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Ranking the Scream Franchise, Film for Film!

Wes Craven has cemented himself as one of the finer filmmakers in the history of our beloved genre. He’s also recognized as a very hit-or-miss director who possesses a tendency to half-ass his way through half of his pictures. When he’s fully dedicated (A Nightmare on Elm Street, The People Under the Stairs), he’s brilliant, when he’s merely dipping his toes into the pool of blood (Cursed, My Soul to Take), he’s forgettable to say the least.

Fortunately for fans of the longtime horror contributor, he seems to hold his Scream franchise in high regard, as he hasn’t fumbled the ball often when leading Ghostface through suburbia on his killing quests.

Here now, I offer my heartfelt appreciation, as well as a brief ranking of the complete franchise (and my attempt to justify the potioning of each film).

http://youtu.be/NdyugHTKPuc

1. Scream (1996): After a disheartening slump, the slasher sub-genre received a zeable surge in popularity in 1996 upon the release of Craven’s sleeper smash hit, Scream. The attention the film harvested prompted a return to prominence for psychotic, youth-seeking serial killers, and before too long Ghostface had company in the likes of Ben Willis, Victor Crowley, Leslie Vernon and a handful of vile veterans who’d all but disappeared from big screens.

The film creates near-palpable tenon while incorporating proficient mystery, a hint of fear, gallons of blood and a thorough understanding of pop culture. The end result is a masterpiece that captures the essence of the 1990’s perfectly.

Being a junior in high school upon the films initial release adds to the mystique of the picture for me personally, but there are plenty of reasons to enjoy this one beyond mple nostalgia. Scream did after all introduce us to the most relevant serial killer nce Freddy Krueger!http://youtu.be/kJmU24wCVZ0

2. Scream 2 (1997): Wes made a genius maneuver when he opted to bypass delays between franchise installments and get Scream 2 into immediate production. The timely turnaround ensured that wonderful characters like dney Prescott, Randy Meeks, Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley still lived on fresh in our minds, and it provided for a strong sense of series continuity, as we were mply required to follow a group of surviving high schoolers into their dreaded college trantion.

Scream 2 manages to duplicate the pop culture relevance of its predecessor, and even offers a few shocking moments and a very plauble finale. The reveal is rewarding and believable, tying in directly with focal figures of the first film. Craven and series scribe Kevin Williamson even find a way to shatter a few more clichés along the way.

While it’s quite clearly inferior to Scream, Scream 2 is arguably the best slasher follow up nce Rick Rosenthal’s direct successor to John Carpenter’s original Halloween.http://youtu.be/vlN9QbOFS2w

3. Scream 4 (2011): I appreciate the long delayed return of one of the most identifiable antagonists to grace the big screen. I also applaud the attempt to reinstate the intelligence of the first two Scream pictures. With that out of the way, this one isn’t quite the grand masterpiece most critics would have you believe, though it does make for an enjoyable experience.

The story certainly doesn’t offer too much in terms of originality. In fact, it feels damn near carbon copy to the already-established Scream formula. Take the second feature, catapult it 14 years into the future and you’ve got Scream 4, as a new masked madman sets out to slaughter d while ensuring his methods are as contemporary as posble.

Unlike Scream 3, the latest film to don our lovable trio of d, Dewey and Gale actually exhibits pason. Kevin Williamson clearly went out of his way to ensure that the details of this feature are pertinent to today’s society, and though there are some annoying habits at work, the script is for the most part, intelligent. Toss in a couple extremely cool death scenes, and you’ve got yourself a pretty fine film that’s actually fit to stand alone.

http://youtu.be/HwYHmL7CV6w4. Scream 3 (2000): What’s Wes Craven without a dropped pass or so? I’m going to be real brief here.

Scream 3 is a miserable flick that drops d, Dewey and Gale in the middle of the set for the upcoming slasher “Stab 3”, the third film to be shot based on d’s original horrific plight.

The only thing here to praise is the aforementioned characters. The script feels like a rushed offering, the big reveal is a letdown, and the clever plot points of the first two franchise films are completely absent. The only flick in the series worth avoiding, Scream 3 is hands down the weakest film to showcase the now insanely popular Ghostface.

For me it's 1, 3, 4, 2.

I'd personally switch two and four. Having said that, its been A WHILE nce i've seen the second one and the newest installment is still fresh in my memory. I tend to watch the original at least once every year.

I dislike Craven's work more often than not. As you said in your article, he is often hit or miss. I think he misses way more than he hits and i'm not one to give him the benefit of the doubt. I will say this though, even though he had no creative influence when it comes to writing the Screams, his work behind the camera is damn near flawless. Certain images from the original are cemented in my brain.

