TheScreamseries is one of the most famous and recognizable slasher franchises in Hollywood. Created by horror icon Wes Craven, who directed the first four films, theScreamseries has managed to do something that many other slashers have struggled to do: consistently satisfy both its fans and general audiences. With six films to its name now, you would expect to find a few duds in there somewhere. While some of the films are certainly better than others, the series has, for the most part, continued to deliver upon the premise that wasestablished in its first outing in 1996.
Most major slasher franchises, likeHalloweenandFriday the 13th, have had some colossal failures over the years.Scream, however,has not only managed to stay afloat, but it has actually continued to grow and is now arguably undergoing one of the most successful periods in the series’ history. With the releases ofScream(the fifth one) in 2022,Scream VIthis year, and a seventh entry being planned, the series has successfully returned to the big screen to find a dedicated fan base awaiting it. As so many other horror series have withered and died away over the years,Screamhas stayed sharp and remained remarkably resilient at the box office. Here’s how the series has managed to keep audiences interested over the decades.
Self-Awareness
A key factor thatdifferentiatesScreamfrom so many other horror franchises is how the films have played with and subverted the tropes of a typical scary movie. TheScreammovies go beyond merely acknowledging horror clichés, instead opting to fully embrace, embody, and poke fun at these ideas.
Starting with the very first movie, theScreamfranchise has always been incredibly self-aware. Film culture and the overall attitude toward horror make up the foundation on which these movies are structured. Throughout every film, characters are openly talking about the “rules” of scary movies and how they typically play out, even within theScreamfranchise itself. This gives the series a unique edge and playfulness that is hard to find in any other major horror franchise.
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While the first film openly plays with these ideas, the sequel takes things even further. It does this by establishing an in-universe film franchise inspired by the events of the first outing. The “Stab” movies, as they’re called in-universe, are dramatic interpretations of the events of each film in theScreamseries.
By introducing this dynamic into the films, the series is able to not only play off and satirize other films in the slasher canon, but it can even do so with previous films in its own series. Each newScreammovie actively recognizes the previous entries as films and is acutely aware of how their stories unfolded. Because of that, the series is able to constantly play with the ideas and theories that its real-life audience has about each entry by giving these real theories and opinions regarding the films to characters within theScreammovies themselves. This makes the experience of watching theScreammovies significantly more interactive than any other slasher series.
Sticking to Its Formula
Even though theScreammovies are incredibly aware of the typical horror movie tropes and clichés, that doesn’t mean they don’t still embrace these aspects of the genre. The series has a very strict formula that is applied to each new film. Every movie starts withthe murder of the “first girl”who is typically one of the most recognizable names from the cast, such as Drew Barrymore in the first outing.
Then, the film will shift into a murder-mystery-style approach to the slasher genre, with all the lead characters attempting to deduce who the murderer is. The murderer is often one (or even two) of these lead characters, which is revealed in a twist later in the film. Along the way, there are many different phone call conversations with the killer, lots of asking “What’s your favorite scary movie?,” an exorbitant number of people getting stabbed, and many other recurring franchise staples.
While sticking close to a formula like this could easily lead to a franchise getting stale, the opposite has proven to be true with theScreamseries. This franchise works precisely because of its repetitive nature. People love the formula of these movies. They know precisely what kind of movie they are in for with the newestScreamouting while simultaneously (and ideally) knowing next to nothing about the actual twists and turns the movie will provide.
This makes each newScreammovie feel just as exciting and entertaining as the last, and it keeps people coming back for more every time. The franchise has had fun playing around with the formula, with Scream 5 having the first victim survive and thenScream VIfeaturing a fake-out Ghostface who becomes a victim himself to the real killer. It is a formula, a simple, clear formula but one that allows for plenty of wiggle room.
Keeping Things Fresh
Although theScreamfranchise adheres so strictly to its formula, it also deserves praise for its consistent willingness to reinvent its approach to that formula. Each new entry in the series has something new to offer. While the first film plays on the idea of horror movie clichés, the second doubles down on that idea by introducing the whole movie-within-a-movie concept into the franchise. Each new chapter of theScreamseries has its own particular pitch that separates it from what has come before.
These changes are just as crucial an element to theScreamseries as the core story outline they all follow. This is especially true of the newest entries in the series.
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Scream(2022) introduced an entirely new cast of characters into the series, giving the audience a new generation of heroes and murderers to fall in love with. Without spoiling anything about that film, or the newest entry,Scream VI, these two movies do an excellent job of skewering the modern idea of what a movie franchise should be. They play with the ideas of fandom, online toxicity, and the current state of franchise filmmaking. They arecomplete with legacy characters, a willingness to expand the world in unexpected new directions, and a consistent desire to remind viewers of what came before through an onslaught of nostalgia baiting.
The newScreamfilms are able to introduce these elements and then equally capitalize on their benefits while also bringing attention to how dumb they can be. It’s honestly impressive. This kind of expansion has kept theScreamfranchise alive, fighting off the odds that each new entry will be the last.
Continuity
Scream’s resurgence can partially be linked to the popularity of franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the recent expansion ofStar Warsfilms. While in the 2000s, the idea of a horror remake that wiped the slate clean with a new take on the classic story was ideal, now continuity has become key. Legacy sequels that maintain continuity with the original films are what is hot right now, andScreamis perfect for that.
TheScreammovies have kept the same sense of continuity since the first film. Each movie builds on itself, weaving a massive story that spans decades that audiences can follow and feel like they are part of a bigger story. Sidney Prescott didn’t show up in the latest installment, but it was still about what happened in Woodsboro decades ago. Audiences now follow the kids and siblings of past characters. In contrast, the Blumhouse-led reboot of theMichael Myers universe ofHalloweentossed aside the continuity of the previous filmsaside from the 1978 original. The result was a lukewarm reception by fans.
Scream Endures Because The Victims Are More Important Than The Killers
What is fascinating is thatScreamwas created to satirize the slashers of the 1970s and ’80s.It provided a brief boost to the genre in the 1990sthat quickly faded, and many of the most popular masked killers were largely absent in the 2010s. Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and even Ghostface himself took a break while found footage horror series like Paranormal Activity or paranormal hauntings likeThe Conjuringbecame the dominant horror genre. It is clear that the era Scream was even mocking seemed dead whenScream 4was released in 2011 and was a disappointment.
YetScreamhas bounced back and is as big as it was in the 1990s. While Freddy and Jason still have not had a movie in over a decade, Leatherface has been reduced to cheap reboots every few years for a streaming service, and Chucky is on television; Scream has become a blockbuster franchise once more. The only other major one to return in such a big way isHalloween, but even that slowed down quickly. While the 2018 film was an undisputed hit, the two sequels, 2021’sHalloween Killsand 2022’sHalloween Ends, were disappointments by critics and audiences.
Yet the key to the franchise’s longevity might be the characters. The other slasher films put the emphasis on the killers. Yet by nature of being a mystery, Ghostface is an icon but not who the audience is invested in seeing. The Scream movies have to work on building up their cast of characters so there is weight to their deaths and triumphant to their survival and betrayals when they are revealed as killers. They are more than victims, they are characters that audiences root for and want to return to and see more of. It is why Sidney Prescott, Gail Summers, Dewey Finn, and now the new core four are so iconic and will continue to endure.
Screamis both nostalgic and fresh. It has a long-running franchise history audiences can enjoy digging deep into but also manages to stay relevant for each generation. The basis of the killer being a mysterymeans audiences invest in the charactersand one audiences will follow for years to come. All eyes are now onScream VII, which looks to continue the franchise forward in some interesting ways.
