THE Shout movies have always been about looking to the past and using our shared knowledge of horror movies to create new nightmares out of that realization. In Shout, the distressed girl doesn’t just run away from the killer by going upstairs instead of running outside. After all, she’s seen countless movies that tell her it’s a bad idea, but she keeps making the wrong decision. This self-awareness has made Shout one of the funniest slasher series out there, as each additional entry can use new trends in horror and movies in general to examine the culture of the time. But with the first Shout released almost thirty years ago, this series has also entered this culture, now with six films, a TV show, an entire parody franchise with the horror movie series, and Ghostface even appeared in Call of Duty. Damn, these stories are even iconic in the Scream movieslike fiction Stab franchise recounts the events of the previous films. Basically, if someone made a benchmark horror movie in 2023, it would be hard not to include Shout within the framework of this.
Just like the first Shout do freddie Or Halloween part of his influence, Cry VI also uses its own story as part of Ghostface’s games. Shout– especially in more recent episodes – has always referenced himself, characters from the past, and how previous Ghostfaces have attacked, but with this latest film he feels more grounded, more integrated into the ongoing story. Thanks Randy (Jamie Kennedy) and several other slasher experts throughout this franchise, we know the rules, and Cry VI knows we know the rules, so this new movie can have fun breaking down this series, reconfiguring our expectations, playing with the rules they set, and trying to subvert our expectations. The result may be the best Shout film from Cry 2— which is fitting, considering it’s, by and large, a “requel” to that first sequel.
Kinda Cry 2, Cry VI takes this series away from Woodsboro and into college, as ‘Core Four’ who survived the events of 2022 Shout moved to New York. Sat (Melissa Barrera) is overprotective of her half-sister Tara (Jenna Ortega) after the end of the previous film left them the survivors of the obsessional murders Stab Richie fans (Jack Quaid) and Amber (Mikey Madison). However, the internet raged with rumors that Sam might have been the killer, setting up this pair to get away with her murders, and with her still feeling the influence of her father, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), she fears that murder will run in her family’s blood.
It turns out Sam had good reason to protect his sister as a new series of murders in New York against a new Ghostface puts the Core Four (which also includes siblings Mindy and Chad, played by Savoy Brown Jasmine And Mason Gooding), and a cast of new friends that includes Liberated Liana, Jack’s Championand Sam’s new love, Danny (John Segarra) in danger as potential victims. But, as Mindy points out, the second killer went after Sidney Prescott (neve campbell, absent for the first time in this franchise) in college as well, making it a sequel to those events. And like the recent star wars trilogy showed us, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker can die in a sequel, so all bets are off on who can be killed, and more importantly, who the killer might be. Also, with this new Ghostface leaving masks of former killers at the scenes of his attacks, the answer to the new killer might be in the past.
In addition to our main cast, Cry VI also brings back some old favorites. Courtney Cox‘s Gale Weathers now becomes the only character to appear in all six films, and along with Dewey (David Arquette) dying in the final film, it’s entirely possible that this will be Gale’s final chapter. Cry VI also sees the return of Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), which survived the events of Cry 4and is now an FBI agent helping to find this new Ghostface alongside Detective Bailey (Dermot Mulroney).
The directors also return Matt Bettinelli-Olpin And Tyler Gillette as well as writers James Vanderbilt And Guy Busickwho joined this series with 2022 Shout. While the last Shout felt almost too indebted to the original film, with villains whose only real motivation was love for the Stab movies, Cry VI both acknowledges and celebrates its past, while feeling distinctly out of its own room. With all the character setup done in the last Shoutthis sixth installment can dive straight into the more fun aspects of this franchise, like the thriller nature and the savage killings.
Vanderbilt and Busick set up the idea that Cry VI is a “requele”, before embracing this title by making this film an extremely funny version Cry 2. In a sequence where the characters try to trace Ghostface’s call, it’s quickly mentioned that it’s Exactly how Randy died during the events of Cry 2. We of course get a brief mention of film studies, and in particular how slasher movies have evolved over the years, and even the Omega Kappa Beta fraternity that Derek (Jerry O’Connell) was part of is mentioned in passing. But Vanderbilt and Busick go even further than Cry 2, as we learn that the killer has some sort of “shrine” dedicated to the history of the killers. For fans of this series, this place is full of Easter eggs that viewers will want to pour over.
As Mindy breaks the rules of this movie — as this show always does — she mentions that franchises only exist to subvert expectations. The main characters no longer matter, anyone and anyone can be killed or suspected. And while Cry VI does not entirely break out of its usual mold (there are many more hints of Cry 2 which can’t be mentioned here), there are a lot of hugely fun deviations from what we expect from this franchise. THE Shout movies have often tried new things with their cold-opens, but Cry VIOpening is a brilliant way to shake up what we think we’re about to see. Although some rules are clearly broken, it’s always a joy to see how some Shout the traditions will always remain the same.
Although the Shout The brand has always been about the main team of Sidney, Gale and Dewey, Cry VI This really is the first time it feels right that this series has started to move away from its franchise mainstays. With Dewey now dead and Sidney not appearing in this film, Gale, along with Kirby, still play second fiddle to the new cast. In 2022 Shoutputting this new cast in the lead felt like waiting for old favorites to return, but with Cry VInew blood is starting to look like a good direction to go. Still, Gale and Kirby get their moments in the spotlight, but it never feels like wasting time until some familiar faces are on screen.
Just like the recent Creed III, Cry VI finds a way to both honor and revel in the past, while creating a path forward for a new generation. It finds just the right combination of nostalgia and fresh blood, telling a story that manages to feel familiar in its nods to the past, but breaks with tradition in a way that’s exciting and new for this series. Cry VI might be a sequel to a sequel, but this franchise is always finding new ways to feel original in its approach to this world.
Rating: B+
Cry VI hits theaters March 10
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