This article contains spoilers for the Scream franchise, as well as mentions of violence.
Confession time: I might be a fake horror fan. I had never seen Scream until literally this year. Which, in hindsight, is absolutely crazy because Scream is such a fun movie that I’m surprised I haven’t sat myself down to watch it before. Now, am I slightly insane for watching all seven Scream movies in seven days? For sure. But when my best friend invited me to see Scream 7 with her (Scream is her favorite horror movie), I so wanted to go. Thus began my (slightly unhinged) endeavor to watch every Scream movie in a week so that I could go to Scream 7 and not feel like I was missing any details. Being such an avid fan of the movies, especially horror films, I (obviously) have thoughts about all of them. So, strap in and brush up on your horror movie trivia because I have many comments on one of the most famous horror franchises.
- Scream (1996)
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I mean, the word “iconic” is used to describe this film for a reason. With what is arguably one of the most recognizable opening scenes in horror, Scream kills off its biggest star, Drew Barrymore, in the first ten minutes and shows that no one is safe in this movie. Packed with an insane amount of horror movie knowledge and a memorable ensemble cast, the movie is fun and plays on classic slasher tropes to create an amazing film. And, obviously, the notable Ghostface killer. Even if you’ve never seen Scream, you know who Ghostface is. I loved this movie, and instantly see why it’s so acclaimed in the horror sphere — it’s amazing.
Personal Letterboxd rating: five stars
- Scream 2 (1997)
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Sequels are never as good as the original, but Scream 2 certainly tries by being somewhat self-aware. Now that the events of the first film are being turned into its own film within the movie’s world (aptly named Stab), Ghostface sees a resurgence in popularity and a copycat killer dons the mask. The movie follows tropes commonly seen in horror sequels, such as more gruesome kills and a higher body count, and even goes as far to kill off survivors from the first film (RIP Randy). Scream 2 fell short for me, even with the shocking reveal of Billy Loomis’ mother being the orchestrator of the Ghostface revival. The movie unfortunately fulfills the prophecy of a sequel not being as good as the original, even if it was a strong contender.
Personal Letterboxd rating: four and a half stars
- Scream 3 (2000)
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This is where the wheels start to fall off for me, and the movies begin to fall victim to the slasher tropes that they cleverly played on in the first film. The film goes full-on meta, with the Stab franchise on its own third film (I don’t know how though, considering there’s only been two Ghostface incidents?) The film centers around the filming of Stab 3 in Hollywood, with a new Ghostface killing off the cast from the film in an attempt to get to Sidney Prescott, who has since gone off the grid. This film gets weirdly meta, but not in the fun way that the first two films had done. With the random introduction of Randy’s sister (?) and a video that he made explaining the rules of a horror trilogy before he was killed in Scream 2 (??), the movie tries to force its knowledge of the horror genre when it unfortunately killed off the character that held all the knowledge. At some point, the movie began to parody itself, which was kind of poetic, but couldn’t save itself.
Personal Letterboxd rating: three and a half stars
- Scream 4 (2011)
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Okay, opening up the movie on shots from the next installments of the Stab franchise was pretty good. One of the kills in this opening segment actually got to me, and I’ll admit, my interest got piqued when it was revealed that the last set of kills was real and not for a Stab movie. This movie is so interesting because it has a lot of celebrities in it, such as Emma Roberts and Hayden Panettiere (who I personally love). I loved Scream 4 more that I thought I would because I thought that the motive for the people behind the Ghostface mask was so smart. The previous iterations of Ghostfaces were bent on some form of revenge, and while Jill (Scream 4’s mastermind) was also bent on revenge, she also wanted the Internet fame that surviving a Ghostface massacre would come with. I thought this was so clever, and very ahead of its time in 2011, giving a new, twisted reason to take up the mask.
Personal Letterboxd rating: four and a half stars
- Scream (2022)
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I had stupid high hopes going into this movie because I love Jenna Ortega. I grew up with her on Disney Channel, and slowly followed her career into a scream queen, so I had high expectations for her debut into the Scream franchise, However, this film was a lot. The pacing in this movie was almost too fast, and I felt like I was scrambling to process the information given to me while still being given more. With a runtime of almost two hours, there really wasn’t a need to overdo pacing. I did however love the abrupt reveal of Mikey Madison’s Ghostface, and will admit that it did shock me. I thought that this was a solid requel (a horror movie sequel where the new characters are connected to the legacy cast), and in all honesty? I think that if they had stopped the franchise here, it would’ve been good.
Personal Letterboxd rating: four stars
- Scream VI (2023)
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You ever watch a two-hour long movie that feels like a two-hour long movie? That’s Scream VI. I will be honest though and say that the plot itself is really good but the execution… falls flat. This film has, in my opinion, the most BRUTAL kills, especially with some of the most brutal happening before the title card even appears. I also was obsessed with (and totally called, for the record) the use of three killers, especially when the audience thought that they had watched one of them be brutally murdered an hour earlier. Even with this strong plot idea, I feel like the film failed due to its attempts to please viewers. Chad somehow survives his encounter with two Ghostface killers despite being stabbed a ridiculous amount of times (???), Sam embodied her killer father more which was disappointing given how much she tried to separate herself from him, and a lot of the characters felt like they were just there to be killed. I didn’t feel connected to them, so when they died it felt meaningless to me. All in all, there was potential that came to a screeching halt.
Personal Letterboxd rating: three and a half stars
- Scream 7 (2026)
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I. Am. So. Mad. Which is even more upsetting because the movie started off so good. We were in Stu Macher’s house, Stu had returned (??) and they weren’t holding anything back with the kills. It felt like we were finally getting a Stu Macher/Sidney Prescott showdown, and my friends and I were thrilled. And then they revealed who our Ghostface team was. And my friends and I were so mad. The killers had virtually no connection to Sidney or anyone involved in the other Ghostface massacres, and barely had any screentime themselves. It was a lot of teasing and buildup to the reveal of Stu to… not have Stu. I’m so serious when I say my friends and I stood outside the theater for at least half an hour dissecting the film and where it could’ve gone better. Even writing this now, about an hour after the credits rolled, I’m still mad.
Personal Letterboxd rating: three stars
My definite final ranking of the Scream movies would have to be:
- Scream
- Scream 4
- Scream 2
- Scream 5
- A tie between Scream 3 and Scream VI
- Scream 7
There’s no beating the original movie, and after a while, the movies became the thing that they always mocked, and that’s so tragic. Sidney Prescott is such an amazing final girl, probably one of my favorite final girls, and she deserves to have her happy ending. But, considering how well Scream 7 did in the box office, I have a sinking suspicion that we’ll see her again in Scream 8. Even more unfortunate? If they so much as tease the Stu/Sidney showdown that I had been dying for in Scream 7, I will be seated (begrudgingly) in that theater. While this was easily my most unhinged movie endeavor, it was still fun (even with the disappointment of Scream 7) and I can confidently say that Scream has entered my library of favorite horror films.