Scream is arguably horror’s most consistent film franchise. The latest installment is good fun, as long as you don’t expect to be surprised.
My ranking of the Scream films, from worst to best:
#6: Scream 3 – It’s been a while, but I know I have seen this one multiple times and it is still the least memorable to me. Before we realized they were going to keep making these movies forever, it felt like the final wheezing gasp of a film series that never really needed any sequels to begin with. It’s basically the middle part of the Simpsons rake gag where you are annoyed at how long its going, before that length loops back around and makes it funny again.
#5: Scream 5 – Technically (and confusingly) just titled Scream. It was ok, but I watched it and didn’t feel the need to review it for this blog, so clearly not anything special. Disliked the reveal of the killer(s) maybe the most out of the franchise.
#4: Scream 2 – Probably the silliest one, and the biggest drop in quality from the preceding movie, but its still Wes Craven and Neve Campbell and the gang, and I watched this a ton back in the day.
#3: Scream VI – I guess they switched to Roman numerals because they could squeeze the VI into the M in Scream. They couldn’t have figured that out a movie sooner? V works too. Anyway, see below for my thoughts on this one.
#2: Scream 4 – Oh yeah, IV works as well. They really dropped the ball on the numbering convention, didn’t they? I had fun with this movie, although my review was perhaps a little harsher than it could have been because I was still working under the assumption that there doesn’t need to be so many of these movies. I’ve since come to accept them as an inevitability. Do not resist. Submit to the sequels.
It is a rarity when the sixth entry into a horror franchise is this well constructed and slickly produced. The gap in quality between the best and worst Scream movies is negligible compared to the massive gulf in something like the Nightmare on Elm Street series. As long as it’s bankable, they will find capable directors and noteworthy actors and rinse and repeat in perpetuity, and I’ll keep watching the damn things because of that floor of general competence. It is truly remarkable, though, how stubbornly these movies hew to the same formula. Even in comparison to Friday the 13th, a film franchise that is basically the standard-bearer for formulaic slasher flicks, Scream has shown far less willingness to tamper with its plot structure or tone. Scream VI is no different. The elements that make these movies tick are quite specific:
The opening scene will be the best scene in the movie, and most likely feature an interesting cameo for its victim. Obviously established, and perfected, in the first movie with Drew Barrymore and “Do you like scary movies?”, etc. VI is particularly strong in this area, with Samara Weaving and an extended sequence where we follow Ghostface after he unmasks(!) and continues his night. I won’t spoil any more, because it’s really good, but as per usual, the movie never hits the same heights again.
The final girl is a little prickly and caustic. I actually love that about this franchise, because it always reads as the result of the trauma inflicted on them by the various Ghostfaces and how they have had to erect this outer shell to shield themselves from the fact that anyone they meet has about a 19.7% chance of being a serial killer. Nancy Thompson is my favorite final girl of all time, but she really has no right to be as sweet as she is after all the dream-stalking and butchering of her friends.
Petite teenage girls will survive massive body trauma that barely leaves a hitch in their step. To be fair, this is as much a trope of the entire genre as it is this particular film franchise, but you would think that there is a strong magnetic repulsion between these people’s internal organs and any kind of sharp metal implement.
A character who is a horror fan will make some meta commentary on the genre that will make me roll my eyes. In this one it is the rules of the franchise.
Some legacy character from Woodsboro will finally die. They are still saving the big one though, so you can expect a part seven for sure.
The reveal of the killer(s) at the end will involve some complex familial connection that is tied to the ever-growing cannon of the Scream saga and involve the revelation of impossible to guess motivations by the characters involved. These are not mysteries meant to be solved by the viewer, just big “didn’t see that coming” moments to wow the audience at the end.
I could go on (how about the in-universe mythologizing of Ghostface that has made him a folk hero to a subset of wackos; the creepy victim-shaming of anyone who survives a previous film; the continual character reset and redemption arc played out by Courtney Cox’s Gale Weathers across each movie), but you get the idea. At this point, you don’t need me to tell you what to expect from this franchise, because your expectations should never change. Each time a movie wraps up with the killer(s) exposed and removed from the field of play, another one (or two or five) waits in the wings for their turn in the spotlight. Ghostface is dead. Long live Ghostface.
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