Reviews
[TV Review] The Killer in ‘Scream: Resurrection’ Makes a Mockery of Horror Fans Everywhere
Well, there you have it: the possible conclusion of the Scream franchise, which will be remembered as the television equivalent of a wet fart in the annals of horror. The lengthy delay between seasons (almost three years) should have been all we needed to know: this “Three-Night Event’ was VH1’s way of dumping a turd of a season and wiping their hands clean. But their hands are not clean. Not. One. Bit.
Two days ago, I wrote the following in my review of Scream: Resurrection‘s first two episodes:
“Scream: Resurrection benefits from not being boring. It’s bad, but at least it’s entertaining.”
My, what a difference four episodes can make. Each set of episodes was worse than the last, with the finale being a particularly egregious miscalculation of viewer expectations (Did you want Deion’s football scholarship drama to take up half of the finale’s runtime? Scream: Resurrection seems to think that you did.). I could spend this review picking apart the series scene by scene, but that would be a waste of my time and yours. This is a bad show and that’s all you need to know. However, it would be prudent to discuss the one aspect of the finale that likely won’t sit well with many horror fans (you know, the show’s target audience).
***SPOILERS for the finale of Scream: Resurrection***
As revealed in the sixth and final episode of Scream: Resurrection, the killers are revealed to be Deion’s (RJ Cyler) step-brother Jamal (Tyga) and Goth-girl horror expert (and Resurrection‘s Randy stand-in) Beth (Giorgia Whigham). Jamal was upset because his father married Deion’s mother (Mary J. Blige) and began to treat Deion like more of a son than Jamal. When he met Beth, who reveals herself to be a sociopath, she fostered his jealousy into a murderous rage and used him to start a killing spree because, well, she just likes killing people.
Yes, out of all of the Scream films to rip off, Scream: Resurrection chose to rip off Scream 3. Jamal’s motive is essentially the same as Roman’s (Scott Foley): He’s upset because his daddy loved his stepbrother more than he loved him. It’s certainly a (boring) choice, but Jamal isn’t the problem with Resurrection‘s finale. You see, while Beth being the killer seems clever (unless you count Scream 4‘s Charlie, Scream has never had the Randy-type character be the killer before), Beth’s motive monologue is problematic to say the least. Her explanation is as follows:
“I was born bad. Unlike you and your little “Deadfast” besties, I don’t lie to myself about it…[When I take my mask] off, nothing changes! I always knew I was a sociopath. I mean, why do you think I love horror movies so much? I watched every single one I could get my hands on until I realized it just wasn’t quite enough. Why should Michael Myers get to have all the fun when I could be a better monster because I’m not just some actor behind a mask. This is who I really am on the inside. [Silence] C’mon, that was a killer monologue! Literally!
Focus on that part in bold, would you? Because no other line of dialogue spoken in this finale matters. In case you glossed over it, here it is again:
“I always knew I was a sociopath. I mean, why do you think I love horror movies so much?”
Do you feel mocked? You should. It’s a tiny line that takes up mere seconds of screen time, but screenwriter/showrunner Brett Matthews is being insulting at best and downright irresponsible at worst. That one bit of dialogue reinforces the stereotype non-horror fans associate with us all too often and because of it, Scream: Resurrection now has the distinction of not only being one of the most boring horror television shows ever created but also one of the most offensive.
Never before have I seen a television series disparage its audience to this degree. Did you know that sociopaths love horror movies? No? Well, Scream: Resurrection is here to school you on that subject. To top things off, the series suggests that horror films can be used to appease or tame sociopathic tendencies in its (sociopathic) viewers, but when they’re not hardcore enough to satiate our vicious bloodlust, we’ll go on a killing spree. Alright.
It’s as if no one on the creative team had ever watched a Scream film before. The films have always done an excellent job of distancing the sociopathic/psychopathic tendencies of their killers from horror fandom. While it is true that the two are not mutually exclusive (obviously, a sociopath can be a horror fan and vice versa), the films took great care to ensure that they were sending the proper message (i.e., horror fans aren’t automatically sociopaths). Do I believe that this was an intentional message? No. I just don’t think anyone put any thought into it (something that could be said about this entire season). Scream is smart. This isn’t smart.
In Scream, Billy (Skeet Ulrich) says “Movies don’t create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative.” In Scream 2, Mickey’s (Timothy Olyphant) motive is to blame the movies for his killing spree, all the while noting that that isn’t the real reason he is killing. It’s just the reason that will make him the most famous. The same applies to Jill (Emma Roberts) in Scream 4. She doesn’t like horror movies because she is psychotic. She just wants to be famous and uses the original Scream (er, Stab) as a blueprint for her master plan. The distinction is important, and Scream: Resurrection does not make that distinction.
At the end of the day, Resurrection delivers an extremely problematic message to its viewers and goes against everything the film franchise stood for. The films respected horror fans. Scream: Resurrection shits on them. At least we now know that whatever the next entry in the Scream franchise is it can’t possibly be worse than this dreck.
