*This post contains spoilers*
1. Scream (1996) - This is one of my favorite movies of all time!! It came out when I was 15 and is a big reason I fell in love with movies. I was always a big movie person when I was a kid, but my mom wasn't, so I didn't have someone introducing me to movies like most kids do. I had my paternal grandfather who really loved westerns and war movies, but as a young girl, I did not really enjoy those movies (I do now). But I remember going to see this with my friends in the movie theater and for one, I was terrified - I had not seen too many "scary" movies and the ones that I had seen I thought were not scary or even cheesy (the only exception is Firestarter, which gave me nightmares because I watched it too young). And two, I fell in love with how well-made this movie is. The way it references other movies made me seek out those movies! I began my film journey by watching Hitchcock and Fritz Lang movies, and the original Halloween, which led to a whole new world of movies! Don't get me wrong - I loved a lot of 90s movies - Jurassic Park, Speed, Independence Day, and Bad Boys all come to mind - but those were different. And none of those made me seek out Hitchcock. It's weird to think of now, because I would much rather watch blockbuster action films over horror, but horror is where it all began for me. I went on to take an elective film class in my senior year of high school and then I double majored in film studies & drama studies in college - all because Drew Barrymore gets violently murdered within the first 15 minutes of this movie! And I still think this is the best opening scene to a movie OF ALL TIME. It's iconic. And I love how Wes Craven pays homage to other iconic horror shots throughout the rest of the movie (like the reflection in the eyeball, the knife slashing shots, etc.). And I think a lot of people credit Scream with the whole meta film experience, but I recently watched the Nightmare on Elm Street movies (I had only seen the first one, so I watched all the rest a few years ago) and Craven's New Nightmare is excellent and extremely meta (and was released a few years before Scream). But this definitely helped drive the whole meta film device into the mainstream and became the running theme through the rest of the Scream movies. The ending goes over the top a bit, but Matthew Lillard gives it his all and I love every second of it. His dialogue and line delivery at the end makes me laugh every time ("should I let the machine get it?" LOL perfect). Plus, this one has one of my favorite horror kills of all (aside from the opening), with Rose McGowan and the garage door - still slightly afraid of garages because of this if I'm honest.
2. Scream 2 - This is where things get exciting for me because I've seen the original Scream probably 20 or so times, but this I've only seen a few times (but not since it was originally released) and the rest I've only seen once. So I'm excited to see if my memory is skewed by nostalgia (*spoiler* it was!) or if the original trilogy are *just* as good as I remember them. This sequel came out while I was still in high school (the turnaround for the first three was so quick!), and I saw it in the theater 3 or 4 times and I remember having a BLAST. Especially during the opening scene featuring Jada Pinkett Smith. The only problem is that it wasn't scary at all; instead the audience laughed their ass off (partially at how Jada dies. It's so fucking funny!). I was a big Jada fan back in the day (between this and Set it Off, she was a STAR), but now I realize she's a bad actress (and she's super weird). I know a lot of people are big fans of Timothy Olyphant now, but I was around for him back in the 90s (again with this, and then Go is one of my favorite 90s movies). There is a big success with the casting in this - some genuine 90s icons - Sarah Michelle Gellar, Heather Graham, Rebecca Gayheart, Omar Epps, AND Pacey!! And I LOVE that they got Tori Spelling to play Sidney Prescott in the movie version because she jokes about it in the first one (they also name drop David Schwimmer playing Dewey, which is funny because of the Courtney Cox connection). Plus this is the movie that both Neve and Courtney have the BEST hair - Courtney with that bob and red streaks - I longed for that hairstyle (I did the streaks, but my hair is too thick and curly for a bob). I still had so much fun with this - it's a little funnier than the first one and I think the reveal of the killer was genuinely surprising. Some of it drags a bit - like the theater scenes, and it was a big mistake killing Randy, but overall it's as good as I remember it.
3. Scream 3 - This is where things get weird - because I remember Scream 3 being a disappointment, but I don't remember it being an actively bad movie. But....it's bad. And as I pressed play, I realized that I didn't even remember who the killer was so it felt like I was watching a new movie. I genuinely didn't remember anything about it aside that a lot of it takes place on a film set and Courtney's mini bangs have been placed in the worst haircuts of all time. I was surprised that the first kill is Megan Mancini/Lily van der Woodsen!! It's always such an iconic scene in the Scream movies, it's kind of crazy that I don't even remember her being in this. I kinda hate the whole meta aspect of this because it goes a little too far with the cast interacting with the actor playing them in a movie bit (they are doing this on the current season of It's Only Murders in the Building and it's THE WORST). Parker Posey, as much as I love her, is miscast because she doesn't have the same energy at all as Gale Weathers. She is really grating in this too. They definitely lead the audience to believe it's the cop (played by Patrick Dempsey), and for a few minutes I thought it might be (especially since it's a cop in the most recent one - I thought that was maybe a reference that I missed). I think this one is bad mostly because it turns Sidney Prescott into a stupid woman - and she was never stupid! Why would she wander around on this film set BY HERSELF? Why would she go into this cop car BY HERSELF? It's just so dumb. And some of the scenes don't look good (like the house blowing up). There is one really strong scene - the double-sided mirror scene, but other than that this movie is a doozy.
