The Scream Movies Ranked (Updated)
Note: This post was originally published in 2022 when there were only five Scream films. It has now been updated to include all seven current installments.
Scream is one of the most popular and best-known slasher franchises. Currently clocking in at seven installments, the series is still relatively brief compared to heavyweights like Friday the 13th and Halloween. But Scream is more consistent in terms of quality and tone than either of those franchises. Here are all the Scream movies ranked.
Scream originated as a script by Kevin Williamson. His characters watch horror movies and are aware of the clichés of the genre. Scream wasn’t the first attempt at a postmodern take on horror. Director Wes Craven had tried a similar interpretation in Wes Craven’s New Nightmare in 1994, but that movie quickly fizzled at the box office.
Scream became an enormous hit, sparking a horror genre revival.
A different kind of horror franchise
Scream is unique among horror series for a couple of reasons. It doesn’t have a consistent recurring villain like Jason or Michael Myers. Instead, Scream features numerous killers who all adopt the infamous “Ghostface” persona. Many of the movies are set in Woodsboro, a fictional town in northern California.
There is also nothing supernatural in the series. All of the killers are flesh and blood human beings. Each movie except Scream 3 has multiple killers working together.
Scream’s main character, Sydney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell), became a famous final girl. Horror movie buff Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) became a fan favorite, as well as bumbling cop Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and controversial news reporter Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox).
The recent installments have introduced Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera), the daughter of original killer Billy Loomis, her younger half-sister Tara (Jenna Ortega), and Sydney’s teenage daughter Tatum (Isabel May).
The Scream Movies in order
Unlike many horror franchises, Scream does not have any installments that ignore their predecessors or branch off into alternate timelines. It’s a straightforward series with clear continuity all the way through, an impressive feat for a franchise with this many films.
- Scream (1996)
- Scream 2 (1997)
- Scream 3 (2000)
- Scream 4 (2011)
- Scream (2022)
- Scream VI (2023)
- Scream 7 (2026)
Here are my rankings of all seven Scream movies. Spoiler warning if you have not watched the entire series.
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7. Scream 3 (2000)
Scream 3 is a colossal disappointment. A dumb twist ending, where the events of the first three movies are revealed to have been orchestrated by Sydney’s secret half-brother, ended the original Scream trilogy with a thud.
Scream 3′s Hollywood setting seemed like a promising idea for a postmodern horror film, but the script isn’t smart enough to satirize the film industry with any depth or intelligence. The weird scenes of Sydney seemingly being haunted by her mother’s spirit feel out of place.
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6. Scream 7 (2026)
Scream 7 has a strong opener and some good performances, but the thrill is gone. The killers’ motivations are lame and there’s too much nostalgia for the previous movies.
I like the opening sequence, which involves an ill-fated couple visiting the infamous Macher house, but otherwise this movie offers little novelty. Still, the series remains enormously popular. Scream 7 had the highest opening weekend gross of the entire franchise.
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This movie is currently in theaters. It is not yet available to stream.
5. Scream 4 (2011)
A decade after Scream 3, the series was revived with this installment, which saw a new generation of teenagers being stalked by Ghostface. Sydney returns to Woodsboro to try to save her cousin Jill and her friends.
This movie has a fun twist ending that is infinitely more clever than the twist in Scream 3. Jill, who has been set up as a young replacement for Sidney, is revealed to be the mastermind behind the killings.
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4. Scream (2022)
The series was revived yet again in 2022. Taking a cue from Halloween ’18 and Candyman’ 21, this sequel, or “requel”, adopts the same name as the original movie while being both a follow up and a loose reimagining of the original film. Halloween and Candyman ignored the previous sequels, but Scream ’22 acknowledges the events of all the previous films.
Two estranged sisters are brought together when Ghostface returns to Woodsboro and begins another killing spree. This film has the guts to kill off some of the returning characters from previous installments, which had been avoided in the prior sequels.
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3. Scream VI (2023)
Ghostface targets the Carpenter sisters again in this direct sequel to 2022’s Scream. Tara and Sam are now living in New York City. A new string of Ghostface killings begin, forcing them to confront the trauma that they had tried to leave behind.
Scream VI is brutally violent and filled with plot twists. It’s more original than its immediate predecessor, while still remaining faithful to many conventions of the series.
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2. Scream 2 (1997)
The first sequel was released less than a year after the original. The teenage survivors of the original bloodbath are now attending Windsor College. Unfortunately for them, Ghostface returns to wreak more carnage.
After a movie theater bloodbath, the masked killer prowls around campus looking for Sidney and her friends. Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson returned as director and writer, respectively, and were able to recapture the original’s mix of humor and scares.
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1. Scream (1996)
It’s hard to imagine that any Scream movie will ever surpass the original. From the shocking opening scene to the clever twist ending, it revived the horror genre and changed it forever.
Scream used reverse psychology that took advantage of audience expectations for slasher movies. It was marketed as a starring vehicle for Drew Barrymore, but her character is killed off in the famous opening sequence.
The original Ghostfaces, Billy and Stu, seem like the most likely killers from the beginning. Viewers are predisposed to think that they are red herrings, only have their expectations upended by the revelation that they are, indeed, responsible. Every stale cliché that led to the slasher genre’s downfall in the late ’80s and early ’90s is spoofed and deconstructed.
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