wow, loved it

Kirby being alive? I just got back from watching this and saw no mention of Kirby at all. Did I miss something?

It was ok.
I liked the kills. They were brutal, but not elaborate. They felt like simple scream kills, but in particularly parts 2 and 3 it felt like one quick stab, a little bit of blood and the victim died. These were much more brutal and stabbings which was honestly a little more realistic and shocking.

Dewey dying didn't bother me, it made sense for his character arc, but it was annoying how they did it. Way too predictable and you can see it coming from the trailer. The thing with his phone going off was also dumb. You feel like he would be smarter than that at this point.

The killers were also predictable and I thought their motive was dumb.

All in all, I thought it was an enjoyable movie but an unessesasary chapter in the series.
Part 3 was flawed, but it brought the story arc to its logical conclusion.

Slept on it, further thoughts waking up. Sorry if they seem disorganized but hey I've only seen it once and this isn't a pro blog ;)

Glad they brought Red Right Hand back.

I somewhat suspected Tara because when Sam told her story about finding the diaries, it seems reasonable that Tara might have stumbled upon them as well at some point and figured things out and gone from there. Also, while they didn't dive into it, (thankfully as it wasn't necessary), they sort of touched on the "your mother's a whore" for Sam and Tara like they did with Sidney. Ah punishment for sex. Also though, when Sam asked how Amber found out the truth about her, she says "It's a small town and your mom drinks a lot," made me wonder even more how Tara hadn't already heard.

Which also makes me wonder, as I often do in these movies, where are the parents? Sam and Tara's mom especially. Even Dewey and Tatum's mom.

The Billy reveal was interesting. I knew that couldn't be the major twist as it was revealed so early on. And somewhat anticlimactically. We saw Sam having visions of Billy before she even said the truth out loud. But once we saw visions, it was obvious, it's the reason that makes the most sense.

It was cool that Amber died in a similar manner to her death in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

At some point if it could be done right it would be kind of cool if there were two pairs of Ghostfaces that sort of clash and compete and then team up. Because if there are two psychos in town who want to team up to do an anniversary reenactment, it's feasible there's more than that.

I think the motive this time around is meant to show that now anyone can be Ghostface. Because Stab, like Scream, has been around now for a while and a classic, so the fans feel a bit of ownership over it and protective of it, again a toxic fandom comment.

I still think Billy's dad would've been a cool villain. Maybe still will be at some point.

EDIT: More thoughts.

Amber must've been seen as controlling all along, how she was always bossing. Made her seem obvious but good part of cover.

A bit ridiculous for both twins to survive. Obviously done as a nod to Randy. But both of their wounds seemed to grievous to survive. Ah well. Also done as they were arguably among the most fleshed out and likeable of the new characters. Chad will die in 6. Mindy won't, because they'll want another survivor and they might not want to kill their one confirmed gay.

Hicks was a bit rude by not calling the sushi place to let them know she'd be late ;) And now she and Dewey will never get together. Almost surprised there wasn't a reference to a post-divorce hook-up.

Hopefully he's eating her lemon square in heaven.

Also, his phone at his death was annoying, but they wanted a last "watch out/gotcha" moment. And since Dewey was always a bit bumbling, makes sense for it to be part of his doom.

Something else I've realized. Everyone who's white dies. Seriously, think about it. Vince, Judy, Wes, guard, Dewey, Liv, Richie, Amber. Every new white character died. Any new character who survived was not white. Now, I'm a white guy, and I'm not upset or bothered, so please don't think that's how I'm coming at it. Just interesting to note. Because even if it wasn't intended as social commentary, these movies tend to be cleverly written, so you'd think they'd notice while making it.

I really like the metacriticism of “requels” with especially the references to the failings of the Star Wars sequel trilogy and the more recent Halloween films.

Great review, hit on all the points, agreed! My 2nd favorite Scream movie behind #2.