Ryan Charles Lieb

With the recent release of Scream VI, I decided to launch my new blog site with a ranking of the Scream Film Franchise! Enjoy and drop your comments!

6. Scream 3

It’s the year 2000. You’re ten years old. You’ve seen all the trailers, you’ve heard all the quotes, you even own the Creed CD, but you cannot escape one overwhelmingly heartbreaking reality: You’re too young to watch Rated R movies. That is, until your dad comes home from work and utters the five most wonderful words you can imagine: “Son, we rented Scream 3!”

This wasn’t the first R-Rated film I ever saw, nor was it my introduction to the concept of slashers, but it was the very first fully uncut slasher movie I ever got to watch, and for that reason it will always hold a special place in my heart. It was without a doubt the most awesome movie I’d ever seen up until that time.

As an adult, though, its flaws are now very apparent. It’s a highly edited, mostly bloodless affair. The script is often a mess. It arguably requires the highest degree of suspension of disbelief, partially because there is only one killer, but mostly because the killer can magically use anyone’s voice, a technology that may actually be feasible today with modern AI but was nothing short of absolute nonsense in 2000. That also directly resulted in a reduced roll for Roger L. Jackson which may be the biggest shortcoming of the film. But none of that is to say the movie isn’t fun. There is not a bad movie on this list (and by “bad” I mean “unenjoyable.”). The leads are wonderful as always, Sidney’s battle with her trauma is believable and moving, there are some genuinely funny moments, and the attempt to pull the trilogy together with an overarching plotline was respectable.

5. Scream 4

Scream is back! After an eleven year hiatus, Craven and Williamson decided to revive the franchise that revolutionized slashers with a brand new trilogy! Which, sadly, only ended up being one film.

Scream 4 was the first Scream film I got to see in the theater, and it was a blast. The film has some problems, the kills are so plentiful they start to become numbing, and Kevin Williamson is fully up his own you-know-what with the meta jokes (“How meta can you get?!” “How whata?” “I dont’ know, I heard them say it…”).

But it is far less restrained than its predecessor, and while I can never quite know what it felt like to see the Billy and Stu reveal in 1996 without having had it spoiled by my sister, I nevertheless believe this might be the most genuinely shocking killer reveal of the franchise. The film was set up to be a passing of the torch from the legacy characters to a new final girl, but guess what, our new final girl IS THE KILLER. Emma Roberts’s chilling performance makes for one of the most memorable final acts in the franchise. And of course, we can’t forget that this film gave us Kirby, a babe who can kick your ass at horror trivia. Long live Kirby!

4. Scream (2022)

Guess who’s back? Back Again? Scream is back! Run!

The franchise’s second attempt to rise from the ashes was a huge success. No disrespect to the late greats Craven and Williamson, but a new filmmaking crew gave the series an opportunity to adopt a fresh personality. The story takes clever and unexpected turns, and the kills are the most tense and suspenseful they’ve been since Scream 2.

But the film’s biggest strength is its cast. Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega have star power that explodes off the screen, David Arquette gives possibly the greatest performance of his career, and there’s even a surprise return by Skeet Ulrich that results in one of the most interesting plot devices in the series.

That being said, Sidney and Gale’s inclusion in the film feels tacked on, and the third act ends up being mostly a rehash of Scream one. The killer reveal is predictable, and while overall the finale is executed well, it feels too beholden to its predecessors to be considered great, landing this film in the lower half of the list by a small margin.

3. Scream VI

Scream takes Manhattan! The newest entry in the franchise takes us out of Woodsboro for the second time, though really if you think about it, a good chunk of Scream 3 takes place on a Woodsboro movie set, so it’s kind of like this is really the first time we’ve ever been fully out of Woodsboro.

The new setting is a welcome change for the franchise, making this film feel completely free from its roots. Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega are great as ever, but Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown have solidified themselves as integral parts of this new Scream cast as well. It’s really the chemistry between all four of the leads (the Core Four!) that forms the heart of the movie. In addition, Courtney Cox gets a couple of great moments, and Kirby’s return from presumed death is icing on the cake!

