After decades of satirical meta-horror, “Scream”-mania is still going strong. Here’s our ranking of all seven installments, from worst to best.

All 7 Scream movies, ranked from worst to best

After decades of satirical meta-horror, “Scream”-mania is still going strong. Here’s our ranking of all seven installments, from worst to best.

By Michael Lee Simpson

Michael Lee Simpson

Michael Lee Simpson is a writer with 15+ years of experience. His work has appeared in PEOPLE, Us Weekly, Variety, Reader’s Digest, BuzzFeed, the New York Post, TMZ, and Fox News.

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and Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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September 5, 2026 9:20 a.m. ET

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The *Scream* saga began with a ringing phone and one of the most surprising murders in horror-movie history. Casey Backer (Drew Barrymore), a high schooler with blonde hair and straight-cut bangs, picks up the receiver and is greeted by a gravelly voice on the other end. Within moments, she locks the doors, grabs a knife, sees her boyfriend tied to a chair outside — popcorn smoking on the stove, glass shattering — and comes face-to-face with Ghostface, described as a “ghostly white mask” in the script. She’s gutted, her insides ripped out, and hung from a tree in the yard, dripping with blood.

Those 12 minutes of shocking terror redefined the slasher genre. VHS tapes featuring Barrymore’s wide blue eyes and hand cupping her mouth soon lined video-store shelves across America. Written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, *Scream* spawned seven films and a TV series, with the movies grossing more than $1.1 billion worldwide. And there’s life in Ghostface yet: *Scream 7*, the franchise’s most recent installment, is its highest-grossing entry, while an eighth movie is currently in development.

Below, ** ranks all seven movies in the *Scream* franchise from worst to best.

Scream 3 (2000)

Courteney Cox in ‘Scream 3’. Everett Collection

Four years after the original and in the wake of persistent movie trivia chatter, the series finally lands in Hollywood with *Scream 3*. The plot is a movie within a movie, the story paralleling multiple screenplay drafts of the new *Stab 3 *— the slasher series within the *Scream* universe based on its real-life events. The ensemble is back: policeman Dewey Riley (David Arquette); reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox); and, of course, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), the traumatized survivor and Ghostface’s ultimate target.

Sidney, now a crisis counselor, finds herself in another massacre. A scene of carnage unfolds on the *Stab 3* set — on the studio lot, soundstages, and prop rooms — with cameo appearances playing cast and crew on the production; Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), formerly falsely accused of Sidney’s mother’s murder, is a talk-show host; Carrie Fisher is a studio archivist; Patrick Dempsey is a detective; Lance Henriksen is the director of *Stab 3*; Jenny McCarthy is an actress; Parker Posey portrays Gale in the film-within-the-film. What was sworn to be the final chapter in a revolutionary trilogy, the shift in tone from the first two installments can be attributed to a change in writers. Committed to another project, Williamson was unable to finish the script. He was replaced by Ehren Kruger, who didn’t replicate the same style. It’s less ruthless and more of a self-parodying *Scooby Doo*-like whodunnit mystery, but it still has a few unexpected twists. It was not favored by critics, although *Scream* fans remain somewhat loyal.

**Kill count**: 10

Scream 7 (2026)

Neve Campbell in ‘Scream 7’.

Jessica Miglio/Paramount Pictures

For the first time since *Scream 4*, Neve Campbell and Sidney Prescott were back at the center of their franchise. *Scream 7* opens in Woodsboro before quickly sending the story to Pine Grove, Ind., where Sidney is now living with her police chief husband Mark (Joel McHale) — not *Scream 3*’s Mark Kincaid —and her teenage daughter Tatum (Isabel May). But she gets a blast from the past when she receives a call from what appears to be one of the OG Ghostfaces, Stu Macher (Matthew Lilliard), who was long presumed dead. Sidney soon sees Tatum living the same nightmare she experienced in high school, as Ghostface starts coming after the young girl and her friends. Franchise veterans Courteney Cox, Mason Gooding, and Jasmin Savoy Brown return, while Anna Camp, Ethan Embry, and Mckenna Grace are among the notable new additions.

*Scream 7* was marked by drama from the get-go. *Scream* (2022) and *Scream VI* (2023) star Melissa Barrera was dropped by production company Spyglass Media Group after making pro-Palestinian statements on social media and criticizing Israel’s actions in its war with Hamas. Spyglass said that some of Barrera’s posts crossed the line into antisemitism and hate speech. Her onscreen sister Jenna Ortega then departed the project, as did incoming director Christopher Landon. But fans rejoiced when a creative overhaul led to the announcement that Campbell was returning after sitting out *Scream VI *due to a pay dispute, while original *Scream* writer Kevin Williamson would make his franchise directorial debut.

