually had a few paragraphs written about Scream Six, and I never even really made it to reading the message because they also included two photos. They included one that appeared to be an unmasked ghost face and then a main character in a body bag during a break on set. So naturally, this frustrated the hell out of me, and I felt like it'd be impossible for that image to not color my viewing in some way, shape, or form. So this was this is really tough to go into as a theatrical experience.

SPEAKER_00 4:39

Wow, that's insanely unfortunate. Especially that this is the kind of franchise where people tend to avoid so many spoilers, they try to like distance themselves for even from trailers like myself. I only saw the trailer, the first trailer when it came out, and that's it. I didn't see anything else. It's just one of those things, and to slide into your DM so savagely.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Bro, I don't know what I did to deserve this, really. And honestly, regardless of whether or not leaks are accurate, you mean we do we see this ahead of every major thing or every major product release out now, right? Everybody wants to get to the leak status, everybody wants to know what's coming, everybody wants to plan. But this is not a movie I had interest in doing that with. And I usually don't care about spoilers unless it's a big moment, unless it's a big movie. Like I still can't watch hereditary because that shit was spoiled for me. And really going into this one, right? I I felt a wide range of things here. First, so much joy with the lovely Easter eggs peppered throughout the movie, including a moment, and oh my god, I I loved this so much. Including a moment where a character is watching fucking Friday the 13th, part eight, Jason takes Manhattan.

SPEAKER_03 5:56

Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_01 5:57

It is deliciously meta. I saw that window being broken by Jason, I was like, oh, we did this now. Y'all know what you're doing. Self-referential, I dig it. I felt absolutely tickled in so many different parts, and I loved seeing another legacy character make a return. And along with that, right, the fusion of comedy was somehow even darker, even more brutal feeling ghost face. But I gotta say, friends, on the other side, I went in with an understanding a certain character would end up being on the wrong side of things here, which severely skewed my experience watching every single interaction they had with someone else. And I kept an open eye out for any potential collaborators, and there was like one specific moment early on where I felt like, all right, clearly this is sus. They're in on it. It gave me the same feeling I had when I predicted the killer really early in last year's scream, which really left a bad taste in my mouth.

SPEAKER_02 6:50

You know, your foretelling of what might happen in this movie also kind of got me worried because I'm sitting in the theater, and this is release night. There's somebody in the row ahead of me stating to their friend that they saw the movie the night before. And I was like, if they open their mouth and say one thing about what's gonna happen, I'm gonna lose it. I'm gonna be so upset, it's gonna be ruined. But thank goodness nobody spoiled anything while we were watching it. It was very, very courteous of these people. But I think it was kind of a longer movie. I think two hours, 20 minutes felt a little lengthy, but I was still entertained. I still found myself doing that thing where you try to solve the mystery part of the murder mystery. I think that's one of the most fun parts of watching a screen movie. Like you mentioned, it if it gets ruined, it really does take a lot out of the viewing experience. But there are parts I think that they do well in keeping it a mystery if you have, of course, haven't had it spoiled in your DMs.

SPEAKER_03 7:50

Yeah. Knowing that this is a whodunit slasher, getting any kind of information that can sway your your train of thought going into the movie kind of ruins it for you because you're A, either you know who the killer is, you already know some piece of information, so it kind of ruins that reveal for you, or it throws you off thinking that it's this the whole time, and you're just not even paying attention to the you know the details of the movie. Uh I think, Mac, you said that it felt lengthy. For me, it was it was a lengthy film, but it felt like the pace was a little bit faster than I expected it to be. I felt like it kind of went through the entire length of the movie, and I never felt there was any dull moments. I was I was kind of invested the entire time. Um, there was a moment in the beginning of the movie that really threw me off, and I know I can't dive into too much detail until the second half of the show, but I I don't know. I I thought that was the direction they were gonna go in, and if that was the direction they were gonna go in, I was gonna walk out of that theater. But luckily, we're all good. We'll talk about it later. I did love the attention to detail in this film. I know, Chris, you talked about Easter eggs riddled throughout the film. Of course, those are gonna be there. They were fantastic. This isn't a spoiler, but even the attention to detail of seeing like Tara's hand and the scar in the hand from when the knife went through it. I'm just glad that somebody was there to be like, we need to put this here and make it like make sense. So it's just the attention to detail I really loved as well.

SPEAKER_00 9:26

Yeah. And I think we're talking about pacing, we're talking about attention to detail. All of these things, truthfully, they're the reason that I was on edge throughout the entire film from start to finish. I was shocked most of the time. On the negative side of things, I it did take me a while to get over my own gripe about Sam Carpenter and allowing myself to give her a second chance. And that's the thing about this franchise, we gotta start letting go in some way, right? But the excitement, like it was just really running through throughout. I didn't feel that runtime whatsoever. I thought it was great. And to be honest, hearing all of this, I'm just lucky that I went into this theater just without a single teaser, without a single clue of what's gonna happen. But here's the thing I th you were mentioning it, Mac, like this is a who done it in a way, right? It's always gonna be like that. And after so many movies, you kind of think that you have your own pattern, and sometimes you can assume the ending. And in other ways, a delivery of that might be a little surprising or disappointing because you're just so used to what's gonna happen. And this time around, for me, I was surprised by everything in this film from the brutality to certain reveals to certain connections to everything. I I was really impressed that I I was watching something that was fresh, and it really makes you like marinate in some of these really bloody moments that you just kind of feel like, wow, is this a new ghost face? I I what am I watching?

SPEAKER_01 10:59

New ghost face, who this? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 11:01

It feels that way, it feels that way for sure.

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Yeah, so it's really interesting that you bring that up because I did have this really funny moment where I was pleasantly surprised when the credits rolled, and I realized that one of the photos someone sent me was thankfully just a bit of Photoshop, and the other was well, not what it appeared to be, like it was it was kind of there, it kind of wasn't. I'll reveal in the second half what was up with that. But let me say I do have quite a few disappointments here. One with an element that we're told the stakes are high, but then I just didn't feel it, and then the other centers around characters. I won't say another word on it until you, you sweet, sweet listener, see the movie for yourself. We'll discuss that in the second half of the episodes post spoiler break in the character section, because man, I was feeling it.

SPEAKER_02 11:54

You know, I I had a lot that I think surprised me, but I also had a big disappointment. And this one maybe not the fault of the film, I'm not sure yet, but I think I'm still disappointed that I'm I'm not over the so-called legacy cast. This is a scream movie, I know it's a scream movie, but this is the second installment in this whole 2020s chapter of the franchise, and I'm still not really bought into the idea that I'm actually watching Scream. I don't know if it's the casting, I don't know if it's because of nostalgia with the first movie, but it feels like when somebody makes a movie with the same name, and just to like capitalize on a little bit, it kind of feels 10% of that.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

It's giving Scream the TV series or that season of glee where all the kids went to New York City, and then there's a new cast of high schoolers. I get it.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

But wait a second, because actually, although I'm the first one to be like, I don't want to let go, I literally just said that. The ensemble is ensembling, okay? Like they're carrying some weight here. I think that they are like really doing their best. I we gotta give them a chance. And that's coming from me. I hate the main character, it's coming from me.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Would you say the girls are girling? The girls are girling. They are, they are. I I have no complaints about the new cast, I really, really enjoy them.

SPEAKER_02 13:07

So I don't have issues with the cast. The cast I think does an amazing job. I think the thing that disappointed me is there's something, a feeling, a vibe, a connection with the original cast that's taken over 20 years to form, perhaps, and that I just I don't have it yet with the with this new cast. In other TV shows and movies where we've had this like progression towards a replacement, it's always been like slow. Like one season, one or two characters get introduced, the next season one or two old characters leave, etc., etc. for four or five seasons. I think here it's just still so jarring that from scream four to scream five, it's like this massive jump. And then from Scream Five to Scream Six, it's not a massive jump again, but I just I'm still not bought in yet. I still didn't have time for me to like grow accustomed to it all. I really enjoyed them, but I just don't have the same feeling as watching Scream.

