ScreenAge Wasteland Ranks the ‘Scream’ Movies

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“Do you like scary movies?”

As the Halloween season comes to a close, ScreenAge Wasteland is proud to present our community’s ranking of the Scream movies.

It was clear to many from the minute Scream started that it would launch one of the biggest horror franchises in the world. When sweet Drew Barrymore is brutally murdered in the opening scene, the movie tells the audience that this is not your normal slasher, and that even the movie’s biggest stars are not safe from Ghostface.

Thirty years later, Scream still packs a punch (or stab), with seven theatrical installments to its name (and a TV show, which we chose not to rank). Roger L. Jackson’s Ghostface voice is still unsettling, the characters’ self-awareness of being inside a slasher is still fun, and the (sometimes convoluted) unmasking of Ghostface(s) still has us dropping our jaws in disbelief. We love all the Scream movies in the Wasteland, but only one can be the best.

So, to see where each Scream movie landed on our ranking, keep on reading. And feel free to agree or disagree with where a film ranked in the comments below!

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7. Scream 7 (2026) | 7 points

• Has all the parts of a Scream movie with none of the substance. The tension doesn’t come from escaping the kills, but wondering when they’ll finally come to take away these useless characters. (Tyler Harner)
• My favorite part was watching the annoying daughter from Landman get killed early in the movie. The rest was simply awful. Why are Gale and Sydney still alive? Please move away from these stale characters. (Vincent Kane)
• I may have enjoyed this more had the killers been different, or at least had better motivations for doing what they did. It’s fine to touch on the dangers of AI and deepfakes, but it seems like none of it really mattered to the story beyond bringing back some familiar faces. (Romona Comet)
• Completely falls apart in the third act. So many legacy characters felt underused. You really didn’t need Gale or the twins. Also, I liked Joel McHale for once, but no important characters died, so what’s even the point? (Marmaduke Karlston)

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6. Scream 4 (2011) | 14 points

• Maybe the campiest of the franchise and Sidney kills it with the one-liners here. Not much else, though. (Tyler Harner)
• So bad I couldn’t even finish it. (Vincent Kane)
• I’ll probably get flak for this, but I don’t care: Scream 4 is an underrated entry in the franchise. I found it far more interesting than Scream 3, and it introduced one of my favorite Ghostfaces. Family trauma is what Scream does best, and I think they handled it far better in Scream 4 than Scream 3. (Romona Comet)
• Will forever be pissed that Sailor told me Scream 4 should have been Gale Weathers as Ghostface, who uses the killings to revive her flailing career, because that is such a great idea that really only would have worked on this film given that jump and never again since Gale is too far redeemed now. Dammit, Sailor. (Marmaduke Karlston)

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5. Scream 3 (2000) | 19 points

• The most memorable this one gets is with Gale’s haircut. (Tyler Harner)
• It’s hard to run it back for a third time, and the “someone from the original is going to die” marketing was a complete joke. (Vincent Kane)
• Parker Posey’s Jennifer Jolie should have survived so she and Gale could team up in future movies. (Romona Comet)
• I like Jason Takes Manhattan, so I really wanted to like Ghostface Takes Hollywood, but sadly it’s pretty underwhelming. (Marmaduke Karlston)

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4. Scream VI (2023) | 21 points

• Ghostface Takes New York and it works pretty well! (Tyler Harner)
• Why is Gale still alive? (Vincent Kane)
• I liked the change of location in this one. I also loved Sam’s journey, and I’m still pissed we’ll never see her story come to fruition. (Romona Comet)
• Seeing Kirby back was great, but I watch Scream to see characters die, and while I love the “Core Four,” the twins really should have died here. Or Gale. Did anyone important even die in this movie? Also, three Ghostfaces is one Ghostface too many. (Marmaduke Karlston)

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3. Scream (2022) | 25 points

• The franchise was at its lowest, but this entry brought back the ingredients to put it back on track. At least, for a little while. (Tyler Harner)
• A return to form where it felt scary and Ghostface was a threat. (Vincent Kane)
• I will always be seated for any movie where Jack Quaid plays a psycho, even if they did my boy Dewey so dirty in this one. (Romona Comet)
• One of the few legacy sequels that actually finds the right balance between introducing its new cast and not wasting its older returning stars. I’m also a fan of the Billy Loomis retcon with Sam.  (Marmaduke Karlston)

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2. Scream 2 (1997) | 36 points

• Scream 2 is bigger, badder, and more meta than its predecessor, which kinda makes it the perfect slasher sequel. (Sailor Monsoon)
• Baby-faced Liev Schreiber! (Tyler Harner)
• Jada Pinkett getting stabbed in the theater may be one of my all-time favorite kills. (Vincent Kane)
• A sequel was never going to live up to its original (it’s in the rules, I’m sure), but Scream 2 comes close. It maintained the same level of humor and scares as its predecessor, and has one of my all-time favorite Gale/Ghostface moments. (Romona Comet)
• I like this one more than the original. Yeah, I said it. (Marmaduke Karlston)

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1. Scream (1996) | 40 points

• Billy and Stu are among the best killers in any slasher. Their motivation is crazy but original, and although one half of them is a complete doof, they’re never not menacing. (Sailor Monsoon)
• A peak for the franchise and possibly for the entirety of the horror genre. It uses our extensive horror love against us to deliver a scare experience that may never be toppled. Plus, Matthew Lillard! (Tyler Harner)
• Easily the best of the franchise and one of the best of all time. Wes Craven changed the game once again, and it’s still as good today as it was in 1996. (Vincent Kane)
• The OG. Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson rejuvenated a tired genre with Scream. As fun as the franchise has turned out to be, there hasn’t yet been one sequel that’s come close to touching the horror meta magic that is Scream. (Romona Comet)
• Yes, I like scary movies, Ghostface, and the first Scream is one of the best! (Marmaduke Karlston)

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Thank you to everyone who participated in SAW’s nineteenth community ranking! Do you agree with the community ranking? How does your Scream ranking compare to ours? Share your thoughts down in the comments with your Disqus account!