Somewhat recently, I slow binged the Scream film series again. It was the first time that I had watched them all close enough to each other that I could truly judge it as a series. It prompted me to make this blog post. I wanted to briefly give my thoughts on each film and rank them by my personal preference. I’ll also be talking about the tv series. So join me as I discuss all things Ghostface!
So how do I rank them? Well…
1. Scream
Of course the first one is my all time favorite. I don’t think the others are quite on the same level as this one. Not only is it my favorite in the series, it’s probably my second favorite horror film of all time! There’s just something about it that I love. I can’t quite put my finger on it, though. Maybe it’s nostalgia, maybe it’s just the plot and the characters. I’m not sure. I just know that I really love it. But more than that, I love that this series sort of revitalized the Slasher genre for a whole new generation! It didn't take itself so seriously, and it was very self aware. Hearing someone in a horror movie talk about the rules of horror movies was so refreshing and unheard of at the time!
2. Scream 4
This one has its flaws, of course. But it is my favorite of the sequels. I feel like it brings things back home a bit. It goes back to its roots. We have two killers working together, mostly out of convenience. We have one kill the other to save face. And we have Sidney at the center of it all. It’s closest to the original film, and I think it works the best of all of the other films. Most of all, I LOVE the line Sidney says about the first rule of remakes. That line had me rejoicing. You could almost swear I was in church or something, by the way I was saying “preach it” and “amen”.
3. Scream 2
After the events of the first film, Sidney and Randy are off to college. Chaos ensues yet again, when two people are killed at the premiere of “Stab”, a movie made about the previous film’s events. This film follows Sidney, Randy, Gail, and Dewey as they try to figure out who the copycat killer is. I think it was a decent sequel overall. But, I liked 4 a lot better. I’m not entirely sure what it was about this film that I didn’t like as much, I just remember feeling kind of “meh” after watching it again. I do really enjoy seeing those familiar faces again, and seeing how they tied this one into the other film. I really loved Randy being his usual self, only this time explaining how sequels work. Even making jokes about them at times. His rules are as follows… the body count is always bigger, death scenes must be bloodier and gorier, and to never ever assume the killer is dead. Which i think is a great way of explaining it! I wasn’t sure what to think of Colton Weary. If anything, his need to be famous was kind of annoying to me personally. I find the big surprise reveal of the second killer to be interesting, and killer number one a total dufus. And if I could be a little nitpicky here, I wasn’t particularly fond of the drama department set at the end. It seemed too silly to me. But, that’s all just my personal opinion. Like I said, it was an overall solid follow up to the original film. And definitely not a bad watch.
4. Scream 3
A huge part of Scream 3 centers around the production of Stab 3. We’re introduced to the cast members that you just can’t seem to like even if you try to. Everyone mirrors the real-life counterparts of the Scream characters. Randy 2.0 just isn’t the same at all, and that sucks. The rest are just really annoying. Sidney is living like Laurie Strode in Halloween 2018, out in the middle of nowhere. That is until the killer tracks her down and starts offing the cast of Stab 3. Sidney, Gail, and Dewey end up right back in the fold. Nothing particularly new or innovative happens in the last part of the movie. They have the usual chases through a house, fake outs, and so on. Apparently Sidney has a half brother, and he’s behind all of this. Did I mention that he says he got Billy and Stu to kill he and Sid’s Mom and totally changes the events of Scream 1? Dumb, I know. This movie was supposed to be the ending to the trilogy. However, I surmise that it failed to be a proper ending, thus a fourth one was made. I will say that I enjoyed the cameos from Carrie Fisher and Jay and Silent Bob in this film. As someone who loves those people, it was nice to see them there. But i am not particularly fond of this movie's more comedic approach. This one got way too silly for my taste.
Also... Scream: The Series
As for Scream the tv series, I think it wasn’t viewed unfairly. I personally really enjoyed season one. I liked all of the new characters, I liked the twists and turns it took, and even the kills. I loved the many callbacks and homages to the original movie, too. I didn’t see the killer coming and that was refreshing. However, I remember being a bit annoyed with season 2. Especially the very obvious approach with that killer. Overall, it was a show that I loved. And I plan to watch through it all again sometime. I will skip the revamped season 3 as that might as well have just been an entirely different show. One I wasn’t particularly into. I will say, though, bringing back the more traditional mask for that one was great! A lot of people’s biggest complaint about seasons one and two was the mask design change. I didn’t mind it as much, but I understand the fan backlash over it. I will say, I liked this show more than Scream 3.
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