6) Scream 6
For me, Scream 6 was by far the weakest of the Scream franchise. Scream (2022) already established the idea that the killers would rip off ones from a previous movie, so this movie doing the same thing, just with Scream 2 instead of Scream (1996), was in no way subversive. It also felt like there was no buildup to the reveal of the killers’ identities, so when that reveal came it felt like a switch flipped in their personalities. The return of Kirby felt like it came out of nowhere and seemed more like a way to add in another familiar face after the absence of Neve Campbell as Sidney. The “ghost” Billy Loomis subplot continues from the last movie, and while it was already somewhat ridiculous there, here it had hardly any connection to the main plot, making it even worse. The only moments with semblances of tension, like the ladder and bodega scenes, felt so contrived that I could hardly get invested. The worst part is that all of this is done with such a smug attitude, like the movie thinks that it is going against the grain because it has bottom-of-the-barrel meta humor. Scream 6 has all of the elements of a usual Scream movie, but each one is executed in the worst way possible. The reason many of the people behind the last two Scream movies were kicked off of Scream 7 was pretty dodgy at best. Still, I am nevertheless thankful that the return of both Neve Campbell and Kevin Williamson at least has the chance to bring life back into this defiled franchise.
5) Scream (2022)
The problems with Scream (2022) are mostly shared with its sequel, the only difference being that they are more egregious in Scream 6. It also feels like the killers flip a switch when it comes time for the reveal. The smug attitude still remains. The movie tried to act clever for killing Dewey after it was already talked at length about how a “legacy” character would be killed off. This movie also copies aspects of previous ones without really understanding why they worked. Chad fills the role of Dewey by living through something that absolutely should have killed him. However, the reason that always happened to Dewey was because he was this bumbling idiot with a heart of gold, so it was fun seeing him miraculously survive situations that he got himself into. Chad is basically just some guy, so the comedy doesn’t work as well with him. Similarly, Mindy took over the role of film geek that Randy used to fulfill. With Randy, though, he was an endearing loser who annoyed everyone around him. Mindy, by contrast, is supposed to be seen as witty, even though she acts in the same way that Randy did, which made her actually annoying. I do give this movie more of the benefit of the doubt about its shortcomings because it was the first new one in a while, whereas I think that by Scream 6 the filmmakers should have known better. The most mind-boggling thing about this movie for me is that they really hammer in how this movie takes the Scream franchise back to its roots by being set in Woodsboro, when that is exactly what Scream 4 did. The only trick up this movie’s sleeve is calling back to better flicks.
4) Scream 3
This is where I would say that the movies on this list start getting good, although your mileage may vary. Scream 3 does suffer from the issues that Scream (2022) and Scream 6 do, like the killer reveal having virtually no build-up, and just being an overall stupid movie. But where it differs is that it is completely devoid of any smugness or failed attempts at being clever. This results in a movie that knows its place and is just an overall fun time. This movie is definitely a “jump the shark” moment for the franchise, with its magic voice changer, long-lost half-brother reveal, and exploding house set piece, but that just adds to the absurdity that this movie thrives off of. A genuine credit that I’d give it is how Cotton is murdered at the beginning. Every movie tries to have a shocking kill at the beginning, to varying effect, but no other movie dared to kill off a returning character, which I think Scream 3 deserves some praise for. I thought that this did help build a good sense of gravitas for what was supposed to be the finale in a trilogy.
3) Scream 2
When I first watched Scream 2, I was already familiar with how most horror movies aren’t really interested in following a singular main character movie to movie. When I saw Jada Pinkett Smith on screen, I assumed that she’d be the main character. You could imagine my shock upon witnessing the swift death of her character, as the movie then proceeded to cut to Sidney’s perspective. I think that one of the Scream franchise’s strengths is having a really strong core cast of characters that it focuses on, and that was only established with this movie. When Scream (1996) already said most of what there was to say on existing horror movies, it was incredibly smart for Scream 2 to start commenting on itself through the introduction of Stab. My one complaint is that I do think that Stab is a bit too overtly goofy a name, and I wish that they had come up with something that would more realistically catch on. There could have been more build-up to the killer reveal, but the hints that were there, like Mickey’s staunch defense of sequels, were enough for me. The car scene is probably one of my favorite scenes in the whole franchise, with how it oozed tension. Scream 2 isn’t the “gold standard” of these movies, but it is definitely a worthy successor to the near-perfect original.
2) Scream 4
Scream 4 is the last of the Wes Craven-directed Scream movies and is the perfect reintroduction after the 11-year gap between this and Scream 3. When it seemed hard for these movies to continue having surprising kills in the opening scene, this movie delivered by kicking off with a movie in a movie in a movie. I thought that Scream 4 did a great job at incorporating newer technologies to keep this entry up with the times. The tech used in the film did feel very of its era, but none of it had the “whoa look at this” quality that makes other movies that try to be “modern” feel dated. Even though Scream 4 came out in 2011, I thought that the way that social media tied into the killer’s motive felt prescient and like this movie could have come out today. I was also completely taken aback by the killer reveal and would have never expected it to be Jill, who was built up as the hero through the rest of the movie. It would have been easy for this to be done just for cheap shock value, but there was an adequate enough setup that it didn’t feel like it came out of nowhere. One final thing that I really like about Scream 4 is that it had the courage to kill off all of its new characters (until Kirby was brought back in Scream 6), except for the rude cop who seemed sure to be killing fodder. Normally, sequels like this focus more on getting their older characters out of the picture in order to set up the next generation to fill their roles in later movies. This movie, going against that and leaving all of its older characters unscathed, was actually subversive, unlike Scream (2022), which acted smart for mindlessly following that structure. Scream 4 would have been the perfect place to let the franchise end, and in my mind, this is where it does.
1) Scream (1996)
The original movie is the perfect whodunnit slasher. Even though it is a staple of this franchise now, the reveal that there were two killers really was groundbreaking. The combination of revealing the expected suspect and the out of left field suspect to be the perpetrators resulted in a really satisfying conclusion. Watching this movie back after knowing the reveal is even more satisfying, when you notice all of the small looks between Billy and Stu that were there all along. This duo of killers had the greatest screen presence in the whole franchise, aided by their contrasting personalities. Something that I thought was very nuanced in Scream (1996) is how the killers were inherently violent people who also liked violent movies, instead of being people who became violent from watching movies. I think that this is an important distinction that the newer movies didn’t care for. Sidney is probably the perfect protagonist for a horror movie because she still acts like a normal person while being highly competent. Every scene of the movie manages to be incredibly tense, always making the viewer unsure if the killer is lurking around the corner. The reason why Scream (1996) stands the test of time so well is that it perfectly blends commentary on the state of the horror genre with being a genuinely great horror movie itself.