SPEAKER_03 13:57

Yeah, I get that 100%. I mean, when you've grown up watching the Scream films in the franchise since the 90s, the that cast is forever gonna hold its own place in the franchise. And when you start to see, you know, a fresh take or a change from that or a switch in direction, it can be really challenging to keep that same audience bought in to whatever you're trying to do. And so I can see that. I I love the new cast, I think it's great. It definitely has a different feel. You know, they do bring elements back or elements to the film that you know you still feel from the original and all that, but I I think they do a really good job. I have some disappointments for sure, Chris. I'll be interested to see if our disappointments line up as we talk about it in the second half. There was definitely some character stuff I was disappointed in. There was definitely one thing they chose to bring back that disappointed me that felt even worse than what they did before. So we'll see. But I was surprised genuinely by the fact that I didn't I didn't guess who the ghost face was right away in this one, right? I I think it did a good job making you suspect everyone. I had a really good time playing the Who Done It game. I will admit that I did suspect correctly at one point in the movie, but I definitely didn't feel 100% confident until it was actually revealed. So there was just a whole lot of me guessing throughout the whole film, and you know, you throw enough shit at the wall, something's bound to stick.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

Well, you know what stuck for me, honestly, was how tense this movie was. And and maybe that's why I found it a little scary, but not in the traditional way. So, like what I appreciate about this film is that it's not jump scare heavy, it's a different kind of fear. And you know, we're talking about New York City, and this this city is scary enough already. Like, it's already a scary time, a scary place, crime is crazy, and now we're adding this element of ghost face in there, and it's not the it's not doesn't it doesn't hit the same as Jason takes Manhattan, okay? Let's just be clear it's a different kind of reality situation considering the holiday and considering everything else. Like there's just a lot of things that make this movie feel very real in terms of fear, and so it doesn't need jump scares, it just kind of thrives in that.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

Okay. To be clear, Jason never really took Manhattan, he took a boat towards Manhattan, dabbled in the city, ended up in a sewer. That was the extent of him Manhattaning. But Binks, I 100% agree with you. This ghost face feels more brutal than past ones, but I wouldn't say it makes the film overall scarier. And there are definitely a few jump scare moments peppered in, but there's there is one in particular that got a few folks in my theater. I think overall it's it's safe to watch. What is scary though is that different kind of fear that you were just describing. And for me, it's the concept of things going down while there are so many people around you, and yet no one helps you. You know what I mean? I think I saw a video on a subway where uh a man was about to attack a woman and then a bunch of people intervene, and it's like, okay, thank you for fucking not being a passive bystander. But there are a lot of moments in this movie that remind me of the Kitty Genevieve's murder, where she was brutally attacked outside her apartment in New York, and while there are so many witnesses, no one called the police because they all assumed someone else would. And that doesn't happen in this movie, that's not exactly what happens, but I think seeing something happen in a city filled with people where it feels like you can't take a breath without hitting something, that is concerning to me. It's deeply concerning and disturbing.

SPEAKER_03 18:01

Yeah, you're no longer in a quiet neighborhood with somebody breaking into your house with nobody around to hear you scream, right? You're in the city with tons of people, and there's somebody just on the other side of the wall, or somebody right in front of you, right behind you, or people all around you, but just not paying enough attention to notice that you're getting killed. So, yeah, definitely a different kind of fear. I don't I don't think the film overall was very scary. It does have some good jump scares if those do it for you. It has some good kill scenes, some really good gore. It was, however, suspenseful, which I believe makes up for what it might lack in actual terror or fright. It it did really well building the tension and the suspense throughout the film that I think makes this film super enjoyable.

SPEAKER_02 18:50

I'll agree. I think there's a lot of moments where you're wondering, oh my gosh, are they gonna take out the entire cast or what? Because in previous films, you can always imagine, well, these people are probably safe, they're gonna be fine. But in this film, you spend a lot of time wondering, is everybody gonna make it out? I'm not exactly sure. Now, I think it's still fairly safe. It's not like a, hey, we're just chopping off the heads of every main cast member or anything like that. But I think the main characters here are in much greater danger than perhaps in previous films, or at least it feels like they are. There's some moments where that is completely undone, unfortunately. But for most of the movie, you are curious, you're sitting there wondering, oh my gosh, what are they gonna do? Kind of on the edge of your seat, or like me lounging back in a recliner.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Okay, lounging back in a recliner, I think, gives me the energy that I was actually feeling in terms of tension. But let me say that while I overall enjoyed the twists and turns here, for me, the originality of this approach to the franchise really misses the mark in two major ways. One, it feels very similar to a plot of a film we recently covered. I cannot wait to talk about this later. I'll elaborate more on that in the character section. But it also feels like at times it weaves the past into its fibers in a really beautiful, intricate way. It feels poetic, but then at other times it feels like it's doing it super cheaply, like it's just a heavy hand, and it doesn't feel like it syncs up with itself. It's it's really a bizarre, bizarre feeling.

SPEAKER_02 20:28

I I know exactly what you're talking about there with the movie that we have reviewed because when we get to that point in the movie, I was like, holy cow, okay, like there's nothing new under the sun, but at the same time, it also clearly points at previous Scream movies, like several of them at the same time. I mean, obviously all of them at one point or another, but when it comes to a lot of important plot details and motivations and things like that, it's like, oh, remember these other movies we made? Let's just come on, guys, let's just do that from that movie, let's do that from that movie. And it's not necessarily a bad thing. It is meta, it's supposed to pick on itself a little bit, but it does it does kind of detract somewhat when it doesn't feel wholly new and inspired. So yeah, like I think it's got some credit for how differently it's done things than previous scream movies. I'm gonna give it the credit for that. It definitely feels like a new movie, but at the same time, it didn't feel like they had wholly new ideas.

SPEAKER_00 21:25

But I think that's my biggest thing about Scream is how how much originality are we expecting? Actually, this is not my thing about Scream. This is my thing about all of these franchises in reality, because at the end of the day, it's like, how much more original can this possibly be by number six at this point? And we're talking about a movie that is so self aware, it's literally the meta kingdom of franchises at this point. And it what it does that I do enjoy is it's so self aware. That it makes fun of itself. And that's like what brings in that comedic nature, which I do appreciate considering, in my opinion, this is like the most brutal of all of the scream movies. So originality on that front, that's something fresh for sure. But I mean, at this point, there's almost like what else is left? How much can more can we take of the same thing over and over again? You're nitpicking at all of the previous movies. You're gonna go at number 10 and then just start picking into like number one, three, four. It's just kind of becomes all the same after a while.

SPEAKER_03 22:33

I agree. It gets originality points for the overall approach and it's fresh, new feeling of the way that they did things. I think this one definitely has a lot of nods to horror, but it also leans really heavy into itself in this one, then even than it does from previous installments. It goes even further, right? So I think it's hard when you look at giving it originality points because it's kind of in a sense going backwards into time and tying it to other films within itself. But I think its approach to everything and then the way that it that it flowed and felt and the way they portrayed everything and tied everything together, some stuff definitely a bit of a stretch, which we'll probably talk about, but I still think it gets some originality points for just the way that it carried itself and the approach that it took to telling its story.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Yeah, look, I know I just talked a whole lot of shit, but uh even thinking about some of the redemptive moments and in maybe the third act and a little bit of what you're talking about with like infusing some of the past in here. I think personally I was incredibly satisfied with the end of this movie. And when it was over, I actually thought to myself, Well, this went better than I could have possibly asked for. I don't think I could have thought of a better ending.

