Every Scream Movie Ranked From Worst to Best

Summary:

• Scream franchise has released six movies up until now, with a new Scream movie releasing in 2026.
• The last two Scream movies are directed by a new team, after the original creator’s passing.
• We have ranked every Scream movie and compared how the new ones compare to the old.

Scream is the quintessential slasher franchise. Ever since the first movie’s release in 1996, it’s been impossible to talk about the best horror movies without mentioning Scream. Wes Craven is truly a horror auteur who has carved his place in the horror slasher subgenre. However, after his sad demise in 2011, Radio Silence Productions took up the burden of continuing the Scream franchise, which gave us Scream (2022) and Scream VI. But the question remains, did they live up to Craven’s originals, or perhaps even surpass them? Here’s every Scream movie ranked from worst to best.

6. Scream 3 (2000)

• IMDb rating: 5.7/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 45% (Tomatometer) and 38% (Popcornmeter)
• Letterboxd Rating: 2.9/5
• Runtime: 1h 56m
• Director: Wes Craven

While this might be a shocker to some, some would say it is well deserved for Scream 3 to come in at last. Scream 2 masterfully reinvented the franchise. Scream 3 tries to follow the same path by giving the killer a voice manipulator, but it just doesn’t fit in with the story.

That said, Ghostface in this movie also fell flat for me. Every single one of his killings feels shoddy and doesn’t really fill you with the dread and fear the previous Ghostface iterations did. Craven fell; he couldn’t deliver with this one, but he delivered with the next entry, which also happens to be the next entry on our list.

5. Scream 4 (2011)

• IMDb rating: 6.2/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 61% (Tomatometer) and 57% (Popcornmeter)
• Letterboxd Rating: 3.4/5
• Runtime: 1h 51m
• Director: Wes Craven

I might be called a maniac for placing Scream 4 so low. For most Scream fans, it comes in at an easy top 3, but allow me to retort. Scream 4 was Wes Craven’s last movie, and for the longest time, it was seen as the perfect conclusion to the franchise, and rightfully so. The movie gave us THE best Ghostface killer and gave us a story that gave a quite fitting end to the saga of Sidney, Dewey, and Gale, but there was one problem.

The Scream movies that came after Scream 4 were just so much better in quality, both visually and narratively. Scream 4 lacks the signature visual charm of the first three films. The whimsical, eerie aesthetic of the first three movies was a product of its time, but Scream 4 just isn’t a worthy successor to it. It’s a great film, don’t get me wrong, but just not great enough to earn a top spot.

4. Scream (2022)

• IMDb rating: 6.3/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 76% (Tomatometer) and 82% (Popcornmeter)
• Letterboxd Rating: 3.2/5
• Runtime: 1h 54m
• Director: Tyler Gillett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin

Scream 5, or Scream (2022), is a weird one. When I first watched it, I enjoyed it. Sure, it’s a fun slasher flick, but did it earn a place amongst the other four films? Not a chance… at least not at first. But the more I thought about it, the more it grew on me. Scream (2022) is the perfect slasher for a newer generation, which is what a good sequel needs to be. It is a meta commentary on today’s Letterboxd-loving, cinephile youth. Scream 2 began this meta-narrative and Scream 5 reinvented it for the current generation.

But that’s not all it gets right. Ghostface in Scream 5 has never been more menacing. He commands a presence in these movies like never before. That said, while the new protagonists obviously don’t live up to the iconic trio of Sidney, Dewey, and Gale, Scream 5 still manages to be an exciting legacy sequel at a time when so many horror franchises (looking at you, Halloween) have lost their edge.

3. Scream VI (2023)

• IMDb rating: 6.4/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 77% (Tomatometer) and 90% (Popcornmeter)
• Letterboxd Rating: 3.4/5
• Runtime: 2h 2m
• Director: Tyler Gillett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin

Scream 6 begins by subverting your expectations. The film begins with a classic Ghostface kill, but then immediately flips the formula. The killer unmasks himself and goes home, but as he opens the fridge to find the dismembered remains of his partner, the actual Ghostface shows up and stabs him.

As he’s about to die, the fake Ghostface says, “We have to finish the movie.” The focus is on the real Ghostface as he then says, “Who gives a fuck about movies?” We then cut to the title card as the movie begins, and the camera pans to New York City. The movie just oozes style, in what is arguably the best title card in Scream’s history of title cards.

That said, the reveal of the actual Ghostface is quite underwhelming and might be the worst Ghostface in the Scream franchise. However, up until that point, the killer carries the same menacing presence seen in Scream 5. Ghostface also sports a new cracked mask (clearly inspired by the Halloween reboot), and it looks absolutely gorgeous.

2. Scream 2 (1997)

• IMDb rating: 6.3/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 83% (Tomatometer) and 59% (Popcornmeter)
• Letterboxd Rating: 3.3/5
• Runtime: 2h
• Director: Wes Craven

Scream 2 is one of the best horror movie sequels (despite obviously losing the top spot to the original movie). The movie doubles down on the violence and action. The camera lingers on every stab and scream just long enough to make you squirm in your seat. Scream 2 also introduces the Stab franchise, which is a fictional slasher franchise in the Scream franchise (talk about being meta).

The opening theater sequence, where Jada Pinkett Smith’s character is watching the Stab movie with everyone dressed as Ghostface screaming and laughing as the killing takes place on screen, is the Scream franchise at its best. The real killer is sitting right beside Jada wearing the Ghostface attire, and as he stabs Jada multiple times, she gets up and rushes towards the theater screen.

As the audience watches in awe and Ghostface pops up on the theater screen, blood gushes out of her mouth, and she falls to the ground. Everything in this scene is what makes a Scream movie work and should be the blueprint for any good Scream movie.

1. Scream (1996)

• IMDb rating: 7.4/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Rating: 78% (Tomatometer) and 80% (Popcornmeter)
• Letterboxd Rating: 4.0/5
• Runtime: 1h 51m
• Director: Wes Craven

Finally, we’ve arrived at the top spot that is rightfully still taken by the first Scream movie. This is the movie that redefined the horror genre and cemented itself in pop culture history. The movie begins with Drew Barrymore, who was marketed as one of the leads of the film, being brutally killed at the hands of Ghostface.

Imagine walking into the theater in 1996, seeing Drew Barrymore in every single poster and marketing image of Scream, and thinking she’s one of the leads, only for her to die in the first 10 minutes. This was a historic moment in horror history. The shocking twist of the supposed lead dying right at the beginning of the movie made Scream a classic. The audience was lied to, and they loved it. It’s nearly impossible to recreate this kind of moment today.

And then came another twist that solidified Scream’s legacy: two killers behind the mask, Billy Loomis, appearing as a victim, soaked in blood, only for him to lick it off and say, “Corn syrup. Same stuff they used for pig’s blood in Carrie.” Then we have Matthew Lillard’s Stu Macher, who encapsulates the perfect manic killer energy. This killer duo has set their mark in cinema history that the Scream movies are still trying (and failing) to capture to this day.