Whether you are a horror fanatic or not, you have probably seen the infamous Ghostface mask, or heard one of the iconic quotes from Scream. Scream is one of the most popular franchises in horror today because it completely changed the game of the slasher genre after 1996. Following main character Sidney Prescott, these movies are a continuing story of her life. But which Scream film is the best? Do any of the sequels not live up to the hype? Well, keep reading because I’m going lay it all out for you. If you haven’t seen all the films, watch out for potential small movie spoilers throughout.
The Final Countdown
In sixth place I’m going to say Scream 3. A fairly unanimous agreement throughout Scream fans, 3 ranks last in a lot of people’s tier list. While it is still a good movie, it had some weaker elements and slightly confusing plot lines. While all the other movies have at least two Ghostfaces, Scream 3 only has one, however, I won’t say who for spoiler purposes, it was just a different plot line, and in my opinion it wasn’t as cool without the partnership between the two Ghostfaces that exists in the other movies. Another reason is, it just didn’t make sense with, (SLIGHT SPOILER), the weird dream or hallucination type sequences where Sidney, the main franchise character, sees flashbacks of her mother, almost like she’s being haunted. This was such a weird thing to me, and I really didn’t see any point in that being added to the plot.
In fifth place is going to be Scream 4. I will not deny that 4 is a really good movie, however, it just didn’t stick with me the way the other movies did. It had a good opening scene, and decent plot, but the characters just didn’t stick with me as much. I feel like one of the characters, Jill, was just attention seeking, and that was it. It just didn’t give the thrill or interest that I got from the other movies.
Fourth place is Scream 2. This movie had a lot to live up to being the first one to follow after the smash hit that was Scream 1996. There are good things about it, but I have some problems with it as well. It did a good job tying to the original, elaborating on the motives and details based around the original characters. They did a good job following one of the Scream plot lines, “never trust the love interest,” which was cool. Additionally, Ghostfaces at the end were somewhat surprising, however the actual execution and plot of the ending reveal could’ve been better.
Third is Scream 2022. Known as the reboot movie in the franchise, after around 10 years, the new movie came out with many interesting ties back to the original trilogy. In this movie you follow Billy Loomis’ illegitimate daughter, Sam Carpenter, and her sister through their own Ghostface encounters. This movie was a cool reboot because it followed a plot that was fairly similar to the original 1996 classic. I really enjoyed this movie because of the plot twists and involved in it, with ties to original characters throughout the movie, as well as making you believe characters are not as they seem, and the ending scene of the movie.
Second is Scream 6. This movie shocked me when I saw it in theaters back in March. I didn’t have super high hopes for it after finding out that Sidney Prescott, the franchise’s main character would not be in it. However, I was really happy with the overall story that was told. The overall movie was full of twists and it was so much scarier and more vivid than the other movies which I thought was really cool. The reveal had a massive plot twist which I really enjoyed.
And The Winner Is…
And in first is Scream 1996. With an all star cast consisting of actors such as Matthew Lillard, Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore and many other really good actors, this movie is considered one of the most iconic horror movies within the genre for a few reasons. With the characters making references to other iconic movies in the genre, such as Carrie, Psycho, Halloween and other movies, (SLIGHT SPOILER) carrying the quote from the end of the movie, “Movies don’t create psychos, movies make psychos more creative.” showing where the characters took influence from. This movie was such a hit when it was released because it was different from many of the horror stereotypes, while at the same time, following them in a completely unique way. Having the characters aware of the story they’re living in, unlike in most slasher stories, to quote Skeet Ulrich’s Billy Loomis, “Its all a movie. Life’s just one great big movie. Only you can’t pick your genre.”, showing their awareness and connection that they feel like they’re living a horror movie. (SPOILER) Another shocking twist that surprised people was during the opening sequence, Drew Barrymore’s character, Casey Becker, didn’t make it past the first 15 minutes. At the beginning of the movie, she looked like the stereotypical final girl, blonde, sweater wearing, slightly naïve teenager. Her character was developed at the beginning to seem like one of the most important characters, however Ghostface had other plans.
Overall, this franchise is a great one to watch this Halloween season. Thank you guys for reading, and “What’s your favorite scary movie?”
