‘Scream VI’ will be “rawer” and “more aggressive” than previous films

Scream VI marks a decisive tone-shift from its predecessors, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have revealed – and fans should expect a more “visceral” experience this time around.

The sixth movie in the long-running horror franchise, and the follow-up to 2022 reboot Scream, dropped a new trailer today (January 19) ahead of its March 10 release in cinemas. Moving the action away from the fictional town of Woodsboro to New York City, the teaser showed sisters Tara (Jenna Ortega) and Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) once again facing off against masked serial killer Ghostface.

“Scream VI is set shortly after the events of Scream 5, and follows how [the characters] deal with the massacre in Woodsboro [in Scream 5],” Bettinelli-Olpin told NME, speaking via Zoom from the edit studio where he and Gillett are currently finishing the new film. “It follows them to New York, and then Ghostface enters the picture and everything goes off the rails.”

Scream 5 was the first new entry in the series in 11 years. It satirised toxic fandom and blockbuster reboots while bringing back original cast members Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette in an attempt to link the new with the old. On Scream VI, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillet said they felt more able to tinker with the formula.

“Part of our assignment on Scream 5 was to play the greatest hits, to really show that we were part of a long lineage of characters,” said Gillett. “With Scream VI we wanted to subvert that warm blanket, and make something that’s grittier and rawer.”

“It’s relentless and really visceral. There’s a lot more of Matt and I in this movie. I think that we had to make Scream 5 in order to feel like we had permission to do this one. It has all of the ingredients, all of the things that we love about the franchise but it has an attitude that’s a little bit different. We think people are going to be really excited about it.”

Scream 5‘s body count was the lowest of the franchise so far, with Ghostface killing eight times. Will Scream VI better that tally?

“I don’t think we can answer that without a spoiler,” said Bettinelli-Olpin, “but to jump off what Tyler just said, this one is definitely more brazen and more aggressive than the last one. So, you know, wink-wink, there’s a body count in this one…”

Fans will be happy to learn that the filmmakers have been keeping close tabs on them, even taking inspiration from fan-made props on the internet.

“Our production designer found a Ghostface Russian Doll [on Etsy] and put it in a scene [in Scream VI],” revealed Bettinelli-Olpin. “It’s a Russian Doll of Ghostfaces through the years – the nine killers – and it’s awesome. You gotta have an eagle eye to find it because it’s in the background [of the scene] but it’s very neat.”

‘Scream VI’ will be released in cinemas on March 10

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