Scream Franchise Ranked, All Six Films (But Not The Show)

Scream is a franchise with such a unique place in horror, the rare modern series that, for better or worse, kept the same creative voices together to shine a light on the genre while pushing it forward in new ways. Slashers were dead when this film came along, and since it debuted in 1996, the world has embraced the slasher and what that film can represent. Hell, it even resurrected a few of them from the depths of development hell and reinvigorated them. While they may have copied it, nothing could compare to that first Scream film. So, with Scream VI out in theaters this weekend, what better time than to rank the franchise? One caveat, the show will not be included here. I didn’t like it at all, and it is not really canon.

Scream 3 Is the Worst…

Starting us off the worst Scream film. I know that many have tried to go back and say that the middle part of this franchise is retroactively pretty good, but I am sorry, part 3 is just bad. I will say that with all of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans as far as the script is concerned, the fact that the story had any kind of coherence is a miracle. But aside from Parker Posey playing the fictional Gail Weathers in universe and how brilliant she is, the main cast seems on autopilot; the needless backstory to justify the Ghostface reveal is bad. Nad yeah, Roman being Ghostface is not a great twist. It was not only obvious but the only option considering all of the weird story choices they went with—a mess, and nothing more.

Then Part 2…

Scream 2 is also kind of a mess; we can blame the quick turnaround for this one. The first film was such a massive hit in 1996; nothing would have been lost if they had just taken their time and released the next one in 1998. No, instead, they did it in less than a year. Not that there are not a few bright spots: Liev Schreiber’s Cotton saw his role expanded, and he does great, and I am a fan of Jerry O’Connell in this one, and he is done dirty. Anyone subjected to that singing scene in the cafeteria should get to survive—poor guy. As far as Ghostface… ehh. The reveal is the last of the weaker ones. All for Laurie Metcalf’s reveal, but the Timothy Olyphant reveal feels tacked on. A great opening kill, though, I love the theater scene.

2022’s Scream Was Okay…

The 2022 retooling is a mixed bag for me. I liked more of it than I didn’t, but this time out, it felt like the new creative team of Radio Silence, taking over for the late Wes Craven, had trouble finding their footing with the material. They have a great young cast that almost saved it, but they aren’t given any time to let us catch feelings for them. More on that later. This one does have some of the best kills, though, and I love the Ghostface reveal here because someone is eventually going to take their toxic fandom this far. Plus, I will always be salty that Dewey died.

Part 4 Has Aged Better…

To me, Scream 4 was a waste of time the first time I saw it. I wasn’t excited, and after part 3, I thought that they should just leave it alone. But over the years, I have come to enjoy this one more than any other sequel in the series (until this week). This is the most insane Ghostface reveal, and Emma Roberts is superb for the last 20 minutes of the film. I am also Team Kirby, and Hayden Panettiere is also great here. I still think that this is where they should have said goodbye to Gail and Sydney from the series, but I understand why they included them in the newer films as well. The third-best opening kill as well, great fake out! This will make for a great middle film once Scream 7 comes out in the future.

And Part 6 Almost Beats The Original…

The newest film, Scream VI, is where the quality line starts. This is such a great film, and for reasons that I will not get into here (no spoilers yet!), one of the cooler Ghostface reveals in the franchise. It also has my favorite opening, even beating the original’s Casey Becker scene. Really though, Radio Silence steps their game up in every way with this film, giving us the character development lacking in the 2022 film. I care deeply for these characters now; no harm should come to them. Lots of great, tense horror action coupled with awesome gore, and you get a film that rivals the original.

You Can’t Beat That One Though

But nothing will top that masterpiece. Scream is the single most important horror film of the last thirty years, which is why horror is where it is today. I can’t say anything new here that others haven’t already, so I will say that, combined with this new film, I finally get why this franchise is so special and not just a one-movie franchise that coasts by on its perfect first act.

Agree with the list? Of course, you don’t, so let us know why down below.