I have been ill, but on top of that I seem to have oversubscribed my attention span again. It's all good and well having these grand ideas, but I forgot to factor in exactly what happens when I lose all my motivation or hyper-fixate on something else.
So as we all knew, the review blog has taken a backseat because it meant writing reviews almost straight after I saw or read something and meet a deadline and I can't do that very well. The deadline thing is fine as long as I have pre-written my content when I have had the energy, but I wanted to stay relevant which meant doing it as and when, but to be honest that just isn't me.
I am an ADHD reviewer and proud, and I started these reviews for me, not just for content. So I'm gunna do this my way and if that means posting about something 'old' then so be it. This is for my own enjoyment at the end of the day, and rather than repeatedly being harsh on myself, I'm going to work with myself rather than against.
THIS IS YOUR ONLY SPOILER WARNING, DO NOT READ IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS!
I have been looking forward to the return of Matthew Lillard to this franchise for years. For one, Stu has always been my favourite, and for 2. I adore ML and I am so pleased that he is doing so well. Lillard and Brendan Fraser are my favourite actors and they are beautiful people who deserve the world.
Anyway, so when I heard Stu was coming back, I was in.
I thought it was really clever how they brought his character back considering he was confirmed 'dead' all those years ago. It wasn't something as silly as a secret love child which I thought was a bit too out there in order to get Skeet to return, but it seemed very real. Having AI pose a danger like this was brilliant and eye opening as it is a very real problem, but I think it was a fantastic way of bringing back past cast members. The ending in Sid's house was also top tier as it very much reminded me of cast members doing intros to set experiences. You know at the Harry Potter Tour in Watford they have a few cast members give you the intro before you walk into the Great Hall? I just needed the killer to be like 'Thanks Stu, and now to your left you'll see my accomplice and in my hand you'll see my weapon'.
It is a shame as I liked the New York franchise and how it felt like passing the mantle, but what happened off screen was regrettable. As it is, I do prefer the OGs, so I'm pleased we have a story that revolves around Sid again.
The film follows Sid in her new town where she has opted to raise her kids with hubby Mark. She owns the local coffee shop and everyone knows who she is as how can you avoid that, but she owns it and it is clear it is her past. Unfortunately, it seems she is more able to talk about said past with strangers than with her own daughter. Her eldest wants to know more, but in desperation to protect her she shuts down any talk of it.
Anyway, her two youngest kids happen to be out of town which is lucky as who wants to scar them for life, but the eldest, Tatum, is almost centre of the film as her entire friend group is killed off in an attempt to kill her and her mother. Mummy Sid comes to the rescue and Tatum ends up learning on the job about her mum's past and first hand the trauma that comes with it. She soon realises exactly why her mum was so closed off about this, just as Sid realises the danger of not telling Tatum about it as clearly the torment is never going to end. Poor Sid is never gunna get her final happy ending.
What I really hated about this particular passing of the mantle, was 1. how many times Sid had to tell her daughter to shoot the attacker in the head and she still bloody didnt, and 2. the fact her boyfriend climbs into her window and quotes word for word what her mother's killer boyfriend said to her in order to seduce her and thought that was sexy. I have never had the ick so fast, if that wasn't a red flag to Tatum then I don't know what is.
I kinda knew who the final killers were, but not for the reason that they gave. I suspected the neighbour from the get go, after all it is always someone you trust, and I knew that the 'home' clerk was trouble as he played along with the Stu thing. I just didn't expect it to come about as she was obsessed with Sid and a bit of a fruit loop. I wanted it to be like the Billy Loomis revenge story with his mother, it was Stu's half sister or something which would have explained the link to Stu.
Regardless, there were a few excellent jump scares within the movie and I liked how the plot went and how creative the gory deaths were. I also didn't see coming quite how much joy the mother would take when it came to murdering her own child with a beer tap handle, but it was...interesting. Certainly threw me off the scent for a minute.
What irks me slightly is Tatum's relationship with her mother. She is aware through the media just quite how traumatised her mum is, yet she still goes out of her way to push their relationship. I know it is a typical bratty teenager trait, but you would have thought that the fact they all have 'go bags' she'd be a bit more clued up about the danger and not quite so stupid. Perhaps Sid chose not to tell her about it as she knew she wasn't capable which she very nearly wasn't.
Overall I'm awarding Scream 7 an 8/10. Loved ML's involvement, love home-life Sid, the only bad bits were the killers to be honest. I feel like I might have preferred them to be complete strangers as they were so out there that they might as well have been. I feel like that would have been a very interesting turn if suddenly there were a bunch of unknowns after the gang like some kind of 'Stab' fanclub gone AWOL. The danger would be ramped up and the gang would need to be on their guard which would be great.
Otherwise, I think this was a pretty good instalment. I can't wait to see what's next!
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