Scream VI  ★★½

DESPITE the talent behind the last Scream instalment, Scream VI adds little to the franchise reboot.

Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett and writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick have strong Hollywood reputations.

Here the on-screen result is slickly-made and featuring some good, gory kills; but the overall approach feels like just a slight variation on the same approach.

We’re still got the same types of characters commenting on the same parallels of events to the Stab series of films based on the events from the original Scream series.

In some ways it’s still clever, but there are so many characters involved that as usual the final denouement could have literally been one of a dozen outcomes.

The cast includes some playing characters introduced in the last film, released in 2022, such as Jenna Ortega, stalwarts like

Courteney Cox and newcomers including good old Dermot Mulroney.

Australian Samara Weaving has an early bit part that is indicative of everything to come- kind of interesting but ultimately doesn’t fully deliver.

Ghostface as usual is either ruthlessly efficient or hopelessly inadequate, depending which character is behind the mask.

One of the most ludicrous scenes involves some friends getting away from the killer by crossing from one building to another via a 12 foot long ladder that apparently was just lying around in a guy’s apartment. Please.

So, while it has some good moments, Scream VI continues to spin the franchise’s wheels.