The film-shoot backdrop lets Craven go a little wild on the meta stuff to the point where a lot of it pivots into outright self parody, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it isn't properly balanced with simple scary movie mechanics, which twist themselves into knots trying to both maintain a mystery and shoehorn in backstory and returning characters. That said it does have a series high-point sequence, Sid being chased through the set of her childhood home, deliberately drawing attention to artifice to deliver an almost BEING JOHN MALKOVICH-y tour through memory and trauma that might be an emotional peak for the franchise. Certainly not running on fumes but a little low on gas for sure. The always glorious Parker Posey absolutely walks off with it while nobody else is looking.