While the killer reveal is far from shocking, there is a certain aspect about it (trying to avoid huge spoilers here) that lends a little extra believability to Ghostface’s efficiency and brutality with the kills. This Ghostface is truly scary, and the kill scenes are some of my favorites.

My only criticism of the newest film is that (spoiler!) there are very few meaningful innocent deaths. But if I’m being honest, at this point in the franchise I’m here for the heroes. Part of Sam’s arc is that she has a bit of a killer in herself as well, and watching her go toe to toe with Ghostface is a great time. Bring on the next contender!

2. Scream (1996)

This film changed everything. No longer is the slasher film made up twenty-something nobody’s being stalked by deformed, monstrous killers. Now, the teens being butchered are the heartthrobs from your favorite television show, and the killer is your boyfriend.

Scream brought the campy, highly exaggerated slasher franchise back down to earth, and gave the audience something they could imagine happening to themselves. It introduced the iconic Ghostface mask, and put a “whodunit?” mystery spin on the formula. But probably most importantly, it gave the killer a voice. Roger L. Jackson’s Ghostface voices remains the glue that holds the franchise together this day, and it’s not hard to see why in that incredible opening sequence.

The script may be a little too clever for its own good sometimes (“That sounds like something out of a Wes Carpenter film or something…”), but the send-up of horror tropes was fresh and original, and everyone came out of Scream quoting “the rules.” At least, I assume they did. I don’t know, I was six…

It goes without saying that the core cast is incredible. But probably the most memorable performances come from our killers. Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich gave us two truly believable psychotic teens. They are unhinged and frightening, yet just inept enough that their plan comes completely unraveled in the end, resulting in a wonderfully chaotic finale.

It was a film that absolutely begged a sequel. Remember, the killer always comes back for more!

1. Scream 2

Sure, this is probably an unpopular opinion. For many, the original is untouchable, and certainly that is how I feel about most horror franchises. But I truly believe Scream 2 improved on the original.

There have been plenty of slasher sequels over the course of horror history, but none, I would argue, that handle the repurcussions of the first murder spree at this large of a scope. Popularized by a pulitzer-prize-hunting Gale Weathers, the infamous “Woodsboro Murders” are now a media sensation, immortalized by the film within a film “Stab.” Not only that, but recently acquitted Cotton Weary, falsely accused of murder by Sidney in the events leading up to the first film, is mounting a campaign to clear his besmirched name.

Nearly all horror sequels (including most in this list) are in some way held back by their predecessors, but this film is the rare exception in which every frame is enhanced by the history that is established in the first movie. Our heroes, now in college, have to constantly dodge prank callers and reporters, while simultaneously debating the finer points of film sequels. When Gale and Dewey come face to face again, we learn that their relationship has failed, torn apart by Gale’s unflattering portrayal of Dewey in her book, and we get to see them pick up the pieces and learn how to work together again. Sidney struggles to trust her new boyfriend even though he turns out to be a pretty okay dude and totally doesn’t deserve to get tragically murdered. And our time spent with Randy makes his death possibly the most shocking in the entire franchise.

But most interesting is Sidney coming face to face with the man whom she believed for a year had murdered her mother. Cotton Weary, played by Liev Schreiber, has been promised a Diane Sawyer interview with Sidney by Gale, and he doesn’t intend to leave until he gets it. His confrontation with Sidney part way through the film is threatening, inappropriate, and yet entirely motivatable. The audience can completely understand why he is so desperate to gain Sidney’s public forgiveness, while simultaneously reviling him for his disregard for boundaries and generally sleazy demeanor, making him the most compelling red herring in the series.

And finally, the finale featuring a crazed Laurie Metcalf as Billy Loomis’s mother, wherin Sidney is ultimately saved by Cotton, is in competition with the first film for best Scream climax. It may not have ALL of the best scenes in the series, but it is the best-written script and one of cinema’s major testaments to what a sequel can accomplish when done correctly.