4. Scre4m - I've always listed this on the bottom of my Scream ranking even thought a LOT of film buffs insist that it's great. After this rewatch, I still think it's bad, but I do think that Scream 3 is worse so it's no longer on the bottom of my ranking. But I do think that this has the worst killer reveal in the whole franchise. Not only is Emma Roberts a terrible actress, she's 5'2" and 105lbs max. There is just no way she could physically overcome all of these people with her stature and just a knife. And Rory Culkin isn't much bigger. It's just the dumbest thing ever and it makes me so angry. I also hated the opening kill scene - the uber meta repetitiveness is so annoying (although I forgot it was Kristen Bell and Anna Paquin). I also think this one has the worst cast because, in retrospect, these were supposed to be Hollywood "It girls", but they picked all the ones who didn't end up being big (Lucy Hale, Aimee Teegarden, Shenae Grimes, Britt Robertson, Hayden Panettiere - none of them made it. That sounds mean, but it's true! And I like most of these girls!). Emma Roberts has had a modicum of success, but that's just because of Ryan Murphy. I'll forgive it a little bit with Adam Brody (and how weird that both him and Bell are in this - I didn't realize that while watching their new Netflix show) and Alison Brie. I did realize with this that I got the timelines wrong - I thought this started the rebooted Scream movies, but instead this is part of the original films and then the next one starts the "new" movies, which makes sense as to who the killer is in Scream 6 matches Scream 2. I think this one is a bit nastier and the kills are very gruesome, but bad acting combined with this dumb-ass ending, does not make a good movie.
5. Scream (2022) - I remember being a little skeptical about this at first because I hated Scre4m so much. And like I said, I was definitely confused by the structure of the sequels and sort of counted the 4th one as the new batch of movies, but this one is really the reboot - and it follows the original in so many ways. And I know that everyone was upset at how it wasn't called Scream 5 (or 5cream), but I think that's because even though it is the 5th movie, it's also the first one of the new story - following Sam Carpenter and her sister. It even starts off with a mirrored first kill scene starring Jenna Ortega answering the phone and having to play Ghostface's movie trivia game. I think the next series of movies will all have the roman numeral numbers to differentiate. Anyway, back to the opening scene - first of all, I love Jenna Ortega. And I'm not just jumping on the bandwagon. I saw her in You and thought "wow, she's going to be a big star". The opening scene is SO GOOD as a throwback, but it's also the first time the victim survives!! And the becomes a main character! I mean it's a little ridiculous because she's stabbed like 100 times but still! I like the twist! I think it's obvious who one of the killers is from the beginning (especially with them referencing the original so much), but I never guessed the second one - which is the bff played by Mikey Madison. Again, I think having a petite young woman as the killer is dumb but at least she's a better actress than Emma Roberts. There's also a scene in which Ghostface is standing next to Dewey and they are the same height and stature. Ghostface can't be Jack Quaid in this scene because he's in the scene pretending to be scared of Ghostface at this point. So in theory, it's Mikey under the mask - a 5'3 petite woman standing next to a 5'10 man and they are the same height and stature. I'm sure that there are inconsistencies like this in all of them if I watched closely enough and paid attention to it (I know there is a website that theorizes who is under the Ghostface mask for each scene, which would be interesting - maybe I'll check it out the next time I watch these movies). Anyway, I like a lot about this movie - I think the "requel" aspect is done really well. I love the new characters introduced and the cast is great. Also, killing off Dewey is sad, but necessary. He was always my least favorite character of the series - not to mention, a terrible cop.
6. Scream VI - I appreciate the turnaround for this sequel - it reminded me of how quick the original Scream sequels were released. I know a lot of people disagree, but I absolutely love this entry. And I loved it even more on a rewatch, so much so that I moved it up in my ranking to second!! I think 2, 5, and 6 are all 3.5 star movies, but this one tips the scale for me mostly because it feels the most fresh - changing the location is a big part of that. And I know that a few of them don't take place in Woodsboro but the other locations are a college that could be in Woodsboro and a film set that looks like Woodsboro. This is the first one that uses a completely different location and uses it well. The bodega scene is one of the best scenes of the entire franchise (and gives Ghostface a gun!). There is also a killer subway scene. I love the opening kill scene too because Samara Weaving is one of my favorite current horror queens, so as soon as I saw her face I was thrilled that she gets to be a Scream opening kill. What an iconic moment for her. I think the only big flaw in this is that the second the roommate says "when I lost my brother" I knew immediately that she was Richie's sister and therefore, Ghostface. And that was only 25 minutes into the movie. Then when she "dies", I realized that the cop is also Ghostface because he was on the scene and probably helped fake her death - plus it has to be a cop collecting all that memorabilia that is also EVIDENCE in multiple homicides (LOL). It was the first time in the whole franchise that I *knew* who the killers were without any hesitation or reconsideration. There is a first time, third killer, but he's sort of inconsequential to the whole movie. And yet, I still think it's the one that gets the balance exactly right - a perfect mix of meta, original characters vs new, and tries something new while still keeping within the "rules" of the Scream universe. I really loved doing this marathon watch because my ranking definitely changed - and I found an appreciation for the series in new ways. It's also the first time that I noticed that "Red Right Hand" plays in all 6 movies. I remember it from the original movie, and then the two new ones, but it can be heard in all of them. That's cool! Plus, as awful as this sounds - Sidney Prescott isn't in this, and I didn't even notice. I love Neve Campbell but these movies have become bigger than her.
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