ranking the scream franchise...

As someone who grew up watching Scream and loving the films, I have a lot to say about them as an adult who has rewatched them all recently…about 1000 times. Is this a rant more than a ranking…Yes.

And to all of the fans of the Scream Franchise…It is okay to have an opinion even if it’s different than the fandom’s. Y’all may hate my ranking…But that’s okay. Hear me out first before you tussle.

Scream (1996)

It’s thee OG!!! It was the one that started it all, and broke all of the slasher tropes and made fun of it!! Yes, Sidney lost her virginity but she still beat Billy and Stu’s asses!!! Also, as someone who experienced so much trauma, she never got to process her grieves due to all the people who were trying to either kill her or profit off of her (I’m looking at you Gale and Cotton in the next 2 movies)

Scream 3 (2000)

I know what you’re going to say…but hear me out!!! As someone who watched this film a lot as a kid, I found it hilarious that Roman is the only killer in this movie. Even though the way the kills played out felt like there were multiple people involved (which originally did happen), while doing my own research…as in watching 2 hours of behind-the-scenes content from my scream dvd boxset, going through dozens of articles, and reddit threads…I found out that there was supposed to be a second killer. Angelina, who played Sydney in Stab 3, was supposed to be a former classmate of Sydney’s and was Roman’s secret girlfriend.

But that isn’t the end of lore; originally, Scream 3 was written by Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first 2 films, and the fourth before Ehren Kruger and Wes Craven took over as co-writers. In the original drafts of the third film, Stu Macher’s death was supposed to be ret-conned, and he was supposed to “be running high-school killers from jail…kind of masterminding this attack against Sidney.” According to Matthew Lillard. But with Columbine happening in ‘99, that idea was scrapped, as well as the overuse of violence in the film. That’s one of the reasons why it’s not a fan favorite, but I personally enjoyed the film for its comedic timing and how life imitated art, with all the script rewrites (which actually happened with the production of Scream 2 and 3, ironically), and how it played into who was gonna be next on the kill spree, they kinda ate. I would’ve loved the original plot of Roman’s girlfriend being the second killer because that made sense overall. But one thing that didn’t make sense was how Billy’s mother got involved in Roman’s antics…like it made sense why she would’ve come back to get revenge, but why wasn’t that explained more?

So why am I ranking it #2? Mainly because of the original drafts, and it’s an underdog in the franchise that didn’t have to use tons of violence and blood to prove its point. As a horror fan, I love the suspense and plot building more than the kills. I love how we learned more about Sidney’s mother, Maureen, and how everything came full circle. Plus, I love that there was a Randy cameo!!!

Scream 2 (1997)

First off, Randy died!!!! He fucking died!!! Also, the first 2 kills were the 2/4 Black characters!!! That’s why this film is getting ranked #3!!! As someone who dislikes Gale Weathers and sees no purpose for her continuing to- I’m going to shut up. One thing I loved about this movie was the fact that they did a nod to Mrs Voorhees, by bringing Billy’s mother, Mrs Loomis into the plot. It was more creative than making Sidney’s boyfriend and her roommate the killers (Kevin Williamson…I’m so glad the studio made you rewrite this.) It was a great sequel to the first…But did Randy Meeks have to die? No.

Scream 4 (2011)

I don’t like Emma Roberts but she made a wonderful killer alongside Rory Culkin. I hate the fact that this franchise proofs once again how Sidney has no one (besides Dewey…and Gale) on her side. Even her own cousin was trying to take her out…No blood is not thicker than water (Imma need people to stop misusing this quote.) Family ain’t shit.

I haven’t rewatched this film often because it screams (ha) 2010s ABC family teen drama with violence. Argue with your momma.

But I think Wes Craven (and Kevin Williamson) did a good job with this film for the time period.

Scream (2022) aka 5CREAM

I feel like these were remakes of the first 2 films with a twist…A requel is what it is consider.

I like Scream 5 better than scream 6 primarily due to us finding out that Billy has a daughter, Samantha Carpenter, who is conflicted with her deceased Serial Killer father and is seeing his ghost??? Also, her boyfriend is an obsessed horror fan who just wanted to create a tragedy so the Stab writers could create better film alongside Samantha’s sister, Tara’s so-called best friend Amber who is his real girlfriend??? And why did y’all have to kill off Dewey??? What was the point…This has Kevin Williamson written all over it because in the original drafts of the first film…Dewey was supposed to die but this franchise would’ve been completely different if they did kill him off in the original. Fuck you Kevin… Although, I love I know what you did last summer and the Faculty….Fuck you.

Scream 6 (2023)

Y’all literally replicated what Scream 2 did, but made it more violent and added 3 killers in the mix. From Tara hitting Gale similar to how Sidney did in the sequel, to the previous movie’s killer’s family going after the protagonist. This is the only movie Sidney Prescott isn’t featured in, but I understand why. When you’re trying to continue a franchise and make it adaptable for a new generation, a 50-year-old cannot keep being the final girl in 5-6 movies—which is another conversation for another day.

The only thing I’m excited about going forward in this franchise is that Stu is possibly coming back in the 7th installment…Wonder how they’re going to bring him back into the mix. But also, I’m sad that the 6th film is the conclusion of the Carpenter sisters, where the fuck is their mother??? She was nowhere to be seen but continuously discussed. I would’ve loved to see more of the Carpenter family dynamic in another Scream film. Justice for Melissa Barrera <3

One thing I am worried about is that, with Sidney coming back into the franchise, they might kill her off. There aren’t many legacy characters from this franchise left besides Sidney, Gale, and Kirby. So who knows what’s going to happen.