SPEAKER_00 23:58

Yeah, I agree. This was a great ending for in my opinion. It was tense, hella savage, and in a way, this is like another ending for me that I think elevated the movie overall. I felt that way about Scream 5. I'm here again feeling the same way. I was literally on the edge of my seat, practically cheering. So that says a lot.

SPEAKER_02 24:19

There is like this weird curve in Scream movie endings where it's the best, and then it gets a little worse and a little worse, and then like really worse, and then like it's been picked back up, which is nice. But I think this one has some clear improvements over Scream 4 and Scream 5 when talking about the third act, especially the actual final ending moments that reveals the last minutes. I think it was very satisfying. I don't know that it was up there with the original in any way, but I think it was still very good.

SPEAKER_03 24:50

Yeah. I I think you put any of these up against its the original Scream 1996. I don't think any of them are holding up to the original, but I do think that the ending was enjoyable. I did enjoy the ending, minus maybe one part that we'll talk about, but I think it built intensity in the right moments. I think there was some emotional moments, I think there was a nice blend of suspense right at the end that really plays with you a little bit. I I just loved all of the things they did in the third act that led to the finale of the movie, and uh I think it was super enjoyable. I don't think that I would um have asked for anything differently. I think I was super satisfied with that.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Well, it sounds like this ending may bode well for our ratings. Let's go ahead and start making our way there. Now, before we actually score this movie, Sean, how would you describe the gore score?

SPEAKER_03 25:41

This film really brings you some really good gore. It's not that cheesy type of gore that you get where the blood looks fake or off-color. Like this, this one really has good looking blood and effects that make for some really cool uh kill scenes. I would I would have to give this a high gore score for the amount of blood, violence, and gruesome shots that we actually get in this one.

SPEAKER_00 26:04

And what about the animal report? Ghostface did not harm any animals in this film.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

Well, hot daily dog. That's fantastic. Let's go ahead and get into our ratings then. Scream 6 from 2023. Was it a hacker or slash?

SPEAKER_00 26:18

I have to say, I went into this a little nervous. I mentioned that. I went into it a little nervous, but man, I gotta, I gotta admit, those nerves are completely gone. I'm left with nothing but shock, excitement, and honestly, I'm itching to go back to see this again because for me, this movie was an absolute slash. This movie surpassed my expectations, and to do that by the sixth installment is shocking. And I have to admit, my rankings for this franchise overall have definitely changed. And I know I didn't really allude to that, you know, in all of my notes, but it's because I'm trying to save them for the spoiler zone, because I'm really gonna go in. But to me, this movie is a fresh boost that I needed to believe that this franchise can continue being fun, although it can be a little redundant. And it's because we're getting real brutal at this point, and I'm ready for that kind of ghost face. I'm ready to be very scared. I'm not saying that the torch is in good hands, but I'm willing to give this franchise a bigger shot than I did before with this main character, reluctantly. And it's because I said it earlier, you know, the ensemble is carrying the weight of how iconic this legacy slasher is. And I just I'm ready to see where it goes from here.

SPEAKER_03 27:33

Yeah, so what this film does really well, it builds the suspense, it adds tension in the right moments, it's emotional, but it's not overly emotional. This film still gives you the horror fans horror movie feeling, but it's more of a Scream fans movie, that kind of vibe in this one. Despite not feeling super great about everything in the film, because it certainly has its flaws, it finds a way to keep you on the edge of your seat, playing the game of who or whom is gonna be Ghostface, and it made for a really fun and enjoyable whodunit slasher, and I have to give it a slash.

SPEAKER_02 28:09

I I agree that it's a slash. I think they did a lot of things right in this movie and and some things better than they've done in the previous at least two movies. I think there's some stuff that you can nitpick a hundred percent. There's some disappointments for me, but those are really small in comparison to the fact that it was quite an enjoyable film. Even though I said it felt a bit lengthy, it's not a big complaint. Like, sure, they might have been able to shave off some stuff, but I think the entire time on screen it was entertaining, packed with great characters, packed with honestly good dialogue and good action. The action in this scream is insane compared to previous movies. They just take things to a whole nother level. And I I really enjoyed that. I'm not a huge fan of the gore. I don't think we need all that gore, especially in a movie like this. You know, trim it, trim it back a little bit. Let's uh let's maybe go for like a low gore score and I'll be happy once again, but I won't complain too much. I I do think it's weird for me to still watch this and think that yes, this is the same scream that I've known for the last however many decades, but I get it. It's still it's still good, it's still fun, it's still fresh. I love the cast, it's just not the OG cast, and that's okay, that's a me thing. But I think if you had some questions about Scream 5, I think a lot of that is made better in Scream 6. I think it's a huge improvement. We've really polished things off here, so it's a slash.

SPEAKER_01 29:29

This movie, as we've all said, right, it's not without its faults. This feels in some parts super contrived, it feels in other parts super uninspired, but ultimately, I think where I really have to consider the weight of my rating, it wins out with having absurdly lovable characters, a healthy serving of Easter eggs, and then honestly, Mac. I mean, I know you said what you said, I thought it had superb gore. And by that I mean my kind of gore, the simple kind. It looks great, but it's still not excessive. It's still not in the just too much era, it's no gore lover territory for me. And this is a quality film, right? It's technically sound, it's beautiful to look at, it's a solid entry in the franchise, and while I'm gonna have to revisit it and deeply consider where it falls in my franchise ranking. I don't think I have that answer quite as quickly as I think Binx does. I cannot deny enjoying this movie. It is undoubtedly a slash for me. And just like that, Scream 6 2023 has carried on its legacy and it's a universal slash. Now you can't find this movie in theaters currently, or if you're listening to us in the future, check the link in the show notes to find where you can watch it. Pause, go watch this movie, then join us in the second half so we can unpack the spoilers together. We'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_02 31:03

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SPEAKER_03 32:53

Well, we have a total of 13 kills in this one. It was kind of hard to keep up while watching this in theaters, but I think I have everyone accounted for. Rest in peace. This one has some really good kills, some really cringy ones for sure. So I can't wait to talk about it. What were y'all's favorite kills?

SPEAKER_00 33:12

Yeah, you're right about the cringy ones. That some of these kills I was like literally clenching my teeth, kind of just surprised by what was going on. Um, but I have to say, once again, I am having a real hard time picking a favorite kill for sure, but I'll say the opening scene of this film was just fantastic overall. I feel like it might have been the thing that you mentioned earlier that you were going to walk out of the theater had it been true, but we were getting most of the real bloody kills right off the bat. I really liked how they used Samara Weaving. I know that we kind of had that teaser at the beginning, considering she was going to appear in the previous film. We're just staring at Ghostface as she's getting stabbed multiple times, and we're watching him for an extended period of time, and then it's revealed who he is, and you're just like, what the fuck? And now we really begin even more brutal kills. This guy getting chopped up into little terrifier bits in the fridge. Holy shit, that was nuts. I just I loved the fact that we were getting kills and an opening scene in public. This is the first time that we're getting that like opening kill moment in public, technically. I don't know. And I have to say one more thing about that whole scenario. I loved that monologue of discussing how women are seen as meat. That was incredible. A little indicative that Ghostface was definitely Quinn, and I'll take it. But, you know, the what the fuck, who gives a fuck about the movie line and really getting real deep into how women are seen as meat in that whole bit was the first time that we see that in Scream. And I was sold right off the bat.

