I am not one to make claims at all, so I’m not going to pretend to do it now. With that being said, I am not a die hard SCREAM fan. I enjoy the movies, I’ve seen them a handful of times. And when the franchise got an invigorating ‘requel’, it pleasantly surprised me how much fun it was for a franchise that’s been around since 1996.

With that being said, was I excited for Scream VI? Absolutely. And it absolutely delivered on every front and continues to shock me. A nearly 20 year old franchise has managed with now six installments to not have a bad installment yet. Granted, one or two of them are not *great*, but they’re all at worst GOOD and at best they’re fantastic. Scream VI is the latter. And it is maybe the goriest and most fun installment in the franchise thus far.

Scream VI is a direct sequel to Scream V and with every installment, there is always another Ghostface. This time around Ghostface is the most powerful of the Ghostfaces. The movie focuses on Sam (Melissa Barrera) and her sister Tara (Jenna Ortega). Tara is trying to forget what happened back home and is trying to just live her life. But Sam now has follow Tara to New York, trying to protect her from Ghostface.

To do so, Sam and Tara must work with their old friends Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) and Kirby (Hayden Panettiere). They also have to work with new friends consisting of Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown), Anika (Devyn Nekoda), Ethan (Jack Champion) and Quinn (Liana Liberato). Last but not least are Chad (Mason Gooding) and Detective Bailey (Dermot Mulroney). Together, this new mix of familiar and new faces must team up to take down Ghostface. They have to stop this vicious game of cat and mouse.

Since the film mainly focuses on Tara and Sam, I will be focusing on the performance from both Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega. The two of them have absolutely brilliant chemistry with each other and the rest of their cast. They manage to create this atmosphere that truly shows both sides of the trauma coin with Melissa encapsulating the person who cannot escape her past. She is both Billy Loomis’ daughter and a friend to people whom Ghostface is targeting, again. Meanwhile, Jenna Ortega’s character feels the need to forget the events of Scream V and is trying to just live her life. She wants to be a college student, and just ensure that others don’t link her line to these killers. Their juxtaposition of emotions brings a further level of humanity to Scream VI. That aspect doesn’t always get put into the franchise.

On the other hand, though, without revealing who is behind the Ghostface mask their presence is simply terrifying. Ghostface is one of the most dangerous incarnations audiences have seen yet. While the typical weapon of choice for Ghostface is a knife, the use of a shotgun in this installment has seemed to ruffle the feathers of some fans, but it is with a purpose and just racks up the insanity and goriness of this Ghostface.

Scream VI is a highlight of the franchise to date, it is arguably the second best Scream movie following the original. It contains so much heart and fun and thrills, while still embodying what makes Scream, Scream.  Scream VI writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick continue to play on the tropes that Kevin Williamson brought us in 1996 and continued to bring with his involvement of the franchise. As I say this Vanderbilt and Busick continue their Scream storyline and bring forth a movie that certainly will stab its way to audiences’ hearts. They deliver something bloody great into the franchise.