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My Ranking Of The Scream Movies

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The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bradley U chapter.

My favorite movie might not be from the “Scream” franchise, but they certainly put up a good fight. These movies are full of slashing, scares and fun; it’s no wonder these movies are so popular. Now, if you haven’t seen all the movies yet, be warned, this list is full of spoilers.

6.) “Scream” (2022)

Now one thing you should know about me is Dewey and Gale are my favorite characters in the entire franchise. So, when this movie killed one-half of my favorite duo, it hurt me on a very emotional level. Not to mention they killed Dewey in the lamest, most boring way possible. I hated a lot of things about this movie; the first one being the dialogue. The dialogue in this movie felt so cheesy and poorly acted out. It really pulled me out of the movie a lot. I also hated that they added Billy’s ghost as a character in these newer movies because it’s just so cringey. The whole “killer’s daughter” plot could have been done a lot better in my opinion and โ€” at the end of the day โ€” is just wasted potential.

5.) “Scream VI” (2023)

There’s just something about modern “Scream” movies that I just can’t get behind. While “Scream VI” is an improvement from “Scream” (2022), it still has its flaws. The first flaw is that they tried to kill my girl Gale Weathers. I truly believe there would be no “Scream” franchise without Gale Weathers; therefore, trying to kill her makes no sense. I don’t care how much plot armor they give her, I cannot see Gale die โ€” it would hurt too much. Anyways, something that really surprised me in this movie is the amount of gore it had. I feel like while the “Scream” movies are slashers, you never really see a lot of active slashing. This made scenes like Anika’s death really shocking to me. I honestly don’t think adding more gore to the “Scream” franchise is a bad thing, though, it’s just interesting to see.

4.) “Scream 2”

I really enjoyed all the misdirections of this movie, but besides that, it’s just alright in my opinion. I obviously loved Dewey and Gale in this one, but even they couldn’t save it from how mediocre it was. According to other rankings online, this is a bad take I just think this one is a little boring. That doesn’t mean there aren’t good parts of this movie โ€” I do like a few parts. However, a majority of it felt like it needed improvements โ€” especially with the characters. They all just felt so flat and underdeveloped. For instance, Mickey just kind of vanishes halfway through the movie until the final reveal. Overall, this movie just wasn’t my thing.

3.) “Scream 4”

I would like to start this by saying Jill is the human equivalent to the word “girl boss.” She absolutely killed it as Ghostface โ€” physically and metaphorically. The entire vibe of this movie was just unbeatable, and the characters are absolutely iconic. Also, the cast in this movie โ€” it’s unbeatable. Not only does it have Emma Roberts, the scream queen herself, in this movie but also Erik Knudsen from “Saw II” (2005). Not to mention Adam Brody, Rory Culkin, Lucy Hale, and so many more iconic names. I did enjoy a lot of this movie, but something that bugs me is one of the characters says Ghostface is trying to make a movie. This is such a dumb thing to say because in “Scream 3” Ghostface was literally making a “Stab” movie while killing people. Another thing I love about “Scream 4” is how this movie was full of such iconic scenes โ€” especially the scene where Jill was throwing herself to make it look like she got attacked. That scene was so unintentionally hilarious, and it had me dying of laughter the first time I saw it. Not to mention how just a few moments later, she is in the hospital attacking Dewey with a bedpan. These two scenes definitely made the movie’s ending iconic and for all the right reasons. I feel like the biggest mistake the “Scream” franchise made with this movie was killing Jill because according to Screen Rant, the original script had Jill survive and made the ending a cliffhanger. This would have made for a killer “Scream 5,” but I digress.

2.) “Scream 3”

For starters, I would like to thank Gale Weathers for slaying extra hard in this movie โ€” even though she’s fictional. Baby bangs are hard to pull off, and I want to praise her for trying. I won’t lie, I love horror movies that take place on a film set, and this is no different. This movie also introduces my favorite side-character, Jennifer, who stole the show … until she died. “Scream 3” gets a lot of hate, and I got clowned-on by my friends for liking it so much. Nonetheless, I find this movie to be the perfect balance of camp and fun.

1.) “Scream” (1996)

Since I watched “Scream” a few years back, I always find myself rewatching it every time fall rolls around. Everything about this movie is just so iconic and is referenced time and time again โ€” for good reason. This movie has the best plot, the best characters, the best everything. Also, Randy in this movie is just so me. “Scream” is a movie that truly didn’t need a sequel, let alone a franchise. However, all things considered, I’m so grateful these movies were made because they are just so good.

junior โ€“ 21 โ€“ psychology major - criminology minor โ€“ movie enjoyer