SPEAKER_01 34:58

Let me tell you, a feminist ghostface on this International Women's Month? Absolutely. You know, we're here for it. What a time. So Laura's death was in my top three. The moment where she talks about how slashers help you learn of the culture of the moment through the tropes of the time. Chef's kiss. I felt like Laura was someone I would have hoped I could have matched with on a dating app because damn, is this what I need to be doing? Looking for film studies professors? Holy shit, she's fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 35:28

It was incredible. And again, like we don't really see that. That's the point of Scream. And I think it always kind of skirts around that. It gets very indicative of the time itself. But this is the first time that we're getting some real feminist action in Scream. Oh, sign me the fuck up. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

Uh-huh. And not for this little mama's boy bullshit that we had in Scream 2. No, thank you, ma'am. But my favorite kill, I'm gonna have to give to the very end of the movie, and that's Ethan. And it's not even like his death, death, you know, the end end of his extinguishment of life. It's not even just that with the TV that was used to kill Stu, allegedly. It was Jenna Ortega giving Wednesday Adams, falling down on him, stabbing him through the fucking mouth. The mouth. And not just stabbing him through the mouth, bro, but twisting it. Really just giving it to him. And then the blood spraying on her face. You know what? I felt like she got every ounce of retribution from getting fucked up in X. I really felt it.

SPEAKER_00 36:34

Fucked up in every film that she's been doing lately, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 36:38

Yeah, really. She her time has come. She did it. I loved it.

SPEAKER_03 36:42

So, Binks, yes, the beginning was what I was talking about. I figured. I loved the opening scene, right? I loved Laura's death. I thought the whole opening sequence was great. As soon as they unmasked and went down that path, I immediately was like, there is no fucking way that this movie is going to tell us who the killer is right away. And if that was the case, I'm I'm walking out. Like there, I don't I don't want to go the whole movie knowing who the killer is, unless I mean, maybe they could do some fresh take of like watching it unfold, but it doesn't seem super enticing to me.

SPEAKER_01 37:22

Bro, it was about to be some Corey Cunningham bullshit. No, thank you.

SPEAKER_03 37:25

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:25

But here's my thing though. To be honest, at this point in this franchise where stab is so like popular and ghost face is so popular, all these things, it's realistic to find yourself in a position where there are going to be a lot of copycat killers. Like the fact that the only person that is ghostface has to be connected is kind of unrealistic in a world where the stab franchise is everywhere, right? Like there's going to be multiple copycat killers out there that are just removed from the family. So, like, I think that was the cool part. I didn't buy the whole fact that this was gonna be our ghost face from the very beginning. I immediately recognize that they're being realistic with the fact that they're going to be these like fanboy, you know, incels that are just wanting to be ghostface.

SPEAKER_03 38:18

For sure. And I'm glad that that's the direction they ended up going in is showing these copycat killers and then getting got by ghost face. I thought it was great. Awesome scene seeing his friend chopped up, dismembered in the fridge. I loved it. I loved it. My favorite death, my favorite kill in this film, gotta be just the way that they shot Dr. Stone dying. I just loved the sequence of having someone at the door. The door is glass, it's frosted, you can't really see. It's the silhouette of a dude. You think it's probably ghost faced, you're not sure, you're you're probably fairly certain. But he walks up there and you don't see anything, and then all of a sudden the ghost face gets clear, gets up close, bursts through the window, smashes his head against it, stabs him like through the nose, right in the face. So brutal. But just the way they shot that scene just made it one of my favorite kills.

SPEAKER_01 39:19

Let me just say, no orifice is safe from ghost face.

SPEAKER_03 39:22

Apparently not. This one really had those cringy face stab moments.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

And I do want to say that the mean one could have, if it could go back in time, the mean one could have probably taken notes from that moment because that's the way that you do a door kill, in my opinion. Not whatever the hell we got in that shitty movie. Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:44

Never forget.

SPEAKER_02 39:45

Well, my favorite, I I think Greg is up there, right? Their whole fridge thing is up there. I think that's like a freebie. Everyone gets to pick that because it was so shocking. We were not expecting a dismembered corpse in the fridge. Nobody here could say that they were expecting that, right? Not at all.

SPEAKER_01 39:58

No. But I'm glad we got it.

SPEAKER_03 39:59

That's some house of a thousand corpses shit right there.

SPEAKER_01 40:02

Bro, that's honestly some great packing shit right there. Because I think about every time I've seen a body in a fridge, really, I mean, like I think in some serial killer biopics, things like that, we've seen elements of the body, parts of the body, but not like the whole body dismembered and also put in the fridge all together now. Never. I'm thinking of like Slumber Party Massacre, Dead Girl in the Fridge. I'm thinking of Friday the 13th, part two, Pamela Voorhees' head in the fridge. A lot of fridge action and horror. Never done quite as well as this.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

But where are all the items? You know? Did they just have an empty fridge already? I guess they're college kids, so maybe it was already empty. But like, what do they do with the items inside the fridge is my question.

SPEAKER_03 40:47

First, they got nothing in there. They're they're eating they're eating top ramen and beer, and that's it.

SPEAKER_01 40:54

Fair enough. Not even, man. They're eating hot Cheetos and beer. That's it.

SPEAKER_03 40:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:57

You can't be bothered to microwave something.

SPEAKER_03 40:59

That's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_02 41:01

But all that being said, it is a freebie, so you gotta pick another one. And I think falling from a ladder and smashing your face on a dumpster, that takes the cake here. That was such a cringe-worthy moment, such a shock for me.

SPEAKER_01 41:14

Listen, man, listen. I had so many feelings there. Rest in peace, girl. You were a sweet gal. You went down trying to protect your girlfriend, and it really made my emotional stakes run so much higher when I thought this movie was about to pull the old barrier gaze card. Because we have her go, then we have Mindy actually get stabbed in in a moment, which actually had a lot of my favorite visuals that we'll get to in just a moment, but wow. I, as cool as her death is, I can't allow myself to enjoy it very much because damn, I was just so sad about it, you know? She was really out here doing her best.

SPEAKER_00 41:56

I mean, I didn't feel extremely emotional about her to begin with, to be honest. I mean, I I don't think she was like full on protecting Mindy. She got gutted like a fish. That girl was never gonna make it across that ladder, regardless, to be very honest with you. So the moment she got gutted, I was like, she's a goner for sure. I will say she's got an incredible grip because she was holding onto that ladder for dear life, even though it was being shaken. I would have been like, oops, gone with the wind instantly. Well, let's be honest. Wait a minute. I'm dying immediately the moment I see blood. So that's regardless. But like she had grip.

SPEAKER_01 42:34

Ghostface throws Quinn through the door and you're gone. It's done. You're passed out. Instantly. Ghostface doesn't even have to do much, right? It doesn't take a lot.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

But I did have Annika as my second favorite kill because like you're just staring at her face for a moment there.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

It was brutal.

SPEAKER_00 42:53

That you just don't see that. But I'm I was shocked. I'm like, what are we watching? I am here for this.

SPEAKER_01 42:59

Yeah, it was the impact with a dumpster that really put it over the edge for me, and then having to see her face. But I think for me, right, it wasn't even like the protecting of Mindy, because yes, she did it. Yeah, Mindy got slashed and she kind of like threw her down to the side and like got in front. And I just I loved to see that. And I also love to see that she wasn't trying to be looped into being a villain or anything like that. Like I just loved a good heroic moment. Uh we we had to appreciate these moments, representation in this International Women's Month. But her death I found so sad because she had this insistence and pushing for Mindy to go. You know what I mean? I think she knew she was a goner. She's there, she's bleeding. Mindy is saying that she's bleeding. She's like, God, just say something positive. She's trying to hold on, and then she knows that if she goes now, Mindy dies, and she forces Mindy to go. And then she has a sudden burst of like fight or flight, and she's just trying to live. And she's on the ladder and she. Says, I'm so scared. I don't want to die. And that kind of moment, right? We have a lot of these kills in this movie that are so sudden.

