The Scream series is cult. As are the iconic opening scenes that precede each of the six films to date – from Drew Barrymore’s horror phone call in the original to the cinematic terror of Scream 2 to the film-within-a-film madness of Scream 4. And Scream VI begins in no way inferior to these sequences.
With one of the best and cleverest opening scenes in the franchise, the freshly released chapter 6 of the Scream saga will have even die-hard fans – myself included – jaw dropping. I haven’t seen an opening like this in 26 years of Scream.
Attention, this text contains Spoilers for the beginning of Scream VI:
The beginning of Scream VI turns the horror series’ killer concept inside out
The 5th Scream already broke new ground with its opening, in that the potential victim Tara (Jenna Ortega) survived for the first time and was able to avenge the torture at the end of the film. In Scream VI, however, writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick dare to break the rules of the series in even more radical ways.
The 6th part actually starts quite scream-typically: A young woman receives a call. However, she is not alone in a big house, but in a crowded bar in the middle of Manhattan. She should be safe here, right? Not quite: Scream 2 already proved with its cinema murders that public does not protect against Ghostface attacks.
Paramount
Samara Weaving in Scream 6
In line with the meta-approach of the series, Laura (Samara Weaving) turns out to be a slasher-savvy film lecturer who is very familiar with the mechanics of the genre. Nevertheless, she allows her date to lure her into a deserted side street. By the time she realizes she’s just made one of the dumbest mistakes in the horror genre, it’s already too late.
Ghostface stabs its victim in the most brutal manner. So far, so familiar. The killer pulls out a final slasher. It’s that moment in a scream movie where the knife snaps across the frame and usually the movie’s title smashes onto the screen. But not in Scream VI.
The camera lingers on the killer for an uncomfortably long moment while the victim gasps his last breath. And then comes the shocking twist: Ghostface takes off his mask. wait, what?!
A scream film from the killer’s point of view
In 26 years of Scream, the identity of the Ghostface killer was one of the biggest secrets, which is only revealed in the bloody finale of each film. After all, Scream is a whodunit slasher series. But here the Ghostface identity is revealed for the first time at the beginning and we now follow the perspective of the killerwho after the bloody deed takes on the role of the likeable film student and inconspicuously strolls across the university campus.
Paramount
Tony Revolori in Scream 6
It is a terrifying revelation: in a metropolis of millions, even the most inconspicuous person could be a killer. And for a brief moment, it seems as if the first Scream movie told from the killer’s point of view is awaiting us. Unfortunately, part 6 does not deviate quite so radically from the proven formula, because at the end of the long opening sequence, the next twist follows.
Ghostface meets Ghostface
This supposed Ghostface is a member of a toxic fan group who want to complete the work of the Scream 5 killers. Suddenly the phone rings. Ghostface receives a call from another Ghostface and promptly becomes a victim himself.
The fact that Giallo fan Jason (Tony Revolori) would not become the “right” ghost face of the film is clear at the latest when his motive for murder becomes known: a bad grade. The surprise effect was nevertheless successful. Within a few minutes, Scream VI has completely turned the mechanisms of its own franchise upside down and undermined all expectations.
The opening of Scream VI is beautiful in itself an excellent mini horror film full of subversive twists. At the same time, she represents everything that will follow in the next two hours: meta-humor, high tension, brutal kills, reversed victim-perpetrator roles and real surprises that keep this fantastic franchise fresh even after more than two and a half decades .
As a horror fan, this makes me more than happy – as does the rest of Scream VI.
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