Scream 7: Disappointing Followers More With Each Release

With the release of Scream 7 in theaters on February 22nd, 2026. The Warriors at WGHS grow curious about the reviews from this movie. The only question being: Is this well-loved horror franchise still worth the hype?
​by Sabrina Cleland and Haley Hubbard

With the release of Scream 7 in theaters on February 22, 2026, the Warriors at WGHS grew curious about the reviews for this movie. The only question remains: Is this well-loved horror franchise still worth the hype?

The Scream franchise has always been a classic over the years. It’s a fan-favorite slasher series, and many followers have kept up with the franchise as it releases more flicks. The film received a lot of hype for the return of Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, as well as the return of Kevin Williamson as the director. Is Scream 7 truly worth the watch?

The new film is centered around Sidney’s new life in Pine Grove with her daughter, Tatum (played by Isabel May), but the emotion in the scenes just did not seem to hit hard. It simply does not have the same feel as the earlier movies in the franchise. The heart wasn’t in this one. It felt less and less like a horror film as it progressed through the story. It was not new or exciting; it spent way too much time looking back on the past and revisiting things that should have ended earlier within the movies.

Sidney is a mom now, doing everything she can to protect her daughter, Tatum. She is so worried about the past that she does not even tell Tatum why they are in danger. This made the story feel frustrating and slow-paced. Most fans were hoping for something new from the franchise—a different plotline with new or better characters—but it felt like the writers were just trying to use the hype and love for the past films to create a positive outlook on this new one.

What made this movie so bad was most of the writing. There was a lot of talk about AI and deepfakes, which felt like the movie was trying really hard to be “modern.” Most of the dialogue was cringeworthy and hard to watch. It was harder to enjoy the movie when the characters gave second-hand embarrassment. The mystery of who the killer really was didn’t feel as fun to figure out because the characters weren’t suspicious or telling enough to keep anyone guessing.

Despite all the problems in this film, not all scenes were terrible. One thing we can say is that the scenes were filmed very well. Kevin Williamson, the returning director of the franchise, knows how to make a movie look well-shot. There were a few scenes we actually liked because they were very intense-looking on screen. For example, the scene at the local tavern felt really major. The way the lighting was used made Ghostface look more scary on screen. Even if the writing was weak, the camera work and the music were still highlights.

With the good comes the bad. The worst scene in this film was the opening scene. It felt useless to the plot and did not add anything to the storyline. It took place in the old house from the first movie, which had now been turned into a museum. It felt like the movie was just trying to copy the original without any of the classic scares. It was merely two people, unimportant to the plot, walking through a house filled with old props until they were eventually killed off. It seemed like lazy writing and like it was only there to fill time.

Finally, the ending. Did we like it? Not really. It felt like a sudden closing that didn’t match the rest of the movie. Fans were hoping for a big and surprising reveal, but instead, it was only a storyline that felt boring and drawn out. It's sad to say about a franchise beloved by many around the world, but after waiting so long for this sequel, it was disappointing to receive such an empty ending.
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In the end, Scream 7 did not deliver. It gave us a plot that was clearly meant to be left in the past and maybe, it’s finally time for this franchise to be put to rest as well.