After 3 Years, The Greatest Horror Series Of All Time Returns To Screens This Month

The Scream series is the most acclaimed Hollywood horror franchise of all time, but its upcoming comeback, Scream 7, will have a hard time keeping this historic hot streak alive. Everyone has their own ranking of the Scream movies, but a quick look at the critical reception of the slasher series makes one thing crystal clear.

On the whole, the Scream franchise is widely beloved. Tarantino may dislike 1996’s original Scream, but he’s very much on his own when it comes to that contrarian opinion. From Wes Craven’s peerless direction to Kevin Williamson’s groundbreaking screenplay, the self-aware slasher is one of the most acclaimed horror movies ever.

Scream boasts a Rotten Tomatoes critical rating of 78%, complemented by an almost-equal audience rating of 80%. Scream 2’s rating is even better, with a critical score of 83%, and, while Scream 3 might let down the franchise with an unfortunate 45%, 2011’s belated sequel Scream 4 redeemed things with a solid 61%.

Scream Is The Most Critically Acclaimed Horror Franchise Ever

If these numbers seem a little low for a franchise that has earned almost a billion dollars and is considered one of the most influential movie series of the last thirty years, this is likely because of a widespread critical bias against horror. This was more prevalent before the Elevated Horror boom of the 2010s, when critics warmed to the genre.

This might explain why Scream 2022 and Scream VI enjoy Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 76% and 77%, respectively, as horror movie reviews have become more generous in recent years. Although academics have taken horror movies seriously for decades, it was not uncommon for reviewers to mark horror movies lower than entries into other genres throughout the ‘70s, ‘80s, and ‘90s.

Within this context, the success of the Scream movies is nothing short of astounding. Comparing Rotten Tomatoes critical scores, Scream’s franchise average outdoes Halloween, Leprechaun, The Exorcist, Child’s Play, The Conjuring, Wrong Turn, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, and Candyman. In fact, the worst Scream rating, Scream 3’s 45%, is still higher than the best rating received by any of the Leprechaun movies.

Even The Worst Scream Movies Are Acclaimed

The reason the Scream movies fare so well with critics compared to their genre competitors is that even the franchise’s worst outings are still impressive. Scream 3 is widely recognized as the weakest movie in the series, but the sequel still boasts a starry cast that includes Parker Posey, Emily Mortimer, Patrick Dempsey, Patrick Warburton, and Heather Matarazzo.

Similarly, Scream 4 isn’t the best sequel in the franchise, but the reboot remains well-loved thanks to its ingenious killer reveal and the introduction of Hayden Panettiere’s beloved franchise heroine Kirby. Even the lowest-rated Scream movies have heart, charm, and wit, which is more than many horror franchises can say for their best movies.

Similarly, despite Scream VI’s plot holes, the 2023 sequel managed to earn even better reviews than its 2022 predecessor. This is likely because of the killer chemistry between its leads, Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, who brought new vitality and life to the franchise and ensured this Scream sequel felt fresh and original despite its familiar storyline.

That being said, it will be tough for Scream 7 to continue the franchise’s critical hot streak as the movies enter their fourth decade. After Jenna Ortega left the Scream series due to her co-star Melissa Barrera’s firing, Scream 7 was retooled to focus on Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott, and this could prove the undoing of the entire series.

What Scream 7 Needs To Deliver To Extend The 30-Year Critical Streak

It is tough to see how Scream 7 will win over viewers since the sequel controversially centers on Sidney’s previously unmentioned family. Isobel May stars as Tatum, her teenage daughter who was somehow never mentioned at all in Scream 4, Scream (2022), or Scream VI, while Joel McHale plays a husband viewers have never even seen before.

Scream 7’s new Prescott family is the new movie’s biggest risk, since Scream (2022) focused on passing the baton onto the Scream franchise’s apparent new stars Sam and Tara, while Scream VI didn’t even feature Sidney. How this sequel will not only reveal Sidney’s secret offs-creen life, but retcon her family's absence from earlier sequels, remains a mystery.

Furthermore, Scream 7’s Kevin Williamson comeback puts Sidney’s family at risk, too. Between killing off Casey in Scream and Randy in Scream 2, the screenwriter is famously not averse to killing fan-favorites who seem untouchable. This means that Sidney’s husband, or even Sidney herself, may end up on the chopping block.

This dark twist could imperil the sequel’s critical success, but failing to kill off Sidney or her family could result in the slasher sequel feeling gutless. As such, Scream 7 is left in a tricky no-win position, so it is hard to see how the Scream series will maintain its critical hot streak upon the movie’s release.