Thats what Wes should've done his entire career. Stick to what you do best and leave the creativity to somebody more capable. When Wes gets up his own ass writing his own scripts, we get complete garbage like Shocker, The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007), My Soul To Take, and dare i say The Last House on The Left. Craven's best work usually comes when he has absolutely no influence on film's script and continuity. (The major exception to the rule being A Nightmare On Elm Street)

I'm ranting again. ANYWAYS.... Nice piece @Matt. Keep 'em coming.

For me it's 1, 3, 4, 2. For me it's 1............2,3 and 4 tie (I thought 3 and 4 were both let downs). I really felt let down with Scream 4 recently because the muc score was horrible, the acting was okay, the death scenes were often ruined with comedy "Fuck you Bruce Willis!" that was really stupid and the intro to the film was not smart or witty, it was just ridiculous and belonged in a "Scary Movie" not Scream.

I'd personally switch two and four. Having said that, its been A WHILE nce i've seen the second one and the newest installment is still fresh in my memory. I tend to watch the original at least once every year.

I dislike Craven's work more often than not. As you said in your article, he is often hit or miss. I think he misses way more than he hits and i'm not one to give him the benefit of the doubt. I will say this though, even though he had no creative influence when it comes to writing the Screams, his work behind the camera is damn near flawless. Certain images from the original are cemented in my brain.

Thats what Wes should've done his entire career. Stick to what you do best and leave the creativity to somebody more capable. When Wes gets up his own ass writing his own scripts, we get complete garbage like Shocker, The Hills Have Eyes 2 (2007), My Soul To Take, and dare i say The Last House on The Left. Craven's best work usually comes when he has absolutely no influence on film's script and continuity. (The major exception to the rule being A Nightmare On Elm Street)

I'm ranting again. ANYWAYS.... Nice piece @Matt. Keep 'em coming.

He did write The Hills Have Eyes and I actually like The Last House on the Left...better than that crappy remake.

1,4,2,3 but i love all of them.

1, 2 and 4 tie, then 3...but i honestly LOVE all of them, I think 3 was pretty good IMO

For me it is 1,3,2, and then 4. They are all amazing, but its obvious that the first Scream is the best out of them all. Sure, it was right for him to go right in making the 2nd one, but I do believe I have watched that one the least and it keeps me less interested unlike the rest. That is maybe because they killed off Randy, whom was one of my favorites. I do appreciate your ranking though, I was surprised you had 4 before the 3rd. Keep post like these coming!

For me it is 1,3,2, and then 4. They are all amazing, but its obvious that the first Scream is the best out of them all. Sure, it was right for him to go right in making the 2nd one, but I do believe I have watched that one the least and it keeps me less interested unlike the rest. That is maybe because they killed off Randy, whom was one of my favorites. I do appreciate your ranking though, I was surprised you had 4 before the 3rd. Keep post like these coming

yeah, I've got to be honest, I thought the third film was terrible. All the heart of the other installments was just GONE, and it wasn't even remotely near clever, which sucked because it almost pretends to be (esp. the script murder sequencing) a witty flick.

As a whole, a fantastic franchise though.

Love that wicked curveball in 2 when Randy is killed off - completely out of left field, and as much as I liked Randy's character, the shock of that particular kill was the most shocking moment the franchise has to offer outde of the first films finale.

I think Scream 2 might be as good as the original. Randy's murder cast a bout of dreadful uncertainty for the remainder of the film that it seemed even dney could be killed off. Of course, that resonated greatly with us thanks to Scream 1 as that's where we got know and love Randy. And remember, the most intense and effective kill in Scream 2 took place in the daylight, which I conder pretty risky.

Also, Scream 2, I believe, had the best killer: Mrs. Loomis, whom probably in the whole series had the most convincing motivation to slice and skewer people. Laurie "Aunt Jackie" Metcalf played that role just below over the top and the killer reveal was completely unprecedented -- unlike her partner, Mickey, who I suspected as the killer at first ght.

I credit Scream 4 for kind of curbing the blatant favoritism for d, Gale and Dewey that Scream 3 fostered. There was a real gritty survival feel towards the end, much milar to the first two but wholesomely absent from Scream 3. I think the confidence of d's survival was marginalized with the introduction of her coun Jill, who wasn't so obviously built up to survive dney and carry the torch.

My ranks:

1. Scream 2 2. Scream

3. Scream 4 4. Scream 3 (I have a feeling I'll reserve this one for last if more Screams are made.)