That was enough to power the film to the best opening weekend in *Scream* history. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to make a good *Scream* movie. Even with Williamson getting cowriting credit, gone was the smart, witty dialogue for which *Scream* has been known. And not even a strong Campbell performance and killer kills could make up for a sad use of AI and the least effective finale twist reveal to date. *Scream* is now bigger than ever, but the franchise has rarely felt more in need of a reset.

**Kill count**:** **10

Scream 4 (2011)

Neve Campbell in the ‘Scream’ franchise. Everett Collection

For 11 years, it’s been quiet. That low, menacing voice hasn’t been heard on the other line since that last “final chapter.” But once Marnie Cooper (Britt Robertson) is thrown through a glass door, slashed in the arm, stabbed in the stomach, and hung from a ceiling fan, it’s clear Ghostface is back with a vengeance. By now, there have been seven *Stab* movies. Dewey is the town sheriff; Gale has retired as a reporter and is married to him, but bored in Woodsboro. Meanwhile, Sidney returns to promote her book*, Out of Darkness*, and reconnects with her long-lost cousin (Emma Roberts), and Marley Shelton‘s Judy Hicks is the town’s deputy sheriff tasked with confronting the reprise of killings at Woodsboro High yet again.

Leaving behind the 1996–2000 era of clunky plastic telephones with long cords and no internet, *Scream 4* adapts to the times and introduces cell phones, webcams, laptops, and social media. The film aims to reclaim its throne in the genre — emphasizing reboots and remakes — but doesn’t quite make the cut. If nothing else, *Scream 4* is a re-entrance to the franchise and Wes Craven’s last directing effort, which is something to be grateful for.

**Kill count**: 15

Scream VI (2023)

Dermot Mulroney, Jenna Ortega, Jack Champion, Hayden Panettiere, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Melissa Barrera, and Mason Gooding in ‘Scream VI’. Philippe Bosse/Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

After exploring its fair share of suburban scares, the *Scream* franchise took on terrors of the city with this well-received sixth entry. The Carpenter sisters (Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega) are now living in New York City with their friends and fellow survivors Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown), each trying to move on with their lives. But the core four aren’t the only transplants from Woodsboro, as Ghostface soon rears its ugly head, directly targeting them and whomever else is caught up in their orbit.

*Scream VI* makes creative use of its location, from a dark alleyway killing to an apartment escape via ladder to a dread-filled late-night subway ride, each evoking genuine tension. While this sixth installment marks the first without Sidney, we do get the return of fan favorite Kirby (Hayden Panettiere), last seen in *Scream 4*, who proceeds to help the foursome investigate who’s behind the mask. The eventual reveal is one of the silliest in the *Scream* franchise — as is the fate of certain characters who probably shouldn’t have survived — but it’s a fun ride for those okay with suspending their disbelief. —*Kevin Jacobsen*

**Kill count:** 13

Scream (2022)

Ghostface in ‘Scream’ (2022). BROWNIE HARRIS/ Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group

Up to this point, Ghostface victims have been stabbed with Buck 120 hunting knives, crushed by garage doors, shot, electrocuted, and thrown off rooftops in ferocious, balls-to-the-wall *Scream* fashion. After Wes Craven’s passing in 2015, fans had doubts about the fifth installment living up to his original *Scream *franchise vision. Nevertheless, 2022’s *Scream*, revs the engine of the *Scream 4*, then hauls it in overdrive when more murderous mayhem storms through Woodsboro.

The bloodshed returns after another 11-year hiatus, but the spatter is messier, thicker, and darker, seeping into a new vision by *Ready or Not *directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. Marley Shelton is now Sheriff Judy Hicks, Gale reunites with Dewey after their divorce, Sidney comes home, and Skeet Ulrich reprises his role as Billy Loomis in his daughter Sam’s (Melissa Barrera) eerie hallucinations. Meanwhile, performances by Mikey Madison and Jack Quaid are dramatic and compelling, always keeping the viewer second-guessing. In keeping with *Scream *tradition, the deaths are outside the box — a screwdriver is pierced into a bar patron’s neck, a teenager’s throat is gashed through his Adam’s apple, and someone is lathered in hand sanitizer and lit on fire (scorched into a blazing inferno). It’s a frenzied, violent feat with a raging display of craftsmanship. Although Craven’s touch is missing, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett honor his memory by mimicking his style while engraving their own slick mark.