SPEAKER_00 44:09

And for someone to really not only suffer through the pain, like we've seen like Kirby, we learned suffered through her pain, etc., but to suffer through the pain and then to also have this fear on this really dramatic high stakes, literally I think I would have maybe fallen forward a little bit more if I just had just enough time with her because I didn't l I didn't not like her. Um I loved her introduction and and obviously who she is as a person was kind of we were starting to get there in terms of the party scene, right? But it was just so quick, I guess, in a way that I was like, all right, goodbye, farewell. But I do agree that it's nice to see that they didn't villainize her right off the bat, you know, like she can be the girlfriend and it can be that. It doesn't have to always be instantly the love interest, the love interest, the love interest, and it in particular where we're having representation being talked about. So I can see that.

SPEAKER_01 45:01

For sure. I also just love that line that you mentioned during the party scene where she says, and I'm spectacularly uninterested in knowing anything about you. And I'm like, fuck yeah, I see why Mindy loves you. Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:14

Yeah, I think what it what did it for me in that scene, that death, was just it's not one of those where Ghostface shows up and just kills you and you're just getting stabbed and then you die. It's like that moment of being human and being vulnerable and being on that fucking ladder and saying, I don't want to die. That's what's going through fucking everybody's mind. If you're trying to get away from somebody that's actively trying to stab you, and you're you're on a ladder trying to escape, and he's shaking that ladder, and you're gonna fall. And it that's what really invests you in that moment, and then also the impact that it had of like watching her start to fall and me expecting just to see her splat on the ground, but then the abrupt head smashing on the dumpster, and then the visual of the aftermath, it just was such a really well-done scene. But speaking of people getting face stabbed, we have to talk about Detective Bailey's kill, right? So not only did this fucker get stabbed like 22 times or some shit, he eventually gets stabbed right in the fucking eye. That has got to suck.

SPEAKER_01 46:29

It was an eye for an eye, some might say.

SPEAKER_03 46:33

An eye for an eye. Yeah, that one was rough.

SPEAKER_00 46:35

And I did enjoy that we had a brief moment of it being like, okay, I'm gonna let you live because I'm not my father. JK, I am blah, right in the eye.

unknown 46:46

Here.

SPEAKER_00 46:46

Brah!

SPEAKER_01 46:48

But I love that it was also that moment with her and Tara together, and Tara acknowledging. Because you have this moment where she walks up and she's like looking disturbed by Sam, like, what are you doing? And then we see what their relationship has now become, which is Tara being empathetic, but also open to learning who Sam is and to not want Sam to have to continue putting herself on a pedestal or like denying any any element of what may be the right thing or worrying about the example that she's setting, etc. Tara's just like, nah, fuck this guy. Let's go. I gotta say though, as gorgeous as so many parts of this movie are, my favorite visual actually comes from a near death, and that's Mindy on the subway. And it's specifically all the fucking Halloween costumes on that train. We have the costume work that is totally outstanding. We have Jason, we have the Baba Duke, we have Pinhead, we have the characters from us, we have Georgie from It, we have the Shining Twins, we have a Handmaid's Tale, we have Ghostface himself, the Midsummar Maid May Queen, we had the Nun, we have what I thought briefly, when we had like one of the decoy ghost faces kind of walking outside of the subway when she thinks they're all getting off. It looked like we even had Angry Villagers with Flames, as if like a classic horror movie. There's just so many generations of horror within this environment, and I fucking loved it.

SPEAKER_00 48:22

Did you say ready or not as well? Because there she also, yeah, that that was such a great little touch because she's literally in the movie. The the detail of that is fantastic. No, costume design, of course, once again, knocked it out of the park. Funny that you bring up the subway scene. It's actually my favorite scene, so I'll get into it in a second. But the coloring of the film overall, but specifically the lighting in the subway scene, just so great. I think in general, the coloring of this film is already on the darker side, which matches the tone of how brutal this movie is and the inevitable like gore and death that surrounds it. So I noticed it a little bit in Scream 5, but I think this time they've really toned it even further down and made it a little bit darker so it matches the mood. And I appreciated that. But in the Subway scene specifically, the way that they play with the light so that it heightens the fear, the pacing of the of how dark it gets, and then flashes of of purple and blue, like you don't really know what's about to happen. It sets the tone for it's Halloween. It could be a fun time or it could be a really shitty moment for you, and it was shitty, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 49:31

Okay. Back in the day, we used to have a little bit of a bit on the show, and it was what title of a horror movie, a different horror movie, would fit well for this movie. And in this brief moment, if this was a short film, that shit would be Terror Train.

SPEAKER_02 49:47

Definitely not Midnight Meat Train.

SPEAKER_01 49:49

Not Midnight Meat Train. Pre-Midnight. It's okay, it's just Terror Train.

SPEAKER_02 49:53

Well, my favorite visual moment is gonna be a really boring one. Maybe it's too simple, but I really loved the weathered ghost faced masks. Like the fact that they weren't shiny and new was great because these things are supposed to be decades old. They're not gonna look shiny and new. They're crappy Halloween masks, of course, they're gonna look really worn in, especially from how much they've moved around.

SPEAKER_01 50:13

I agree with you. May I just point out one logical fallacy that is only just now hitting me? The difference between 1996 mask and 1997 masks, very big dis difference. 1997's mask with Mickey and Mrs. Loomis, it wasn't as beat up. You know what I mean? For it only being a year younger than the 1996 mask that belonged to Billy Loomis. I'm sure like different storage containers, conditions, things like that. I feel like that one could have used a bit more weathering.

SPEAKER_00 50:45

Well, do we think like did Billy take some more beatings in terms of his face? I don't know, but I think it you have to like differentiate the original in such a stark way than all the other ones. And so actually, Mac, I wrote that down as like my second favorite little visual too. So it's not boring whatsoever. I think it was great. The moment I saw that face, I was like, oh, he has been through some things. What is this? It's just a great like terror to it. If it's just like a clean mask, you're kind of like, oh, whatever, you're just like you bought that at the dollar store, you know, at this point with the mass like production of those fucking masks. But this was like, oh, this is something. There's something particular about this mask that makes it different from the rest. And it's because it was Billy Loomis's mask, and that's not revealed until the very end.

SPEAKER_03 51:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:32

And seeing those masks the entire time made me think that like one of the theories was true, which is that one of the previous killers, of course, didn't die and was coming back to be the killer for this movie. But so I think that was so I think that was kind of a nice touch.

SPEAKER_03 51:46

Yeah, that would have been crazy though, if if Stu had not died and came back. That is that the theory you're talking about?

SPEAKER_02 51:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:54

That would have been insane. That would have been insane. I would have been here to entertain it just for nostalgia, but I don't know how well that would have gone over.

SPEAKER_00 52:03

But the thing is that they continue to play with us. It's like they're tickling us, you know, a little bit because they keep saying it, they keep saying it, which again is scream, being very meta, being very self-aware. They know exactly what they're doing and they know exactly what the fans want, but they're gonna keep blue balling us, is the problem. And I'm not here for it.

SPEAKER_01 52:22

Oh, Banks doesn't like to get blue balled, got it.

SPEAKER_03 52:25

Not here to get blue balled.

SPEAKER_01 52:27

No, no, incorrect. The things we learn about you, Banks, the things we learn, and I mean, honestly, it took us what an hour into recording this, two hours into recording this, and now is when we get to Hackerslash After Dark when it's literally 1 30 in the morning.

SPEAKER_00 52:41

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 52:41

I'm I'm trying to keep it together, okay? Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure. So I in terms of Stu in particular, I was really paying attention to Hayden Pantier as Kirby, her murder board, and we see the picture of Stu, and it says death, 1996, and like motherfucker, they confirmed it, just like they confirmed in the Easter egg that Kirby was alive in the fifth scream film.

SPEAKER_03 53:06

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_01 53:07

But then of course we get the line from Mindy, if he did die, if you believe that, like, god damn it, y'all just pick a side of the fence. Stop fucking straddling the fence.

