Category Archives: Jenna Ortega

2023 Films, Courtney Cox, Dermot Mulroney, Hayden Panettiere, Henry Czerny, Horror, Jack Champion, Jack Quaid, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Jenna Ortega, Liana Liberato, Mason Gooding, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Melissa Barrera, Samara Weaving, Skeet Ulrich, Slasher, Tyler Gillett

Scream VI-2023

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Scream VI-2023

Director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Starring Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Courtney Cox

Scott’s Review #1,465

Reviewed February 14, 2025

Grade: B

When I spontaneously decided to watch Scream VI (2023) one cold winter night while traveling for work, I had forgotten which of the franchise’s previous installments I had seen.

I had seen Scream (2022) and knew enough to know that it was a sequel to that film containing many familiar characters.

It felt like dining on comfort food, which was the perfect fit. I suspect that’s why others will choose to see this film.

While it is not vital to have seen any or all of the previous chapters, it is helpful because Scream VI contains a hefty dose of historical references and character revisitation. This is a joy for fans craving continuity and past character tie-ins.

More than one character comes back from the dead.

The plot follows a new Ghostface killer who targets the survivors of the Woodsboro murders in New York City. Neve Campbell did not reprise her role as Sidney Prescott due to a pay dispute, making this the only Scream film not to feature her.

I was very impressed with the first and last sequences, as a trio of killers is unmasked in the bloody and wild conclusion. The writing is clever, crisp, and filled with twists and turns.

The mid-section has issues, though.

Fans of the franchise need no explanation, but new viewers should know that the revealed killer or killers always have a motivation based on revenge.

Usually, someone had an affair with someone else, resulting in death or the drive to create a slasher film based on real-life events surrounding the drama.

Other key elements are sinister telephone games, cat-and-mouse puzzles, and knowledge of horror films, which, with a right or wrong answer, could either keep one alive or seal their deadly fate.

The pleasure in watching Scream films is the whodunit, as the killer always wears the Ghostface costume when killing off characters and toying with them first.

Yes, a pattern is followed, but the nods to slasher films of the 1970s and 1980s made the 1996 Scream debut such a masterpiece that the 2023 Scream honors.

Two characters banter about which installment of Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street is the best and why.

Now, over twenty-five years later, Scream has its history to delve into, which it does. Our main character, Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), is the illegitimate daughter of the original killer, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), who makes a cameo.

The killers’ hideout is filled with photos, masks, knives, and other memorabilia from previous films, which is beautifully captured and a pure delight for legacy fans.

As the 1996 film did so well, the incredible opening sequence features a film professor (Samara Weaving) of slasher films receiving a mysterious call and being lured into peril. In a neat twist, the killer is then killed by another Ghostface.

A terrific ladder scene in the middle portion of Scream VI is also superior, as a pleading victim attempts to cross from building to building before Ghostface catches them.

Filmmakers showcase not one but two LGBTQ+ couples (one male and one female) and enough diversity (Asian, black, Hispanic) to be noticed, so it feels pretty inclusive.

Otherwise, the intro and finale are the most notable high points.

The film is bogged down terribly by its over two-hour running time, which made me tune out now and then. The filler is unnecessary and makes the film feel too hefty as it veers off course in redundancy.

Suspension of disbelief is at max capacity, especially during a laughable scene when a character is stabbed on a busy subway, unbeknownst to other subway riders.

Scream VI (2023) is a pleasant vehicle that wins by incorporating more horror history than ever, increased blood and violence, and following a successful pattern that it knows well.

2022 Films, Brittany Snow, Horror, Independent, Independent Horror, Jenna Ortega, Kid Cudi, Martin Henderson, Mia Goth, Owen Campbell, Slasher, Ti West

X-2022

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X-2022

Director Ti West

Starring Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega

Scott’s Review #1,310

Reviewed October 20, 2022

Grade: B+

Film company A24 has become synonymous with releasing quality independent films, mainly within the horror genre. The newbie distributor, only born in 2012, has hit it out of the park on numerous occasions.

Cutting-edge and downright bizarre projects, such as Ex Machina (2014), Hereditary (2018), and Midsommar (2019), immediately spring to mind.

I’ll see anything that this company releases.

A group of young, aspiring actors set out to make an adult film named The Farmer’s Daughters in rural Texas. They rent a cabin from an unwitting elderly, reclusive couple. When the old folks catch on to what the actors are doing, all hell breaks loose as an unlikely killer begins a murder spree.

At the risk of spoiling the fun X was shot on location in New Zealand which doubles as Texas, USA.

Ah, the magic of movie-making.

The film will immediately draw comparisons to The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) in its setting alone. Isn’t remote and barren farmland so effective in horror? There is something so creepy and foreboding about the stillness, animals, and miles and miles of emptiness.

Instead of a slaughterhouse or rotting meat, X uses a deadly alligator, which comes into play during the final act.

To further highlight the similarities between The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the setting is the late 1970s, which is reflected in the characters’ dress and mannerisms. Even one long shot of the elderly couple’s house entryway is almost identical to the one used in that film, and surprise, surprise, the cast drives up in a van.

