Netflix has just landed another new-era horror classic, as they really do tend to grab a lot of these through licensing, which has proven to make for a pretty impressive collection over the years.

That new film would be Scream VI, obviously the sixth film in that franchise, which was released in early 2023. While critics said it was good, not amazing, it is what appeared to be the best audience-scored horror film of that year. As a comparison point, here are the top 10 critic scored horror movies of 2023, plus their audience scores, as opposed to Scream VI:

• Huesera: The Bone Woman – 97% critic, 66% audience
• When Evil Lurks – 96% critic, 79% audience
• Attachment – 95% critic, 60% audience
• Talk to Me – 94% critic, 83% audience
• M3GAN – 93% critic, 78% audience
• Influencer – 91% critic, 69% audience
• Brooklyn 45 – 91% critic, 41% audience
• Totally Killer – 86% critic, 76% audience
• The Blackening – 87% critic, 85% audience
• Sick – 85% critic, 72% audience
• Scream VI – 77% critic 90% audience

I’ve looked through dozens of horror films from that year and I can’t find one with a higher audience score. It really is pretty tough to please a critical mass of audiences with a number of controversial horror films, but Scream VI managed to do so. How? A few reasons:

• First, it’s good! Those are still solid critic scores, and it’s a great entry in the Scream franchise which has been pretty hit or miss over the years. So it’s not like audiences are propping up some sort of bad movie here.
• It stars Jenna Ortega in the midst of her massive breakout period, becoming a fan favorite with Wednesday and also this film as one of her highest profile outings as a new go-to horror girl.
• It stars Melissa Barrera, an excellent actress who was kicked out of Scream VII for her pro-Gaza social media statements. Fans and other actors raced to support her.
• It brought back series veterans like Courteney Cox, Skeet Ulrich and Hayden Panettiere to satisfy longer term fans of the franchise.

That may not be the whole story, but this plus other X-factors did add up to Scream VI being the highest profile, audience favorite horror film of 2023. Scream VII will bring Neve Campbell back to the franchise, but the film has lost Ortega and Barrera, and I cannot imagine it will be as well-received by fans as a result. Judge for yourself by watching on Netflix.

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