Slash Fiction - Scream 7

The following contains spoilers for the Scream movies, the trailer to Abigail, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3. This is your warning.

The marketing for Scream 7 leans heavily on the phrase "Burn it all down". It's a key line in the trailers, and every poster I've seen uses it as a way of dictating the chaos, stakes, and what have you.

The line is not in the movie. Hell, it's not even a theme.

This isn't me getting mad at marketing departments. Instead, it's me reflecting on the desperate lengths to which campaigns will go when they know they have a turkey on their hands. Whatever gets the audience into the movie is what's important. Would Abigail be a better experience if the trailers and poster didn't spoil the big reveal that the titular ballerina is secretly a vampire? Absolutely. Would anyone have gone to see it without the marketing blowing that twist? Almost certainly no.

No, what's really frustrating about Scream 7 and Kevin Williamson's return to his most iconic series (this time directing as well as writing) is that at no point does the film justify its own existence. There's a number of behind the scenes moves since Scream VI that really crippled 7's ability to function, but even bringing back Williamson was a crucial mistake. To get there, though, we need to do a history of Scream, huh?