Hello everyone, I hope everyone's been having a solid week. If you've been to the movies, did you go see Scream '22? Did you like it? What did you think of it? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know. I would absolutely love to hear people's thoughts on the film.
Now over the past few weeks, I got to share what I thought about each of the films. But I was waiting till I had seen Scream '22 to come up with a ranking. I have been seeing lots of different rankings online and that's pretty cool. So I want to preface this, this ranking is coming from a more recent watch of the films.
THE RANKING
1: Scream (1996)
It's safe to say that everyone would know that the original would be on the top of the list. I mean how could it not? The Scream franchise wouldn't be a thing without Scream '96. Wes and Kevin were able to craft such a fun film that helped to jumpstart the horror genre once again. For me, it's impossible to imagine how things would have gone if Scream hadn't been a massive hit or been made at all. This literally helped change Pop Culture for the next decade as well. I mean look at how many tv shows had an episode that was a play on Scream at some point (Boy Meets World and Dawson's Creek being most notable).
2: Scream (2022)
When I had first heard that Radio Silence was going to be brought in to handle the next Scream movie, I was a little confused. Ready or Not is a great film and honestly that gave me a lot of confidence. I was also happy to hear that the franchise had found a new home with Paramount. It left me really intrigued as to what was going to happen next.
After seeing the film, I happy to place this in my second spot. Scream '22 is a brilliant love letter, not only to this franchise, but to Wes and Kevin. Somehow the studio, Radio Silence, and James Vanderbilt were able to inject the DNA of their involvement into every ounce of this film. It could have easily been the film that stands by itself and felt apart from the series. However, this isn't the case. This film feels so much in line to everything that has come before.
The way the film works still has me a bit baffled while happy and content. I'm still trying to figure out how they were able to do it, but am excited to see where it could go. The story possibilities that could happen after this film is absolutely endless. It also serves as a beautiful passing of the torch. That was something I wasn't sure how that would work as the story has felt very much revolved around the Legacy Cast to this point. But this film manages to break new ground and introduce new characters that are interesting and likeable. It was able to bring back a bit of the feel from Scream '96 into it. And that's awesome.
Seeing the way Ghost Face is treated in this film is also spectacular. They are treated with such care and appreciation. Ghost Face also isn't one to back down in this installment as they are quick to act. There were moments where I was caught off guard because the film moves like a rollercoaster. And there's a send off that while I was at first upset with, I have come to appreciate it very much.
Thank you Radio Silence and Paramount.
3: Scream 4 (2011)
Scream 4 was very much ahead of its time. It was a film that many managed to not take as seriously. This was due to the fact that Scream 3 wasn't necessarily as put together as one would have hoped. But you have to remember for Scream 3, it's a product of its time. That honestly is true with each of these films and didn't change with Scream 4. Wes and Kevin were able to revive the franchise after an 11 year absence. That's pretty damn commendable.
When I first saw the film, it was at a midnight showing. I had just binged the previous three installments earlier that day. Honestly, I wish I hadn't gone to that midnight showing. It left me sitting in a dark theater a bit tired. I wasn't in the right mindset to see the film. But I love the franchise so much, I couldn't pass it up as I had seen the second and third films in the theater. I didn't want to miss out on a chance to see 4 on the big screen as well.
It wasn't until this viewing that it finally clicked for me. I was always treating the film as if it was a regular sequel a la The Dream Master or The Final Chapter. I didn't realize fully how special it is. Wes and Kevin weren't necessarily treating this as a fourth chapter in the traditional sense. This installment was playing up everything on the 'remake' angle. That is something that never clicked at first. But through the cinematography, the music, the more brutal kills (well, I would say Olivia's being the most brutal), the reveal of the killers, even the newer characters (Deputy Judy, you the new Dewey and Sidney's assistant is the new Gale) - those are all elements of how it would be if it was a remake. Everything stands out as being different. I mean look at other remakes and you notice the trends and trajectories that Kevin and Wes were playing with.
Before I mostly saw Scream 4 as a parody of itself, now I get what it is. And it's pretty fantastic and lands the third spot.
4: Scream 3 (2000)
Scream 3 landed in 2000 to not as much success as everyone was hoping for. It has been a bit of an outlier as it's Scream, but at the same time not. It is very much a product of its time. The nation was reeling from Columbine and Hollywood was working overtime on making films and tv shows more light fare at the time. This resulted in the studio not having faith in Kevin's original treatment at the time, but something I'm a little hopeful for its use in a future installment. I believe if I recall they were very close to shooting when they tossed that out the window.
This resulted in them quickly trying to figure out exactly how to deliver a film with not much of a script. They couldn't turn to Kevin Williamson as he was busy with Dawson's Creek at the time. Ehren Krueger was brought in to pen the script. This resulted in a tone that wasn't exactly what everyone was hoping for. It felt very off compared to the previous 2 installments at the time. But hey, it's Hollywood and have to deliver a film right?
They were able to cleverly play on the idea of making 'Stab 3' and its troubled production that would bring Sidney, Dewey, and Gale back into the fold. That's a pretty bold idea. The corrupt Hollywood system being highlighted? Check and would prove to be extremely relevant so many years later with Those-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. And no, I'm not talking about Voldemort. More backstory with Sidney's mom? That was something that felt interesting.
Honestly after the massive success of Scream and Scream 2, everyone was facing an uphill battle when it came to this third installment. It feels like its the best they did with what they could do at the time. The revelation of Roman being Sidney's half-brother. That didn't feel too forced. It felt a little off. But hey, when you have lemons make lemonade right? If they had been able to know going into production that Roman was going to be the killer, I'm sure it would have fared better. Instead it was a decision made halfway through to an off kilter effect. But hey, Scott Foley did a pretty decent job with what he had to do.
5: Scream 2 (1997)
Now this will be something that is a bit controversial potentially. I enjoy Scream 2. It was my first theatrical horror film. I had just been coming off of seeing Scream for the first time. So I was happy to see more Scream. That's my problem with Scream 2. It's just more Scream. It's Scream on a college campus. It wasn't necessarily trying to rewrite the script. I mean yeah, they had to deal with leaks and whatnot. But they didn't try to challenge themselves it feels like.
It just feels more Scream that continues the adventures of Sidney Prescott and Randy Meeks with Gale and Dewey jumping in. Yeah, we have our new cast of characters that populate the campus. But it doesn't feel like any of the other sequels where the world feels lived in. It feels like a stale college campus for the most part. The pacing of the film feels a bit overstuffed.
While I appreciate the reveal of Mickey being the killer, the idea of trying to first have Jerry O' Connell being a red herring. It's too on the nose. With Mrs. Loomis, she comes out of nowhere. I get what they were going for with it. It's very much a beautiful tip of the hat to Mrs. Voorhees in a way.
But there's a bit of not able to connect with the new characters. We don't necessarily have time to know who they are outside of their relationship to Sidney. The flip side is looking at Scream '96. Each of the characters were a bit defined and you knew who they were. Not just outside of their relationship to Sidney. And Scream 3, 4, and 5 all have individual identities outside of the final girl or guy.
Honorable Mention: SCREAM: The First Scream audio experience available on YouTube. It's well put together audio that serves as a nice prequel to the first Scream.
Scream: The Series. Yeah, it gets lot of flack. But it's still part of the franchise.
Thank you all for tuning in for my ranking. Let me know what your thoughts are - if you want to share your ranking, leave a comment.
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