**Kill count**: 8

Scream 2 (1997)

Everett Collection

Riding the heels of the original’s incredible impact on the genre, *Scream 2* leaves the sleepy town of Woodsboro and arrives on the campus of Windsor College. Mickey (Timothy Olyphant), Derek (Jerry O’Connell), Maureen (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Cici (Sarah Michelle Gellar) join the survivors of the first slayings, and after throats are slit with blood gushing on the pavement, the “copycat killer” becomes a highlight on the evening news. Richard Potter, executive in charge of production for *Scream* and coexecutive producer of *Scream 2,* talks exclusively to EW, noting, “We knew the basis of *Scream 2* had to come from the first film. It couldn’t just be another story; it had to be an extension — a continuation of the story.” He and screenwriter Williamson considered where each of the major characters left off, wondering, “What was life like for Cotton now? How did he feel about what had happened to him? The movie focused on family issues with Billy’s father and Sidney’s mother... What happened to Billy’s mother?”

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As for final girl Sidney, Potter tells EW, “She’s become famous for surviving. How does she move forward into the next part of her life? How does she build relationships? Can she trust people?” And then there’s soon-to-be recurring love birds Gale and Dewey, as Potter explains: “Before *Scream*, Gale had never been part of something. She’d written about things but hadn’t lived them. Now she’s lived them. Dewey stepped up and became a hero in *Scream*, defying people’s expectations, but lost his sister, got badly hurt, and was betrayed by the woman he loved. How does he find a purpose? All of that was baked into *Scream*, so *Scream 2* feels like it’s more of the same story — not something tacked on just to keep it going.” As a thread weaving through the story’s theme, sequels are a massive topic of discussion, the formula explained by Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) at length. *Scream 2* follows the formula while making its own rules, and it does so with a quality, style, and awareness that’s nearly on par with the original, which given how monumental its blueprint was for the wider horror canon, that’s seriously saying something.

**Kill count**: 10

Scream (1996)

Drew Barrymore in ‘Scream’. Dimension Films/Everett

Hollywood was in a horror movie dry spell when Wes Craven’s masterpiece hit theaters right before Christmas in 1996. From the usual players to Billy (Ulrich) and Stu (Matthew Lillard), it was the first time characters knew the “rules” of a horror movie: “You can never have sex...you can never drink or do drugs...never, ever, ever under any circumstances say, ‘I’ll be right back,’ because you won’t be back.” Jarring, scary, and now a cultural phenomenon, *Scream* became a revelation that reshaped the slasher subgenre with whip-smart dialogue, paying homage to classic horror films like *Halloween* and Craven’s *A Nightmare on Elm Street* while becoming a classic of its own. And that ghostly mask described by Williamson? That was discovered by Marianne Maddalena, a producer on every *Scream* film since the original when location scouting with Craven and the crew. “We were trying to come up with a mask,” Maddalena tells EW. “We were maybe two weeks from shooting, visiting what was supposed to be Tatum’s [Rose McGowan] house. When I went upstairs, I found this ghost mask on the bed, but it had a white shroud. And I ran downstairs and said to Wes and Bruce Miller, our production designer, ‘Look! Oh my God! Look at this mask! This is perfect!’” Though she says Wes at first was doubtful (he wanted to make his own mask), he eventually came around, and we’re all better for it. “Of course, Wes had to make it his own. He altered the chin, I think. And then, it didn’t work. We shot it for a day or two, and he said, ‘You know what? You’re right. The mask works as is.’”

Behind the scenes, the franchise began when the screenplay was delivered to Potter at the old Miramax Offices in New York. It was 1995, and Potter was a Dimension Films executive at the time. “When the script arrived, the night that it came in, it came in with the title *Scary Movie*,” he tells EW. “I started reading it and the opening sequence is obviously Casey Becker’s death, and it scared the crap out of me reading it in my office alone in the dark. Everyone else had left. And then when I got to the end, not only was the writing quality the whole way through and the story brilliant, but when it was two killers, my mind was blown. I was in love with a script.” *Scream* serves as a tongue-in-cheek, trope-filled, self-referential satire and an unhinged, entertaining scare-fest. It tears into the chest, puncturing the tissue and lungs, with Craven and Williamson pushing on the knife handle harder as the blade cuts into the arteries — and finally — killing the once-dwindling genre while ironically bringing it alive all over again.

**Kill count**: 7

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