However, X is more than just a modern film patterned after a cult classic. There is proper tension and a stark 1970s, dirty grindhouse look with gritty camerawork and a grainy texture.

I felt immersed in the atmosphere and the time capsule, rather than watching people dress in current clothing in a retro style.

Very few viewers of X will likely be prudes, but there is a fair amount of nudity and sexual behavior- I mean a lot!

Since a porn film is being made, this is unsurprising, but rest assured, there is a hefty helping of tits, asses, and full-frontal nudity.

Perhaps as a response to the typically voyeuristic female-only nudity in most older slasher films, there is plenty of male nudity to balance the scales.

Another improvement to slasher films is the incorporation of character development and diversity. In lesser films, supporting nymphomaniacs like Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) and Jackson (Scott Mescudi), who is black, would have been written as one-dimensional, but not in X.

Bobby-Lynne and Jackson love sex, but they also have dreams and aspirations, and are kind people, each separately trying to help the elderly couple.

Unsurprisingly, the elderly couple, especially the wife, takes center stage as the plot moves along. Suffice it to say, Pearl (the old lady) longs to be young and sexual again like she was in her prime.

She stalks Maxine (Mia Goth), touches her, and finally sneaks into bed with her, hoping to recapture her lost youth.

Things don’t exactly go well.

Goth portrays both Maxine and Pearl.

Motivations of Pearl may be a stretch, but there is a creepy fascination that works well throughout X, and the film never drags. It’s not every day that a ninety-year-old woman in a blood-soaked house dress wanders about a farm bludgeoning folks to death.

For a raw, independent, and fun foray back to the early days of the slasher genre before it became overly conventional, X is a winner.

A24 has another success on its hands since X (2022) will be followed by both a prequel and a sequel.

2022 Films, Adam Brody, Alicia Silverstone, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Drew Barrymore, Hayden Panettiere, Henry Winkler, Horror, Jack Quaid, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Jenna Ortega, Kyle Gallner, Mason Gooding, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Matthew Lillard, Melissa Barrera, Mikey Madison, Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Slasher, Tyler Gillett

Scream-2022

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Scream-2022

Director Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Starring Melissa Barrera, Neve Campbell, Jack Quaid

Scott’s Review #1,284

Reviewed August 2, 2022

Grade: B+

Scream, the 2022 version, was billed as a ‘relaunch’ of the film series when it was released in the crappy month of January. However, is that so important in a COVID-19 age when hardly anyone goes to movie theaters?

The film is essentially ‘Scream 5′ because it maintains continuity from the last installment, released in 2011, and harkens back to the 1996 premiere of the original Scream.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the film.

Scream ultimately follows a formula, but a formula that works exceptionally well and will please fans of the series. My expectations were superseded, and wonderful is the inclusion of series stalwarts in roles that are much more than glorified cameos.

On the flip side, the finale is underwhelming, and the killers’ (isn’t there always two??) motivations are lame, but I found that to be unimportant because the real fun is the whodunit aspect.

Scream is very faithful to that.

Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, California, a new killer dons the Ghostface mask and begins targeting a group of teenagers to resurrect secrets from the town’s deadly past.

The frightening release date and the first installment in the series not to be directed by Wes Craven is enough to make any Scream fan bite their nails in worry about how the end product will turn out.

In addition, there are two screenwriters and two directors, which is rarely a good sign for creativity.

But all’s well that ends, as writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick, and directors Matt Bettinelli-Olipin and Tyler Gillett do many things right.

I mentioned the formula before, and they wisely use an anniversary as a starting point. Vicious murders commence in poor Woodsboro at just the right time for mayhem to erupt all over again.

For those who have forgotten the titillating and flawless opening sequence of Scream circa 1996, when poor Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) is forced to play a guessing game with an unknown phone caller to avoid death, it is reintroduced with gusto.

The film immediately begins with a nod to that history.

When teenager Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega) answers her landline, the audience whoops with joy at the anticipation of what’s to come. She will endure a game of horror film trivia with Ghostface before he (or she) leaps into the kitchen to cut her to bits.

Pleasurably, a new gang of fresh-faced Woodsboro teenagers is then introduced to be plucked off one by one. But could one or two of them be the killers?

A treat for all fans is the inclusion of Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, and Skeet Ulrich in their original roles, with one having a significant connection to a new character.

This only reinforces the franchise’s lifeline.

The clever writing was considered unique at the time of its release for featuring characters aware of real-world horror films, which openly discussed the clichés that the film attempted to subvert.

In Scream (2022) this is heightened by a discussion of ‘source material’ and ‘requel’ which feels like a horror film progression.

If you’re thinking that Scream 2022 is a carbon copy of Scream 1996, it is, to some extent, but with some modern updates. And it works like a charm, feeling like a good visit with an old friend and watching their offspring sprout into young adults.

Scream (2022) takes a lesson from what the recent Halloween film reboot did. A reprisal franchise, once aged and tired, breathes new life into the series by using its history and legacy characters.

How clever that the characters in Scream even acknowledge this in the story!

I anxiously await the next Scream film, rumored to be released in 2023, for more fun.