SPEAKER_03 53:17

They're just pulling strings.

SPEAKER_00 53:19

I mean, we got the force ghost uh, you know, Billy once again. So at this point, like, give Matthew Lillard some some screen time at this point. Give him an acting credit because hello, come on.

SPEAKER_01 53:31

Bro, how did his fucking ghost look worse to me?

SPEAKER_03 53:34

That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 53:36

And uh I think they did it in a better way. And by that I mean they chose a better mechanic by just loosely through a reflection on a cabinet instead of like being able to really like see his ass in a fucking rear view mirror in broad daylight, but he looked worse.

SPEAKER_03 53:53

Yeah, whatever they did, however they did it, they chose, they made a conscious decision to bring this back. Again, I feel like I get it, they may maybe they had to carry it over because that's the direction they went with the last one. Same characters, same personalities, whatever. I still think they could have just not done it, and we would have been AO fucking K. And not only did they choose to do it, it looked worse than it did before. So I'm not here for that. I thought that was a terrible choice.

SPEAKER_01 54:25

Bro, at least maintain the quality of which you had previously operated. But no, it was a loss, it was a net loss on the quality, and he could have just stuck with a voice, you know what I mean? Or listen, guys, you're doing the fucking reflection on a cabinet. We think about Rogue One. We think about how Tarkin was filmed solely through a reflection on glass because that was easier to show without it looking super uncanny valley. They could have just fucking done that and just worked to de-age him a little bit more. So many possibilities. I'm off my soapbox.

SPEAKER_03 55:00

That's good. I I think it's hard for a visual element to pick just one because there's there's a good handful of really good things they did from a visual standpoint in the film. The effects were really good. The gore we talked about was really good. I I really loved the visuals of going through that theater shrine for the first time and seeing all of that memorabilia from all of the previous five films and the different killers and the different, you know, things that they wore and and all of that, it felt like I was kind of going through my own little nostalgic moment while watching the movie. Um, but even some of the shots that we get, um, where we see specifically like the ghost face graffiti on the brick wall in the alley was such a cool visual to see. And even in the theater with the spray-painted ghost face with the projector in the middle of it, projecting the film, like those two shots for some reason stood out to me. And I really I loved those two shots. I thought they were super tasteful. I loved seeing the graffiti version of Ghostface. I want to do a graffiti ghost face like mural on my wall in my house somewhere. I think it would look super fucking that would be pretty sick.

SPEAKER_00 56:19

To me, it reminded me a little bit of Watchmen. Because I like that hole who watches the Watchman thing. And I don't say that in a bad way, I love Watchmen, but like that was that kind of vibe of like again, this being is taking over the country, the world. I don't know, like it's just so popularized that people are graffiting Ghostface at this point. That's nuts.

SPEAKER_03 56:41

It kind of gave me Candyman vibes.

SPEAKER_00 56:43

Yeah, that too. Yeah, no, it was it was fantastic. Actually, talking about like just Ghostface in general, I mentioned it just now. The subway scene for me, um, has has to be like my favorite scene for sure. Um, I think overall it was fucking incredible. And I know that that's like the scene that we see in the teaser and the trailers right off the bat. So sometimes you see that and you're like, I don't know if that's gonna be like my favorite scene because we already kind of saw it, right? But really seeing that fully fledged out, I was really impressed by it. That was the the moment for me that I found the most fearful because it is true. Like, that's going into a subway where there's so many people and you don't know who's in that train with you and what they're capable of. They're all dressed up and literally dressed up as something that hurt you, that tried to murder you, that tried to murder your friends. And I'm just supposed to sit there and wait for my next stop. Like, that's nuts. And thinking about New York City again and how much terror and brutality there has been around in the subway system in and of itself is like, man, they they really tried it. So I was I was pretty impressed. I know it's not necessarily like the most original scene, because I think a lot of horror movies use the subway and that kind of element of it being scary in and of itself, but I thought it was fantastic.

SPEAKER_03 58:06

Well, I and I think, yes, they the scene, maybe not just even the subway that's used in other horror movies, but just the scene of like the light flickering in and out and the antagonist getting closer and it's creepy and it builds that tension and and and all of that. I think that that's been used in a good amount of horror movies, but it it feels like it's always super effective. Like I thought it was just such a great shot, too. It was such a great scene. I have some other favorite scenes that I'll get into, but I I just wanted to kind of just add on to that is like, yes, we've seen it before, but it's oh it just felt super effective. It was such a good scene.

SPEAKER_02 58:48

I think one of the best scenes of the movie, at least one of my favorite scenes, was something that had a kind of a nice callback to the honestly every movie, but but to me, Scream 2. And that was explaining the rules. Because it was great, it's giving us that parallel of like, oh, this is Uncle Randy's job, and now we're we're getting to do that. We're getting to have that discussion. And like everyone seems very level-headed about the fact that they could all be Ghostface, and and they're like, Okay, yeah, like that that's that's correct. We should we should really not trust anybody here because it's probably one of us.

SPEAKER_01 59:20

Such a phenomenal moment. And listen, I'm here anytime Mindy wants to rat wax poetic about anything. Honestly, she is absolutely adorable. I love the post-credit scene where she says, Not every movie has to have a post-credit scene. It reminded me of Ryan. It was giving Ryan.

SPEAKER_03 59:38

I was about to say, I think we all felt that way. This would have been a great moment.

SPEAKER_01 59:43

She would have been so proud, but also so mad that she wasted time for that. But she would have been she would have been seen.

SPEAKER_03 59:51

Aligned but upset.

SPEAKER_01 59:52

Exactly. Aligned but upset. Like I get it, but I'm not happy about it. So my personal favorite scene actually also involves Mindy. And look, let me first tell you so many great scenes here, right? I know Sean, you might have a few more up your sleeve. So much to love. You've all shared some incredible ones, but mine is a simple one. It's a touch of fan service. Because my heart was going to explode, absolutely explode, combust, I'd be dead. Seeing Kirby and Mindy exchanging their stances on classic horror films. My two queens of this fucking franchise absolutely love it. It was the agreements, the disagreements, but the mutual respect and understanding. It is the little bit of guilt that Kirby felt, but also no shame whatsoever when she acknowledged that she had a crush on Corey, and that's why Final Chapter is her favorite Friday the 13th. Final Chapter is still a good Friday the 13th movie, but Mindy had it on, you know. I think two and three, they're the better ones. I just, my heart felt so full. It's all I needed to see.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:06

That was a great moment. That was such a good moment in the film. I think one of my favorite scenes was when we see Ghostface in their apartment, like about to kill Quinn, right? Or presumably kill Quinn, and Danny sees Ghostface from across the building from the other window, and that just that whole it was such a good look, and then he's trying to let them know he's trying to call, they're not answering the call, they're joking around. Then they all get the text message, airdrop, whatever it is of the picture. That was great.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:43

It's giving rear window.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:45

I was actually gonna say that it was their version of trying to reiterate the whole like Randy moment again, like in some ways, the trying to get your attention, but you're not paying attention type of thing. That's what it reminded me of.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:58

It's another small scene, but I thought it was so fun to watch the moment where Gail is trying to interview them in that opening like intro to Gail coming back into the movie, and Sam is going to punch Gail. Gail dodges it, saying, Nice try, like I've done this dance before, and then Tara decking her right in the face. That was such a great, hilarious moment. I just the end a small scene, but I loved it. I absolutely loved it.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:26

And that just goes to show you that Tara has main character energy from the jump.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:34

