Our Heist Guides introduce new fans to something we think is seriously cool, and they may even provide some behind-the-scenes knowledge to longtime diehards. It's everything you need to know to plan your own heist.
We're coming up on three decades since Scream hit theaters, and it remains one of the most recommended horror films of all time, particularly for newcomers to the genre. Funny, scary, and full of well-known faces and well-known horror tropes, it's one of those movies that can rapidly initiate viewers into a certain kind of horror while also ranking as one of the most influential films in the genre, one whose effects are still rippling down through horror history.
Plus, if you really like Scream, then there are the sequels, each of them playing with key elements of the slasher subgenre, each of them full of stars and fresh faces. That original 1996 film is a doorway to all kinds of horror movie fun, but looking at it more than 25 years on with a whole franchise piled on top of it, it can also feel a little intimidating — maybe even like more trouble than it's worth.
But fear not, would-be slasher superfans, because I'm here to hold your hand through your first moves into Ghostface territory. It's time for the Heist Guide to Scream.
What is Scream about?
Very, very simply put, Scream is a 1996 film about a killer in a black robe and hooded white Halloween mask (dubbed "Ghostface" in the original film, and by fans ever since) who terrorizes the fictional California town of Woodsboro, particularly its hard-partying teenagers.
More specifically, Scream is about Woodsboro teenager Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), whose mother Maureen was murdered the year before the first film takes place. Sidney's grief hangs heavy over her life, including her relationship with her boyfriend Billy (Skeet Ulrich) and her best friends. When the Woodsboro killer, fresh off his first murder, starts taunting her about her mother's death, Sidney realizes that Maureen's real killer might not just be still out there, but targeting her next.
Makes sense, but what's so special about that?
If you're familiar in any way with slasher movies and how they work, then "Masked killer chases teenagers with a knife" might sound, at the very least, a bit vanilla to you. So, why has Scream stood the test of time and become one of the most important horror films of the 1990s? It's not just about the plot. It's about how the film approaches the formula of the slasher.
Scream was produced at a time when the slasher movie was in a lull. The '80s heyday was gone and while interesting films within the subgenre were still being made, they were very often relegated to video stores or to cult classic status as they waited to be discovered by a wider audience. What made this film different was its willingness to engage in a very direct way with the tropes of the genre as they'd been codified over the preceding 20 years. It's part satire, part self-aware genre commentary, and all entertaining deep dive into what makes horror movies tick.
Scream achieves this in a few different ways, from supporting characters like horror movie nerd Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) to the Ghostface killer himself, who taunts his victims via threatening phone calls laced with horror trivia and commentary on what's about to happen. If you've ever heard someone ask "What's your favorite scary movie?" in a threatening voice, they're imitating Ghostface, more specifically the voice of actor Roger Jackson, who plays the vocal scrambler that masks the killer's true identity.
But it's not all about knowing winks. The more you watch Scream, the more you see classic elements of slasher cinema subverted. To say more would be to spoil these movies for you, but there's a reason they remain among the most popular, most-quoted, and most imitated horror films of the last 30 years.
Got it! So who created Scream?
This brings us to another piece of the "What makes Scream so great?" puzzle, because the film was brought to life by two heavy-hitters in the genre. It starts with Kevin Williamson, then an unknown screenwriter whose popularity would explode after the film's release through both more horror movies (I Know What You Did Last Summer came out the very next year) and teen dramas (The same guy who created Scream also created Dawson's Creek!). Broke, in need of a screenplay sale, and inspired by the then-new stories of the Gainesville Ripper serial murders, Williamson banged out a story that was then called Scary Movie, and found success through what would become a landmark horror film.
But it's not all Williamson. Scream wouldn't be the classic it is without its director, no less a horror luminary than Wes Craven. The mind behind classics like A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Hills Have Eyes brought his years of experience to Williamson's self-aware slasher, and made the kills work as pieces of iconic terror while also delivering on the satirical, self-referential fun of it all.
How many Scream movies are there?
Scream was a box office smash when it hit theaters in 1996, so a sequel was a no-brainer. Williamson already had ideas for how to continue the story. Scream 2 arrived almost exactly one year later, in 1997, while Scream 3 landed in early 2000.
For a while, that seemed to be the end of things. Then, in 2011, Craven and Williamson reunited for the sorta-legacy-sequel Scream 4, which seemed to close the book on the series once again, particularly after Craven passed away in 2015. But you can't keep a good Ghostface down.
