“Burn It All Down” isn’t what David Ellison will be saying if he doesn’t get his way with Warner Bros., but rather the ad line on Paramount’s latest blockbuster. Shout out franchise, number 7 if you count. The popular horror franchise has grossed $900 million to date across six films that began exactly 30 years ago with the 1996 original created and written by Kevin Williamson. It may have taken three long decades but Williamson is back, and taking the reins to direct the series for the first time. Judging by the results, he is the right guy for the job. After all, who knows this stuff better than this guy, and a fun script that takes nothing for granted (Williamson co-wrote it with Guy Busick on Busick and James Vanderbilt’s story) Shout out 7 It should be just the ticket to get a fan following Sidney Prescott and company.
After making a trip to New York City for the sixth film, the seventh installment had a difficult time in conception when planned star Melissa Barra was fired for political comments, then another star and director bailed. The whole thing was in doubt until Williamson came back into the picture as did superstar Neve Campbell. Shout out VI in contention for a salary, but I hope he gets what he deserves from this outing. You’re firing on all cylinders here.
Of course we’ve seen him fight his archenemies Ghostface through high school, college, counseling work, as a freelance writer, and a new mom, Then after those five movies Sidney Prescott disappeared from the scene. As we meet him he has now left his hometown of Woodsboro where the bloodshed is repeated and lives peacefully in another small town, Pine Grove where a single screen movie theater is shown. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and runs a coffee shop. She is married to the police chief, Mark Evans (Joel McHale who joins the franchise) and has three children, the oldest is the 17-year-old nubile Tatum (Isabel May) who knows little about her mother’s past misdeeds but is about to find out as the family becomes a victim of Ghostface who has reappeared and after the sequence the couple is in Wood pre-credits. in Pine Grove with a ready-to-go checklist. Caught in a phone call that appears to be from Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) who was the first masked Ghostface in the 1996 film and was apparently as dead as he could have been by the end of it. So how could he return to action? Enter the new age of AI, a technological marvel that threatens to bring an entire group of loved ones to the world. Shout out throw the members back. I won’t be doing this casting anymore but it’s fun and exciting for the fans.
Meanwhile, crack news reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) is also back in town after the New York riots and lost her job. Now reinventing herself as an ace crime reporter and her team, twins Mindy and Chad Meek-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown and Mason Gooding) come roaring to Pine Grove and call Ghostface — or a Ghostface. What they stumbled upon is a very big story, and once Sidney is at the heart of it, his daughter Tatum is dragged along for the ride.
What makes this franchise so appealing is less like a horror show, and more like an Agatha Christie coming-of-age mystery where it actually everyone he is a suspect and may be the one behind the mask. It’s a formula, well-worn, that still works and keeps us guessing in the classic murder mystery way. Another clever feature is that this franchise looks at itself and every other movie in the horror genre with characters that always refer to the tropes of these predictable things and how “Jamie Lee can keep coming back Halloween”. Williamson learned a lot from horror house boss, Wes Craven who directed three films. Williamson also knows exactly how to revive a long-running series, unlike say the latest reboot of his original I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Campbell is key here and a strong character who never overplays the horror but comes under heavy strain when his daughter inherits Ghostface’s curse. May, from Jennifer Lawrence’s school of acting, couldn’t be better at taking over the family business, as it were, but she still needed mom to seal the deal. The cast is as large as the number of victims, but the standouts are McKenna Grace as Tatum’s BFF — SPOILER ALERT — an early victim as she rehearses for the flying scenes of her school play, and Sam Rechner as Ben, Tatum’s seemingly unsupportive boyfriend. Also starring is Anna Camp as Jessica, Sidney’s best friend and neighbor and her creepy son, Lucas (Asa Germann). McHale is a great addition, and it’s fun to see Lillard storm through the storm as a menacing Stu (back from the grave?)
One of the best of any Shout out the movie is a pre-credits sequence that does what the Bond films do best. This one features Michelle Randolph and Jimmy Tatro as a couple who sign up for a fun night out at the Macher house, now a museum of it all. shout, and with the delightful extension of a movie-within-a-movie Stab. A crackerjack sequence that gets things started with a bang.
It may have taken 30 years for Williamson to finally get his ship right, but with Shout out 7 seems worth the wait. Fans will agree.
Producers are William Sherak, Vanderbilt, and Busick.
Title: Shout out 7
Distributor: Important
Release date: February 27, 2026
Director: Kevin Williamson
Screenplay: Kevin Williamson and Guy Busick. The story of Busick and James Vanderbilt
Actors: Neve Campbell, Isabel May, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Anna Camp, David Arquette, Roger L. Jackson, Michelle Randolph, Jimmy Tatro, Mckenna Grace, Asa Germann, Celeste O’Connor, Sam Rechner, Mark Consuelos, Tim Simons and Matthew Lillard and Joel McHale and Courtney Cox.
Rating: R
Working time: 1 hour and 54 minutes