She's coming up. It was Bam Bitch went down. Oh, and okay, actually, let me dial this back a little bit because a couple other scenes that I enjoyed. One, every fucking scene with Gail in it. What an icon. Two, I loved the moment that she had with her bonding acknowledging family. And it was the musical cue. You can hear Dewey's theme, and she's acknowledging when you consider like sometimes family is like it can just be you and one person, and she gets asked, What happens if you lose that one person? You just keep on going. Devastating. The emotional range of just those few moments, insane to me. What is also though insane to me is the fucking reach of characters in this movie. Let me tell you this. I'm sorry. Important part of my stance here reveals spoilers for sick. Listener, if you haven't seen Sick, Kevin Williamson wrote it, you might like that shit. Go either skip ahead a few moments here or go watch sick and come back to this point because the parallels are just undeniable. Bro, fuck this family. Fuck the family of Ghostface clan. They're underwhelming. They are another version of the family from sick. Minus one mom and one sister. Where the family from sick had grounds to be upset. I understand their wounds. These motherfuckers are out here exacting vengeance on a woman because they simply couldn't believe for the briefest moment that their precious baby boy could have been a criminal, a murderer, couldn't be held accountable. I hated it. And here's the thing. I mentioned earlier that I was under the impression that I was being spoiled, but I was thankfully it was Photoshop. The photo that I saw was of Chad. And I spent the whole movie like fucking devastated because I fucking love Mason Gooding. And I I was so upset about the idea of him being involved with Ghostface. We have that moment early on when Quinn mentions, ever since we lost my brother. I'm like, okay, so you're fucking involved in this, clearly. Uh her father just relocating to be protective of her, bullshit, not buying it. But the reveal of everything completely fell flat for me. Absolutely fell flat. His fate crying when Quinn died looked absurd. This entire family, not a single fucking thing did I enjoy about them, except sometimes Ethan was funny.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:18

Sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:20

Am I here? Am I in the friend group? That was me talking to Binks' trivia group. Am I in the friend group now? Uh so sometimes he was funny. Otherwise, fuck all of them.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:30

The thing is that, like I said, how many times are you gonna get something that's predictable at this point? Pretty high likelihood. Like it's just what else are you gonna do? It's not gonna be a stranger because that's not how this franchise works. So then there's only so many connections that you can make. The moment that it was uh said that this girl's brother died. I instantly was like, youp, and then your dad is the cop? Okay, and all All of a sudden, somehow all of these masks and ev things of evidence are showing up here in this museum and it's because cops are corrupt. Yeah, we're aware. However, um, unlikely. So, you, sir, you're also a part of this. Like, it was all predictable. Granted, even though it's predictable, I enjoyed it so much because there was actually this time around some moments where I doubted myself. Just briefly, we talk about Kirby, and I was like, holy shit, if they put Kirby as Ghostface, that is a bold ass move that I can get behind because I love me a good upset. Didn't pan out. That's fine, whatever. But a whole clan, I was like, oh yeah, this checks out. It would be all of them. However, gotta say, the little sibling moment where they wiped that knife together, I almost fell off my chair. I was like, that is just the most incredible anime thing I've ever seen in my life. That was amazing, in my opinion. So cheesy, but holy shit, I was like, I could get a gif of that and frame it in a moving frame somehow. I need it in my life.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:08

I I agree. I mean, I just don't see three different people in this entire family banding together to feel like they need to seek out revenge for their brother andor son's death. Like, I can see, like, yes, the dad. I could see like one of the siblings, but the fact that everyone in this family is that sadistic and that ridiculous that they're all gonna be like, fuck yeah, let's go kill everyone involved, is so unlikely and is such a reach. It was such a stretch that it really just took away from the impact of it all for me. And from when I from that reveal forward, I was just like, you know what? I just want to see all these fuckers die because this was just this was this was just terrible.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:56

They did it as if it were a family trip to Disney, bro.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:59

Yeah, what is this?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:01

I I I didn't really like that whole idea when we watched Stick, and I didn't really like it in this movie either. It was just too much, it was very soap opera. The only plus side there is that at least it wasn't we're trying to make our own movie. Like finally we get a change, like slightly. So at least that was like one bonus is it's something different from the last two movies, because the last two movies they just did the same thing again and again.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:25

Yeah. I mean, moving on from the week three to the core four, I love, love, love, love, love, love the relationship dynamics between Sam and Tara, and and I loved the complexity of Sam's experience and Tara acknowledging that no matter what they went through, no one can ex understand the experience that Sam specifically has in this moment, and we get like her youthful frustration and then ultimately like keeping a spoonful of empathy. But let me tell you this, Binks, there was a moment I thought of you. There was a moment when Melissa Barrera as Sam said, It sucks being this hated, and she was speaking straight to you.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:06

She really was. We were making eye contact, and I said, Well, do better then. But she did though. Hold on, all right. But look, let me let me get on my Melissa Barrera soapbox a little bit. Listeners, honestly, I have to say, you might want to be a patron, just so that you can listen to my rant about Melissa Barreira in our uh Scream 5 rewind episode, because it's worth it for sure. Um I have to say, though, probably halfway through the movie, I then was like, all right, you're doing good. You're doing better. She's doing better. I think well, whatever amount of time between production, she took some classes and she was like, I can really do this. And I'm here for it because I do want her to be succeed. I do want a telenovela turned, you know, US breakthrough Hollywood actress to be successful. Don't get me wrong. It's just that, man, you've got a great and very important responsibility to carry this franchise, and you are being outshined heavily by not just your sister, who I understand is Jenna Ortega is the hot person right now in Hollywood. No, by literally everybody else. Like literally everyone. So I think she did a good job. I bought in I think it improved specifically when she started to interact with Gail. Fast forwarding a bit, the emotion that she had when Gail was like practically dying. I finally believed that. I believe that way more than all the bullshit in Scream Five. Like she knows how to cry, and I can actually believe it this time around. Fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:43

Because we love a woman who's going to therapy.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:46

But honestly, though, at that therapy scene, I didn't think it was crazy.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:51

Well, for sure, for sure it wasn't. But she's done the work of acknowledging that she needs to do something, and she acknowledges that Tara also needs to, and Tara's avoiding it. And let me tell you, there is something to be said about the moment where you stop compartmentalizing and acknowledge I need to just crack this box open just a tiny bit to unpack the trauma.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:14

Right, right. And at the end of the day, Sam, when she just again, it's always when she just loses her shit that I think that the acting is the best. That whole third act of her just like accepting in full throttle who the fuck she is was incredible. The moment that she flipped the table on this dad, I was like, let's fucking go. Melissa Barreira, here's your time to impress me. And she impressed me. So good for her.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:43

I'm so happy for you and and really coming to terms with Sam. I think I don't know if it was just me, but I think Tara this time around gave me more of the Wednesday vibes. I saw a little bit more of that in this performance. Obviously, she had been filming Wednesday. I don't know when this was filmed. Maybe she was I I don't know the timeline of things, but I felt that more in this character than I did in the previous film.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:11

It might have been the it might have been the runny mascara all over her eyes that was giving like peak emo for sure.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:17

Maybe it's because I was watching that. I have no idea. I have no idea.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:21

I do think Mindy got a lot more screen time this movie. Oh and I was here for it. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:26

Yeah, I'm with you. Mindy is one of my favorite characters in this new cast. Just she just delivers every single time. She delivers and she has such great lines.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:36

Yeah, her and Chad. I also just started watching a fucking legal drama because she's in it, and I just couldn't help myself while I wait for the second season of Yellow Jackets. I just can't get enough of her.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:49

Can we talk about Chad's uh like somehow miraculous survival at the very end, though?