In 2022, the filmmaking collective known as Radio Silence masterminded the franchise's return with Scream, launching a legacy sequel series that now includes Scream VI in 2023, and the upcoming Scream 7, which as of this writing is set for a 2026 release. So, there are six films you can watch right now, with at least one more on the way.
Hang on — there are two movies just called Scream? Why?
Hollywood's bad at naming things? I dunno, it's weird, which is why a lot of the Scream faithful have taken to calling the 2022 film 5cream. It also probably has a lot to do with the 2018 Halloween film, another legacy sequel that simply borrowed its name from the original.
If we take the name at face value, though, it's essentially symbolic of a soft reboot. The 2022 film is a continuation of the whole franchise, but it's also a chance to inject some fresh blood (pun intended) with a whole new group of teenage characters and a whole new paradigm through which to view the franchise. It does make watching the films in order slightly more complicated, though, hence the 5cream naming. It's the fifth film in the series, and should be viewed that way.
Cool. So, 7 movies about one guy in a mask? Like Jason, or Michael?
Oh, no, no, no, this is where the Scream films get even more fun and interesting. In a move that sets it apart from virtually all of the other major slasher franchises out there, Scream is a series that reuses heroes, not villains. Sidney and her friends (the ones who survive, anyway) recur throughout the films, but each new Scream movie is structured as a whodunit.
That means that every one of these movies features a new killer wearing (for various reasons) the same costume, and using the same voice scrambler. The real identity of Ghostface could be anyone you meet along the way. It could be someone close to Sidney or someone we've barely gotten a chance to really know. Plus, there could be more than one Ghostface, making the suspect pool even more interesting the closer you get to the solution. This structure is a key driving force behind the franchise, even as the heroes and supporting cast has shifted over the years.
Does that mean Sidney Prescott is in every movie too?
Almost! Scream keeps its surviving main characters, so Sidney's around a lot, as are characters like ace reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and well-intentioned but often bumbling sheriff's deputy Dewey Riley (David Arquette). Is this a mild spoiler for the first movie? Yes! But if we're talking about the overall franchise, it's important to make these distinctions.
That said, you notice how I said almost up there? Due to a pay dispute, Campbell backed out of appearing in Scream VI in 2023, but she'll be back as Sidney Prescott for Scream 7 in 2026!
So what is Scream 7?
Broadly speaking, we don't really know yet what the actual plot of Scream 7 will be, but we know that Williamson himself has returned to the franchise to direct it, and it'll feature the return of Campbell in the Sidney Prescott role.
The film will also feature a couple of returning characters from the Scream legacy sequels (which I'm not going to spoil because I want you to watch those movies too), and feature Joel McHale and Isabel May as Sidney's husband and daughter, respectively. Does that mean Sidney's family is in Ghostface's crosshairs? Probably!
Ghostface is still after Sidney? What's her deal?
It's complicated, but basically Sidney's parents have a … complex past, and that past comes back to haunt poor Sidney in multiple ways throughout the Scream franchise, whether we're talking about Ghostface killers out for some kind of revenge or Ghostface killers out to be copycats of the other Ghostface killers. At this point, some of them might be out to get her just to prove that they can be the one to kill her.
Because yes, Sidney is still the principal "Final Girl" of the franchise, which is a spoiler but not too much of a spoiler since Neve Campbell has been on movie posters and magazine covers as Sidney for nearly 30 years at this point. She's had a rough life, but she keeps coming back, and keeps dodging Ghostfaces left and right.
Okay. Seven movies, different killers each time, lots of Neve Campbell. Anything else?
There's a TV show too! Between 2015 and 2019, MTV (and later VH1) produced three seasons of a teen horror series based on the original film. Set in the fictional town of Lakewood, Colorado (and in Season 3 the Atlanta area), the show follows a teenager with connections to a dark past who has to fight for her life when a slasher in a mask begins picking off the people around her.
Because of the whodunit nature of the story, Scream: The TV Series was presented in an anthology format, with each season featuring a different killer or killers, and Season 3 featuring a new main character and location entirely. The good news is that, unlike the films, the show is completely disconnected from the original Sidney Prescott/Ghostface continuity, so you can just go watch it independently of the movies. I'll warn you, though: The mask isn't nearly as good.
Where can I watch the Scream movies?
As of this writing, the original Scream trilogy is streaming in its entirety on Max, so you can go and binge those movies right now. Scream 4 is sadly not streaming, so you'll have to rent it, but if you ask me, it's worth it. Scream (2022) and Scream VI are both streaming on Netflix and Paramount+, while the Scream TV series is also rentable. So go and start your Scream journey! You just might find your new favorite scary movie.