To hear more of my thoughts on Scream: Resurrection, check out this week’s bonus episode of the Horror Queers podcast, in which Joe Lipsett and I read the series to filth:
Reviews
‘The Last Temptation of Becky’ Review: Threequel Has A Blast Destroying Nazis [Fantasia 2026]
Over the course of three films, Lulu Wilson’s Becky Hooper has emerged as the unlikeliest of action heroines. What kicked off as a surprisingly brutal thriller back in 2020’s Becky evolved into a full-blown franchise with 2023’s The Wrath of Becky. Now there’s a third and possibly final film with The Last Temptation of Becky.
The latest entry hails from Jenn Wexler, the director of The Ranger and The Sacrifice Game, who co-writes the script with Matt Angel from a story by Angel and Suzanne Coote (The Wrath of Becky). Temptation opens on a now-adult Becky on her latest mission with the CIA. The caper is a complete failure, ending unsurprisingly in extremely bloody fashion.
In a post-mission debrief, CIA director Baker (Fiona Marr) explains to the young agent that she’s too much of a loose cannon, but as flashbacks to her psych evaluations and select events from the first film confirm, Becky has never truly recovered from the murder of her father by white supremacists.
It makes sense, then, that this outing brings Nazis back to the forefront as a kind of full circle moment. Becky’s new adversary is General Wilhelm Reuss (Neil Patrick Harris), a devout member of the Reich who believes so strongly in the cause that he recently moved his family, along with enforcer Russell and Dr Friedrich Metzger (James Urbaniak), to the Wolf’s Lair in Poland.
Turns out that despite the passage of several in-universe years between films, Becky still hasn’t learned how to play well with others or follow the rules, despite the guiding touch of handler Montana (Kate Siegel, Hush) and the model set by fellow agent Rigby (Brandon Flynn, Hellraiser). When Becky is given one final opportunity to prove her worth to the CIA, it sets up a collision course between her and Reuss that is guaranteed to be an all-out bloodbath.
The series continues to get good mileage casting against-type for its villains, although it should be noted that NPH doesn’t get as much to do as either the first film’s Kevin James or the sequel’s Sean William Scott. That’s because, in part, Reuss’s family comes as an evil package. Introduced in a great comedic scene when Becky checks in – all smiles – to the family’s Nazi motel, mother Helga (Catherine Walker), daughter Luisa (Aiofe Hughes), and son Otto (Noah Leggott) are as much of a threat as the patriarch.
Of course, the main selling feature of the film is Becky, and Wilson continues to have a blast bringing the prickly, quippy, and trigger-happy character to life. Wilson remains an absolute delight, from her delicious voiceover (“Mission ‘find out what these fuckers are up to’: commence”) to her dinner table banter with the Reuss family (“Where do you heil from?” she asks them). Three films in, there’s no fear that Becky could actually die, but the film isn’t afraid to put its characters through the wringer – Becky sports a broken nose for most of the film’s last act – and there are, naturally, some extremely cathartic Nazi casualties.
While there’s a disappointing lack of rocket launchers in this entry, by employing the tropes of the spy movie, The Last Temptation of Becky does get to have its James Bond/Q moment when Montana walks her pint-sized agent through a litany of Chekhov’s items that are inevitably used to destroy Nazis later. Ditto Becky’s newfound interest in fencing with Rigby, which serves her well when she goes up against Luisa in a duel. This sequence also includes the best exchange of the film, when Becky enquires where the girl went to Hitler Youth Camp and Luisa replies: “Mississippi.”
The Nazis are rightfully portrayed as a legitimate threat and, simultaneously, the subject of complete mockery. The brownies – armed guards who do the dirty work of patrolling the woods and escorting prisoners – are comprised of men who explain they’re just following orders or they are “media and Performing Arts majors from Ohio State.” They’re idiots who are the brunt of multiple jokes and insults throughout the film, including Becky’s immediately iconic jacket emblazoned with “Fuck Nazis” on the back.
Then there’s the hilarious reveal of Reuss and Dr. Metzger’s master plan, which is simultaneously pathetic and hilariously short-lived…because even The Last Temptation of Becky understands that the only logical response to Nazis making a literal comeback in 2026 is to barf on them, punch them in the face, or blow them up. Preferably all of the above.
If there’s a misstep, it’s the film’s uneasy mix of practical FX and CGI. An early death involving a drone and a landmine would be much more compelling if the accompanying explosion and fire were real, and a decapitation winds up looking cheap because of the digital blood. Compare this to another death later when someone bleeds from every facial orifice: it’s clearly practical and, as a result, looks great.
There are a few other instances of violence that miss the mark. A potentially brutal knife in the mouth is partially obscured; some of the hand-to-hand combat in the last act doesn’t hit terribly hard. But overall, it’s impossible not to cheer on Becky as she fucks Nazis up at every opportunity.
If that’s what your heart desires, then The Last Temptation of Becky will be right up your alley. Here’s hoping that, despite the possible implications teased by the title, Lulu Wilson decides to return to the role every three years (or less!) for a new Becky film.
The Last Temptation of Becky made its world premiere at the 2026 Fantasia International Film Festival. Release info TBD.
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