SPEAKER_03 1:12:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:56

Oh boy. How what is happening between him and Tara? Of course they love each other because they've taken on so many frickin' stabbings between the two of them. That's nuts. They're like immortal.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:09

What happened to doodrops? He's just a new dewdrop. He's expending his nine lives.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:15

Alright. He's running right through him. I didn't think about that part. Fine. But you know what? It's it's that I just I was told that a main character would die, and not a single one of them died. Not a single one. They couldn't see that through. Not 15 stab wounds. I mean, that guy got got like a Swiss cheese. And they couldn't see it through. Not that I wanted him gone. I'm just saying, someone should have been gone, and no one was gone.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:45

They should have brought back some asshole from Scream 1 that we barely remember. They should have killed that guy. Yeah, I I'm very happy that the legacy characters didn't die. I'm also very happy that none of our core four died. I'm not mad at it, but I do agree with you because this is the problem, right? The disappointment from earlier. They said the stakes were high, and then suddenly they weren't high. I didn't want it to be Kirby though. I also didn't want it to be Gale, but I wanted it to be Kirby less.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:14

Yeah, I could I could do with some more Kirby in my life. Absolutely. Like, I think we could have we could have trimmed up the cast here, had some main characters die. We could have we could have kept Kirby around. I would have been good with that. Absolutely. We could have kept Tara around and then Mindy. I think the three of them right there. I'm good. I'm good with that being the cast for the next movie.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:33

And that's it. And I approve. Everybody else, expendable, gone.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:37

May I just say though, the worst part of this whole movie for me is still my damn family. The f the plot, the motive being family vengeance. Here's the thing. Not only is it sick regurgitated, but it's also every other fucking scream movie regurgitated. Specifically Scream and Stab 2. Which I get, right? That's like the meta of it. Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure, sure, sure, sure, sure. But also it was fucking weird. It was ineffective. I didn't buy it for a second. I wasn't emotionally invested in it. Hated it. This family trio, honestly, they are the worst unmasked ghost face. This movie has one of the best masked ghost face ghost faces. Yeah. But as soon as that shit comes off, it's a wrap. I'm done. I don't want them.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:29

Yeah. I I'm with you there. I I agree. The the reveal of this one is the worst in the franchise for sure. I I don't I didn't buy into it at all. I didn't buy into their motive. I didn't buy into the fact that the entire family is aligned in seeking out this revenge. Definitely one of the worst parts of the movie for me. And like I said before, the only other thing that I really disliked about the movie was the fact that they consciously chose to bring back Billy's Force Ghost and make it look even worse. Like if you're gonna do it, cool, at least, at least keep it to the same level that you had it before. Don't make it look even worse.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:11

Yeah, for sure. Like small thing, let Billy Loomis go. Let it just let him go. Yeah. Stop bringing him up as being like her father and like that, it's in her nature or something. They're really gearing us up for a seventh movie where they're gonna try to play her off as the killer. And I'm not here for it. It's just like I don't buy it. I don't think she's gonna lose her mind between six and seven if they make a seventh one. And somehow now she's just don't even try to fool me on that. It's so ridiculous. But small thing as well, where was the title card in this movie?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:40

Right when, right when it said, like, who gives a fuck about this movie? And then swipes.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:45

Yeah. So I think the placement of that 100% gave me Halloween vibes. It just played so much like the latest Halloween that I like I would have I would have been okay with it had they done it a little bit sooner and then kept going with his with his death afterwards.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:01

Oh, I don't know. I feel like the delivery of that line and then that slash is what sent me to another stratosphere. I was like, oh fuck yes. Who gives a fuck about this movie?

SPEAKER_01 1:17:11

God, like what come also shout out to the girl considering rushing CC's sorority. Maybe it was a different, so like there's Omega Beta Zeta, which is what it sounded like they said here, but then there might have been a similar sounding one in Scream 2. But I heard that shit and I was like, ah, there it is, loved it.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:30

I'm I'm pretty sure it's the similar, it's the same sorority. I mean, because sororities it could be the same sorority, but in different chapters, different universities. So that would have been a great Easter egg, actually. I'm pretty sure that's what it was. Maybe. If not, damn. Regardless, the sorority touch is important. I mean, they say it themselves, right? In the second movie, they're in college. This one had to be in college, and what's more cliche than a sorority, right? You gotta do it. For me, the worst part, I think we've all kind of touched on it. I I agree. Predictability in terms of the reveal, it's always gonna be there because at this point, I feel like, you know, I have a Nancy Drew tattoo for Christ's sake. Like I can I see this from a mile away. Um, I wouldn't say that this is the worst reveal, though. I just think it's like it's we've been here before, it's giving Scream 2 family vibes. So there's that. Um, but I would say, if anything, my the worst part would definitely be like this force ghost scenario situation that they've gotta let go of. Um, and all of these like extreme reaches of tying these characters together. Something super quick that I just like rolled my eyes about was that Kirby was a senior when Sam was a freshman, and so they know each other. So, Sam, you've been knowing about this ghost face scenario for a hot minute. You've been knowing that this is in close proximity to you for a hot minute. Like, you don't want to text your girl Kirby and be like, hey, I think such and such is happening. Like, you guys seem to be buddy buddies enough to recognize each other after several years.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:05

Despite Kirby, you definitely don't look like a senior when she was a freshman, but we'll leave that be.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:13

Also, how likely are they to be close enough to remember each other, to hug each other when they were like three or four years apart?

SPEAKER_00 1:19:23

That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:24

I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:25

I went to a small-ish high school, and I don't know the freshmen that were in my high school when I was a senior. And you're gonna talk about Woodsboro High, and you know the freshmen, when you're it just doesn't add up. It doesn't add up.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:39

First of all, they're only a year apart in age in real life. So get get right over that.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:45

They had the math right there on the table. They didn't really need to explain it that much. You know what I mean? Like it's plausible, it's absolutely plausible. When you consider that Sam used to babysit the twins, and you consider like the age range of things, there was enough data there for context clues for people to be able to figure out that Kirby and Sam would have been in the same a similar age range. I don't think they had to really give us that exposition.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:12

But I'll tell you one thing. I have lots of reasons to re-watch this film, and I certainly will. I might honestly might text my mom and be like, Hey, you want to see Scream Six? Probably catch it again this weekend. If I can find a good enough showing, I'm in there. Definitely 100% watching this again.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:30

I am absolutely watching it again, and I'm going tonight.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:33

But I would watch it again. You know, it's part of the franchise, so I think I want to watch one through six, and whatever comes later, we'll we'll see how that goes. But I I definitely want to watch all of them in a row in a marathon and just get it all, get it all out of the system.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:48

Oh, yeah. You know it's going to happen. It's definitely going to happen. Uh, whether you're watching it in in a row, watching the whole franchise or when it comes out streaming, I don't know. I'll try to see it again in theaters. I don't know if time permits or if I have the space to do it, but I will definitely end up watching it again as soon as it's available either for purchase or to stream or whatever. Um, I am super happy that I was able to catch this one in theaters because it's always a great experience, but I inevitably probably missed some things while I was taking notes and whatnot and and trying to pay attention to other details to catch for this podcast. So I'm I'm looking forward to re-watching this movie, hands down, eyes focused, and just catching all the little things that I may have missed the first time around.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:36

Oh, we're definitely gonna have to do a watch-along at some point for this movie.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:40

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:41

But for now, there you have it, folks. Scream 6 has earned a universal slash. Despite some flaws we identified. Well, we've certainly had a robust discussion here, it doesn't end here by any means, though.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:52

We want to know what you think. I want to hear what your thoughts are about the Ghost Face reveal. Did you like it? Did you love it compared to the previous films? Let us know. You can join in on the conversation by hanging out with us for free in our Discord. Click the link in our show notes to sign up.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:07

If you've enjoyed listening to this episode, consider becoming one of our patrons. Visit patreon.com slash hacker slash to enjoy more of the show with early access, extended episodes, extended episodes, bonus content, and live shows.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:27

God damn it, I got it wrong again.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:30

Fuck this franchise.