Movie Review

Scream VI whimpers with reminder that Ghostface needs to go down for good

The reboot of the Scream franchise in 2022 might have been intended to be dumped in the dead zone of January, but its unexpectedly high $81 million box office put a sequel on the fast track. And it’s a good thing they did, because the new young cast members – notably Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Jasmine Savoy Brown, and Mason Gooding – are hot properties and getting hotter by the minute.

Scream VI finds the foursome away from the cursed town of Woodsboro, as they have all relocated to the notoriously safe New York City together. Tara (Ortega) and twins Mindy (Savoy Brown) and Chad (Gooding) are students at the fictional Blackmoore University, while Sam (Barrera) does her best to keep Tara safe after reconnecting with her sister in the previous film.

The emergence of a new Ghostface killer not only puts all of them at risk, but also new roommates Quinn (Liana Liberato) and Ethan (Jack Champion), as well as Sam’s new love interest, Danny (Josh Segarra). Helping to track down the killer (or killers) is Det. Bailey (Dermot Mulroney) and Kirby Reed (Hayden Panatierre), now an FBI agent after being terrorized herself in Scream 4.

Still sticking with the credo of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” the filmmakers – returning co-directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Ginnett, and returning co-writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick – go back to the same formula seen many times before over and over again. The killer attacks, manages to stab a victim or two before getting hit by a blunt object, disappears mysteriously after the protagonists are distracted, rinse and repeat.

At this point it would be surprising if they deviated much at all from what is expected, since fans don’t seem to mind the repetition. That’s not to say that the film is completely devoid of entertainment. The brutal opening scene, another hallmark of the series, manages to bring a degree of cleverness to the film. And even though most of the kills are telegraphed, the level of violence will satisfy any hardcore horror fan.

However, the film too often takes the easy road. It’s set around Halloween, so that hordes of people roaming the streets in masks, many of them Ghostface ones, seems natural. Instead of raising the tension, it somehow takes it away as the filmmakers can’t use the idea properly. Sam being haunted by her parentage once again plays a big part in the story, but just as in the last film, it doesn’t add up to much.

The lack of good material is a crying shame, as the film truly does have a gem of a cast. Ortega is at the top of everyone’s list after the Netflix show Wednesday and other recent roles. Barrera has the charisma and the looks to be the star in many more projects. And Savoy Brown and Gooding have the goods to easily slide back and forth between movies and TV.

In the Scream franchise, Ghostface will never die because there will always be someone new who’s willing – or psychotic enough – to don the mask and do some more slashing. But unless filmmakers are able to inject some new ideas into the mix, it might be best to let the series die, once and for all.

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Scream VI opens in theaters on March 10.

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Ghostface in Scream VI.

Hayden Panatierre Jenna Ortega Reboot of Scream film movies

Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep welcomes spooky season with PG-scary new movie

Photo courtesy of Aardman / Sky UK LTD / StudioCanal 2026

Shaun the Sheep in Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom.

Since his introduction over 30 years ago, the Aardman Animations character Shaun the Sheep has been almost as popular as the studio’s flagship characters, Wallace and Gromit. There is never a shortage of trouble Shaun can get into as he leads his flock and proves to be a thorn in the side of his farmer and Bitzer, the farmer’s loyal sheepdog.

His antics lead everyone down some slightly spooky roads in the new film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. At first, things are only slightly awry as Shaun and the flock are growing a secret pumpkin patch to have their own jack-o-lanterns. But when the farmer accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch, Shaun tries to regrow it quickly with a Frankenstein-esque experiment.

However, disaster looms when Shaun uses an old bottle of Hair-Gro as the container for the serum he creates. Naturally, the balding farmer uses it on his head, and everyone soon discovers how truly successful it is, with pumpkins growing out of control and the farmer sprouting hair all over his body. Through a series of mishaps, the farmer becomes the titular beast, creating mayhem while Shaun and others try to stop him.

Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the film goes down just as easy as every other Aardman project has. They get the Halloween vibes started from the opening credits, with things like the sheep doing the “Thriller” dance, and continue the fun throughout, referencing everything from Psycho to Friday the 13th in a nice, PG way.

With no script — every character is mute save for reaction noises — the movie relies on sight gags for its humor, and the Aardman team is endlessly inventive in that respect. Sometimes it’s small things like a sheep using toilet paper rolls as binoculars, and sometimes it’s something like forcing the Bigfoot-like farmer to be shaped into a rectangle as he escapes through a window. But there’s a never-ending stream of such moments, so even if one doesn’t tickle your funny bone, chances are the next one will.

The biggest benefit of the characters not talking is that there’s no need for deep character development. The filmmakers do a great job of giving the basic traits of each character, and then use those attributes to color everyone’s actions for the rest of the film. Shaun is the troublemaker, the farmer is a bumbling fool, Bitzer is preternaturally smart, and the town’s vet is empathetic, and the combination of those characters and others makes for a highly entertaining blend.

Like all Aardman creations, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a fun lark that doesn’t make its audience think too hard. With just enough references to keep viewers engaged but not so many as to be overbearing, the film puts its well-worn characters to good use once again, delivering a Halloween season story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is now playing in theaters.

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