With the release of Scream VI last weekend (and its success looking already like a sequel is more than certain), it’s time again for all horror fans to re-evaluate where they rank each individual film in the franchise. Scream has always been tough for me since Scream 2 is so very near and dear to my heart. Still, let’s have a little fun and look at Scream from the least good (none of them are bad) to the best. Starting with…
Thinking of the worst Scream film is definitely a hard task. As time has gone on and the series has been given new life under Radio Silence’s hands, the faults of Scream 4 stick out more and more for me. The opening sequence, while memorable, was always a huge misstep in reintroducing the world of Scream and as a film that felt like passing the torch to a new generation of characters, it didn’t do much to make those characters likeable or stand out (aside from two, of course). It’s by no means awful, and the killer reveal saves a lot of the film in how unexpected it is, but Scream 4 now feels in a weird limbo state between a trilogy of films in the past (1,2, and 3) and what will undoubtably be a trilogy of films in the future (5, 6, and 7).
Re-appraisal of Scream 3 now seems forever tied to Harvey Weinstein. Whether or not that’s a good thing is hard to say but for awhile this was considered the absolute worst of the series and to some it still is. Yes, that Jay and Silent Bob cameo has aged about as well as milk in the sun. Still, Scream 3 is a lot of fun with an interesting new setting, a few good set pieces (the costume room sequence with the racks of Ghostfaces is a highlight) and Sydney’s arc is concluded here in a way that felt satisfying even if everything around it is a bit of a hot mess. Sure, the twist at the end connecting this new killer to the first film is laughably bad but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy a lot of this film.
The newest entry as of writing this and the first not to start Sidney “fucking” Prescott, Scream VI certainly had a lot of pressure in proving that its new set of characters can carry a more than two hour film by itself. And proved it it certainly did. “The core four,” as the new film dubs the survivors of the preceding entry are incredibly charismatic and the chemistry between them all certainly elevates Scream VI. It’s a film that remembers and executes perfectly the simple formula that what makes Scream as compelling a franchise as it is is the characters themselves. Sadly, Scream VI has the reverse problem of Scream 4 where a really exciting and suspenseful story is undercut by an incredibly lacklustre killer reveal. As soon as the masks come off, I’d be surprised if anyone had a reaction other than “oh” and little else. Still a very enjoyable ride though.
Scream (5cream) was a risk from the very start being the first film to be done without Wes Craven’s or Kevin Williamson’s involvement. A new set of characters with a new crew behind the camera, so much could’ve gone wrong and yet Scream works incredibly well. Cleverly incorporating elements of the original and being a commentary on “requels,” and film fan culture, Radio Silence proved more than capable of carrying the franchise forward into a new decade. From an objective standpoint, Scream is probably the strongest film structurally since the original but a few creative choices definitely felt out of place (despite similar elements being part of the original trilogy as well). Still, upon rewatching this recently in anticipation of the newest film, I was impressed by just how much Scream is able to compete with its classic source material.
If I were ranking this on personal feelings alone, this would be number one. The horror film that made me a horror fan, Scream 2 is exciting, intense, tragic, funny, and to a little kid like me, scary. Presenting a stronger central character in Sydney and capturing the spirit of the original survivors which made many of us fall in love with them, Scream 2 definitely added a lot to the original while commenting on tropes of horror sequels (a connection between the best Scream films is that the meta-commentary always works best in the stronger entries rather than feel contrived or nonsensical). The set pieces are the strongest here, the characters are the best aside from the original, and that killer reveal is a personal favourite of mine. It’s hard to state just how much I love Scream 2.
When you think maybe Scream (1996) isn’t the best of the series, that opening sequence reminds you exactly why it captured audiences so long ago. The meta-referential dialogue feels natural, the humour is clever, and most importantly: it’s scary. It’s the only entry to actually be scary rather than suspenseful or action-packed. The cold open is one of the best bits of screenwriting that has been put to film, almost Hitchcockian in its turns, and almost every scene that follows feels iconic all these years later (helped probably by Scary Movie in many ways). At a time when the slasher genre was truly marked as dead, Scream gave it new life and still is one of the most iconic killers of horror.
Chronicler of the Dark 