Every Scream Movie Ranked

2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the first Scream movie, as well as the release of Scream 7 and the biggest box office haul in franchise history. Early in this site’s history, I did a review binge and podcast episode on the series to date (at that point, just four movies!), and I’ve kept up with the Screams since. The more horror I watch, the more I see the ways that the genre has fashioned itself in the image of this scrappy franchise, slashers especially. Quick-witted comedy, self-awareness, structural playfulness, and runtimes 15-20 minutes too long: you see all of it in every Scream, and you see it in horror everywhere in the 2020s.

Here are all the Scream movies to date ranked from worst to best.

7. Scream 7 (2026)

Is It Good? Not Very Good (3/8)

A big nothing-burger of a film, not horrifically bad so much as insultingly pointless. Writer Kevin Williamson returns to the series as director and co-writer, but he’s got nothing to say about the state of modern horror. Everything behind the scenes, especially the firing of Melissa Barrera, harms the film, too. The vibes are bad, and the “core 4” dynamic that worked in parts 5 and 6 is gone. The lone bright spot is Neve Campbell, who is sharper and more invested here than she’s been in a long time.

Full review here.

6. Scream 3 (2000)

Is It Good? Nearly Good (4/8)

Wes Craven is a good enough director of horror and suspense that even his weakest entry in the series mostly holds together, but you can tell three movies in a little over three years had drained the well of Scream ideas and soured everybody involved on the Hollywood machine. Kevin Williamson was too busy to write this one; Ehren Kruger built a script out of his discarded notes, and it shows. Some moments, like a chase shot on a fake movie set recreating the climax of the first film, still really pop, but the story is barely coherent and mean-spirited. Parker Posey is a great addition; Courteney Cox’s bangs are not.

Full review here.

5. Scream (5) (2022)

Is It Good? Nearly Good (4/8)

The legacy sequel/reboot, confusingly titled just “Scream,” was directed by the collective Radio Silence following Wes Craven’s death in 2015. It does a decent job resetting the series, leaning harder than ever into the in-universe world where Stab is a horror classic. This one has good casting, the nastiest and most creative kills in the series to that point, and a stretch near the midpoint that follows a doomed teenager around for four minutes without a single jump scare, maybe the strangest and tensest scene in the whole franchise. But it’s ultimately too bland and forgettable to leave a puncture wound, its meta jokes too repetitive after Scream 4 already worked the same reboot angle.

Full review here.

4. Scream VI (2023)

Is It Good? Good (5/8)

Scream VI (yes, the only one titled with Roman numerals) is really Scream: The Reboot, Part 2, picking up where the film from the previous year left off. The plotting grows rickety, especially in the second half, in which the characters make constant dum-dum decisions and always manage to survive when getting stabbed. But the New York flavor is good, the “core four” have genuine chemistry by this point, and the film’s high point is one of the series’ best set pieces: a stalking sequence on a crowded New York subway.

Full review here.

3. Scream 4 (2011)

Is It Good? Very Good (6/8)

Wes Craven’s final Scream, arriving eleven years after part 3, is the silliest of the bunch, with a great cast of young actors from teen soaps and sitcoms. It’s filled with jokes about reboots and legacy sequels. The meta gags and the villain reveals work better here than in any Scream since the original, but the movie can’t entirely overcome some narrative flab and some ugly digital cinematography.

Full review here.

2. Scream 2 (1997)

Is It Good? Very Good (6/8)

Although it was rushed through production in the wake of Scream’s breakout success, Scream 2 is remarkably confident and effective, with bold, stylistic set pieces and a fascinating meta lens on the perils of unexpected fame. The film’s plot grows scatterbrained from time to time, and it can’t match the original in iconic lines and images. The villain reveal is kinda loopy but offers a few interesting thematic bows to tie. In short, Scream 2 is one of the better horror movies of the ’90s.

Full review here.

1. Scream (1996)

Is It Good? Very Good (6/8)

It’s tough to overstate how important Scream was in the evolution (more like resurrection) of slashers. It synthesized a bunch of different ideas into a brand new tone of horror that would come to dominate the late ’90s and early ’00s. Kevin Williamson’s script cross-bred horror with teen comedy, crackled with sarcastic but sparkling dialogue, showed self-awareness of the corny tropes of horror movies, and fully rejected the dour slog of early ’90s horror. The film’s meta jokes feel dated and self-satisfied in our postmodern, endless-discourse world, but the spirit endures. Just as importantly, Scream is a great piece of horror suspense as directed by Wes Craven (it is, in fact, much scarier than most of the classic slashers it references), from its all-timer opening through the iconic villain reveal(s). The movie is filled with a delightful cast of characters and a bunch of memorable images.

The Screams are all imperfect, but the series is more consistent than most of horror’s long-running horror franchises. And yet there’s no doubt that the original comes out at the top of the pack.

Full review here.

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Dan is the founder and head critic of The Goods. Follow Dan on Letterboxd. Join the Discord for updates and discussion.