Happy Birthday Wes Craven! To appropriately honor the horror film legend's day of birth, I decided to view then rank the four Scream films. Being that this is his beloved movie franchise, it only felt right! So turn off your phone, turn on the lights, and lock your door. This may get creepy.
#1. Scream (Film 1): A year after the passing of her mother, Sidney Prescott's life changes forever. A killer goes around her town murdering her friends trying to eventually get to her. She doesn't know why she's the target and she really cannot trust anybody. Craven's 1996 release Scream is one of the best horror/thriller films ever created. From the opening scene with Drew Barrymore to the epic reveal at the end, this movie keeps you on your toes. This isn't your typical slasher film. It's way beyond that. Scream was a clever way to comment on the lackluster product that horror had become. Although indeed a slasher mystery film, Scream also made fun of stereotypical horror cliches and took its own approach. The characters were great in this film. Neve Campbell was a great lead as Sidney Prescott. Her performance as a grieving daughter who is just trying to move on was excellent. I give her tons of credit for this franchise moving forward. She was an excellent protagonist. David Arquette and Jamie Kennedy both offer great comedic scenes in this as well. Jamie Kennedy's role as Randy is one of my favorite's in all of horror. His rules to surviving a horror film were hilarious and accurate. You could tell this was director Wes Craven outright commenting on how horror has become outright unoriginal. So naturally, he made a very original horror film. The plot to this film is the by far the best of the four because nothing like it had ever been done. You emotionally invest yourself into this fantastic mystery and jump out of your seat when the Ghostface killer pops up. Scream also has the best plot twist in the entire franchise. You won't see it coming and it's really brilliant. This is by far the best film in the franchise.
#2. Scream 4 (Film 4): Years have passed since we've last seen Sidney Prescott. Sidney is now an author and returns to Woodsboro to promote her new book. Yet, the night before her arrival, two teenage girls are brutally murdered. This relaunches the terror Sidney thought was over and she delves into this giant mystery. Over a decade after the release of the original Scream, Craven returned to the franchise with Scream 4. This was the best slasher film since the original. Although it retained some comedic elements that the franchise always presented, this was a pretty dark and gritty scary film. I'd argue it was almost scarier than the original. Craven proved that horror sequels don't have to be bad. This movie also commented on the decaying genre of horror and also targeted the idea of victims being famous. Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox all returned for this fourth and perhaps, final installment. Emma Roberts did a fantastic job in this film playing Sidney's niece, Jill Roberts. I also loved Hayden Panettiere's character Kirby. She paid direct homage to Jamie Kennedy's performance as Randy. Except, she was a hot blonde who knew a whole lot about horror films. Scream 4 really just goes back to the original and there's nothing wrong with that. I'd rather a franchise revisit prior films than pump out garbage sequels. This film will make you jump and you will have a lot of fun with it. It's a well thought out plot with a huge body count. Lots of characters get killed in this one. My only real complaint is the ending. The killer is revealed and that whole sequence drags out for about fifteen minutes. It gets pretty annoying especially when the big twist has already happened. Besides that, Scream 4 is a very enjoyable slasher film.
#3. Scream 2 (Film 2): This film takes place two years after the Woodsboro murders. Both Sidney and Randy now attend Windsor college and are trying to escape the past. Yet, the events of the Woodsboro murders get turned into a film franchise called Stab. With the release of the first film, a copy cat Ghostface killer arrives and further terrorizes Sidney Prescott's life. I really enjoy Scream 2. The only reason it's not ranked over Scream 4 is because I felt the fourth installment was just a better slasher film. This is more of a mystery, like the original. Scream 2 is very self-aware of itself. There's a scene where Jamie Kennedy's character Randy is talking about how sequels are usually horrible. I find that hilarious because Scream 2 was the exact opposite. Craven yet again disproved another Hollywood cliché. He proved sequels can be good. Although slightly less gruesome, Scream 2 follows Randy's rules. There's a higher body count and the killer has become way more creative. I really enjoyed this cast the most out of all the films. Jerry O'Connell was really good in this and was great at creating suspicion through his portrayal of Derek. I also loved Duane Martin who played Gale's cameraman Joel. He had me laughing out loud in this. The returning cast was surprisingly better than before. I didn't personally love Courteney Cox in the original film. Yet, as her character Gale started showing a more emotional and human side, I started to really dig the her performance. I also loved David Arquette in this. Seeing his performance as Dewey grow was a lot of fun. Jamie Kennedy was hilarious as usual and super enjoyable. If you enjoy the original Scream, you will certainly like Scream 2. It is in no way a bad film. It was just more of mystery and the violent nature of the original seemingly died down a lot. This film is super witty and fun. Yet, it suffers the ill fated disease of being a sequel. No matter what, you will compare this film to the original. And it just didn't feel the same.
#4. Scream 3 (Film 3): Sidney, yet again, finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery. People involved with the upcoming film, Stab 3, are being murdered. Naturally, Sidney comes out of hiding to solve this once and for all. I really didn't enjoy this movie at all. And I don't blame anybody for it. Around the time this movie came out, the tragedy of the Columbine shootings took place. Naturally, media blamed television, movies, and music for influencing teens. So instead of a classic gruesome thriller, we got the very thing the Scream franchise made fun of. We got a lackluster, unoriginal, not scary, "horror" film. Scream 3 was very dumbed down and the humor is more pertinent than the horror. This film used the previous two films as crutch and was so unoriginal. This film is very skippable. You don't need to see this film to watch Scream 4. The issue with this film is that is just focused on ending the series. The whole plot built up to this really cheesy ending that was super predictable. The twist with the killer was really stupid and just lazy. Do not see this film. You will not enjoy it.
Being that Craven is also an executive producer on the Scream television series, I thought I'd give my quick thoughts. Although the acting is average, I really enjoy this television show. I think it's a fresh, new take on what Craven started in 1996. I've seen every episode and have been very entertained. I highly recommend checking it out. It's a very fun time.
So there you have it! My ranking of the Scream film franchise. I don't know where this franchise will go. Since the television show is doing very well, I don't know if another film will be made. Yet, at least we have three great films that we can always go back and watch! Leave your thoughts in the comments below and tell me what you thought of the Scream franchise.
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