Scream: A New Set of Favorite Scary Movies - A Review of the Scream Franchise
By: Mallory Johnson
I recently watched all five of the Scream movies, and I really enjoyed them. If you are unfamiliar with the movies, they are classic slasher horror films that all follow the same formulaic plot while also being very meta and self-aware. They basically follow a killer in a “Ghostface” mask who terrorizes naive victims in the town of Woodsboro who dare to pick up the phone and answer the innocent sounding question: “what’s your favorite scary movie?” The same plot gets repeated every time, but they add new characters and drama that makes them feel original each time. Before I go any further, SPOILER ALERT for all five movies. Also, trigger warnings for: murder, blood and gore, stabbing, parental murder, sexual violence, stalking, gaslighting, drug and alcohol use/abuse, torture and restrains, hanging, cheating, abduction, jump scares, self-harm, violence, sexual content, a car crash, gun violence, eye mutilation, flashing lights, and discussions of racism.
The movies are such classic slashers, and they keep to their roots throughout the franchise. The killer reveals always come as a surprise to me; I never once predicted who it was before the reveal. The movies kept me guessing and the jump scares progressively got better as the movies became newer and newer. The first movie came out in 1996, and the fifth one came out this year! The sixth installment in the franchise comes out next year, but Neve Campbell who plays the amazing final girl (and main character of all the movies) Sidney Prescott has said that she will not sign on for the film because she is not getting paid enough. I agree with her and am proud of her for standing her ground, but I am disappointed to see her leave! The movies expertly plant red herrings and little easter eggs that, looking back, make the killer’s look obvious. In every movie, one character always lays out the laws of the land. The rules of a horror movie, of a sequel, a trilogy, a “requel” and so on. It feels like the fictional characters are aware that they are in movies which is very interesting. They are satirizing the true crime and horror genres which is very funny. There is a lot of great character development with repeated (also known as legacy) characters over the course of the movies. While watching the first one, I was mad at how insensitive the journalist character Gale Weathers was being with regards to not really caring about the victims of the brutal murders. She just wanted the scoop, and I did not like how she made journalism look! But eventually, I changed my mind about her and grew to really like her. My favorite characters throughout all the movies are Dewey and Sidney. The movies are not just brutal murders; the humor and commentary on trust and the true crime genre separate these movies from other basic slashers.
The two most recent Scream movies, that came out in 2011 and 2022, brilliantly modernized the story. With a new cast that is recognizable to generation Z audiences and iPhones instead of clunky landlines, the story was brought to a new generation in a great way. The jump scares are better and got me a few times for sure!
Overall, I really loved these movies and highly recommend them even if you are not the biggest fan of horror. They were alright for me to watch alone - so they are not super scary or disturbing like Midsommar was. I give them all a 10/10 and give the franchise 10/10. They are very entertaining and are perfect for a spooky season movie marathon. I cannot wait to see the next installment in theatres next year!