Let me start this list by saying that I am of the opinion that there are no bad movies in the Scream franchise. Wes Craven poured his brilliant mind and heart into every installment until his death in 2015.
It wasn't until the modern horror legends behind Radio Silent, Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin brought the franchise back in 2022, and immediately followed it with the franchise's record-breaking hit, Scream 6 in 2023.
Now with Scream 7 being on everybody's mind with recent casting announcements, I figured now is the time to look back at one of the my all-time favorite horror franchises and rank it from its weaker links to the best of the best.
Spoiler warning: I will be going into heavy spoiler material for each of the Scream movies, including who the killer in each film is as well as some of the characters deaths. You have been warned.
6. Scream 3 (2000)
I know some people may be shocked to find this one at the bottom of the list. A Scream movie set in Hollywood with slasher sequences set on a horror movie set? That's as meta as this franchise can get. While there are a number of things I applaud Scream 3 for, it ultimately overstuffs itself with the meta aspect and chokes on its ambitions in the process.
Aside from the main character trio of Sidney, Gale and Dewey there's hardly any interesting characters, which in turn diminishes the kills. The film also attempts to up to the paranoia factor for what was thought to be the final film by giving Ghostface a voice changer, allowing him to mimic the voice of anyone in the main cast.
While this is a cool concept, it ultimately fell flat for me, and not to be overly critical but did this type of technology even exist at a consumer level back in 2000? Doubtful. I will give Scream 3 it's credit for having the franchises only one man Ghostface operation with Roman Bridger, Sidney's half brother turned horror film director being the man behind the mask.
5. Scream 2 (1997)
"Why would they try to make a sequel? Sequels suck!" as much as I love Randy, I'll have to disagree with him there. Scream 2 immediately follows its predecessor with a release date of just one year after the original. Though once the film gets through its admittedly fantastic opening sequence, there's nothing too memorable about Scream 2.
While it doesn't commit any sins and does an alright job with its slasher fanfare, it also isn't anything to write home about, aside from the killing off the fan-favorite Randy Meeks and that well-executed stage sequence. The film is just as meta as the original, except instead of ribbing classic slasher films of the 1970s and the 1980s, Scream 2 got topical with commentary on the rise of true crime culture and America's love of juicy televised trials.
4. Scream (2022)
The Radio Silence team behind genre darlings such as VHS, Ready or Not, and more recently, Abigail, brought the franchise back from its decade-long hiatus. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett kept the franchise's iconic meta commentaries relevant with riffs on the studio's newfound love for reboot-sequel hybrids (appropriately titled "requels" in the film).
The film even parodies this trend in the films name just being Scream, an obvious nod to how Halloween and Candyman both had "requels" that recycled the names of their original counterparts. Radio Silence's topical slasher subversions and strong sense of bloodshed aided them in reviving Scream in the best way possible. The film gets even more topical with the film's killers being two obsessed fans of the in-universe Stab films.
Overall, 2022's Scream is one of the franchises most solid entries, in both its commentaries on the state of modern horror and its appropriate about of bloodshed with its only drawback being some less than fleshed out characters.
3. Scream 6 (2023)
Immediately following the success of 2022s reboot, Scream VI brought back director duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett for another stab at the franchise. The premise on this one was shaky for many longtime fans of the franchise as it was the first Scream film without Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, the franchise's iconic final girl since the original. This turned out not to be a detriment, however, as the film became the highest-grossing entry in the franchise, scaring up $169 million worldwide.
Scream 6 brought the characters of the 2022 film (what was left of them anyway) to New York City, where Ghostface started a new reign of terror taking a slice through the Big Apple. This film heightened what character work it was previously lacking in the previous installment, making its ensemble cast feel more fleshed out beyond the two leads. The film is also a franchise first with not two, but three killers revealing themselves in the films third act and had one of the most violent and ruthless Ghostface's to take on the mantle, with characters meeting their end from getting stabbed in the subway to meeting the business end of a shotgun.
Scream 6 defied the odds and brought forth one of the most entertaining and fun entries in the long running franchise, it's only obstacle it fails to overcome is its main characters having an absurd amount of plot armor, with some of them taking back to back hits by Ghostface's blade only to be back up and walking in the next scene. I tend to have a huge suspension of disbelief, especially for slasher films... but there is a limit.
2. Scream 4 (2011)
Wes Craven's final entry in the franchise, and for 10 years it was THE final entry in the franchise, Scream 4 brought things full circle. Craven set out to tear into the early-mid 2000s trend of remaking classic slasher films, and in classic Scream fashion he did so while still outdoing the very things he was making fun of.
Scream 4 moves to a very similar beat of the original Scream, only now fitted for the modern audience. Instead of hearing about the opening kill from pesky reporters and high school bathroom gossip, the news is broadcasted all over social media, with Ghostface even recording each of his murders via webcam and cellphones.
The film also includes my personal favorite killer duo, Jill Roberts and Charlie Walker serving as the films "modern" approach to Sidney and Randy. Emma Roberts performance as Jill Roberts, the cousin of Sidney Prescott is one of my all time favorites in the franchise, and much like Scream 6, Team Ghostface is out for blood in the most violent ways possible. Scream 4 also features my second favorite openings to the franchise with a back to back rug-pull of Stab movie openings before placing us in the actual film.
1. Scream (1996)
The one that started it all, I know it's considered cliché and safe to have the original at number one but it really is one of the best and most important slasher films ever made in my opinion. Wes Craven, hot off directing New Nightmare in 1994, was hungry to do more meta horror. Scream accomplished the monumental task of parodying slasher movies while simultaneously being one of the best ones in the sub-genre, a tightrope walk between playing into the most predictable clichés while still giving the audience a thrilling subversion.
Wes pays homage to the classics that came before him with the killer challenging his victims with horror movie trivia and paying respect to his most iconic creation Freddy Krueger in a fun wink to the audience. The film gave us Neve Campbell as a new final girl icon, Matthew Lillard as a lovably psychotic serial killer and Jamie Kennedy as a nerdy but endearing cinephile. It also features my favorite opening to any horror film ever made, Drew Barrymore—who was marketed as the films lead—being tormented and torn apart by the Ghostface killers, a message to the audience to take everything you expect and throw it away.
Overall, Scream was the lightning bolt that breathed new life into the slasher genre, it paid homage to its past while slashing forward into a new era for masked psychos all while playfully ribbing the iconic, albeit played out, clichés that audiences had come to expect from their chilling thrillers.