Scream

In the films of the Scream franchise, victims are stalked and hunted by Ghostface, a masked persona adopted by different killers in each installment. Starting with the first movie in 1996, the series cut through the growing predictability of the slasher horror subgenre by turning its unspoken conventions and clichés—including who survives, who dies, and in what order—into part of the story. Characters in the franchise are well-versed in the mechanics of horror films, and the suspense usually lies in whether or not established tropes are ultimately subverted. Even when they follow the rules, the Scream movies often do so with a knowing wink and nod to the audience.

Because of its innovative approach to horror storytelling, the franchise is widely credited with reviving flagging interest in slasher films, which were dominant from the late 1970s to the mid-’80s. The influential film series comprises seven features, the first four of which were directed by visionary horror filmmaker Wes Craven. Collectively, the films have grossed more than $1 billion at the box office. The franchise also includes an anthology television spin-off series, which is separate from the continuity of the main films.

Origin and inspiration

The concept for the original movie Scream (1996), in which a killer menaces teens over the phone and invades their homes, was conceived by aspiring screenwriter Kevin Williamson after he learned about the Gainesville Ripper, a real-life serial killer who murdered five college students in their apartments with a knife in Gainesville, Florida, in 1990. Williamson originally titled the film Scary Movie, which would later become the title of a spoof franchise parodying Scream and other horror films. The eventual title of Scream was inspired by a 1995 song of the same name performed by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson.

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Williamson peppered the script with references to his favorite slasher films, including Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th (1980), and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). Craven, who had directed A Nightmare on Elm Street, was approached by Miramax’s Dimension Films to helm what would eventually become Scream. At first Craven declined, as he was considering moving on from the horror genre, but he finally agreed, in part because actress Drew Barrymore was attached as the lead. However, Barrymore later opted to play Casey, the film’s first kill. Audiences were shocked when Barrymore, arguably the most well-known of the actors in the cast at the time, appeared only in the film’s opening sequence.

Editor’s note: The following discussion contains spoilers.

Key characters in the series

Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell): Initially a student at Woodsboro High School (in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California), Sidney is the main target of the Ghostface killers and a “final girl” in several of the films—a trope that refers to the sole survivor of a murder spree who confronts the killer at the end.

Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox): A reporter who investigated the murder of Sidney’s mother, Gale covers subsequent Ghostface murders. After surviving the events of the first film, she writes a bestselling book on the incident, The Woodsboro Murders, which is adapted into an in-universe movie, Stab, which spawns a larger franchise.

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Dewey Riley (David Arquette): A lawman from Woodsboro and a friend of Sidney’s, Dewey helps her evade and capture several killers. He is involved in a complicated on-and-off relationship with Gale Weathers.

Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy): A friend of Sidney’s, Randy is a fan of horror films and attempts to use his horror movie expertise to outsmart the killers.

Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich): Sidney’s boyfriend in the first film, Billy is one of the original Ghostface killers.

Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard): The other Ghostface killer in the first film; he is Billy’s best friend and willing accomplice.

Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere): A survivor of the Ghostface murders in Scream 4 (2011), Kirby becomes an FBI agent and investigates subsequent crimes in Scream VI (2023).

Samantha (Sam) Carpenter (Melissa Barrera): A Woodsboro resident, Sam serves as the protagonist of the fifth and sixth films.

Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega): Samantha’s sister, Tara is the deuteragonist of the fifth and sixth films.

Voice of Ghostface (Roger L. Jackson): Ghostface’s iconic voice—achieved through the use of a voice changer in the narrative of the films—remains constant across all seven films and is provided by Roger L. Jackson.

Plot evolution

The first film is set in the fictional small town of Woodsboro, California. In a celebrated opening horror sequence, high schooler Casey receives a phone call from an unknown man who engages her in a discussion of horror films, famously asking, “What’s your favorite scary movie?” The conversation takes a sinister turn when the caller insists that Casey answer a series of trivia questions about horror films in order to save the life of her boyfriend, whom he has kidnapped and tied up. When Casey answers a question incorrectly, her boyfriend is killed, and Casey is stabbed soon after by a killer in the Ghostface costume as she attempts to flee.

After receiving a similar phone call and facing an attempt on her life, fellow high-school student Sidney, whose mother was murdered a year earlier, is marked as Ghostface’s main target. After the principal of Sidney’s high school is killed, classes are suspended, and the town becomes obsessed with the killings. Deputy Sheriff Dewey Riley, the older brother of Sidney’s best friend, and reporter Gale Weathers, who has written a controversial book about the murder of Sidney’s mother, investigate the attacks, often crossing paths. Meanwhile, fellow student and horror film enthusiast Randy Meeks guesses at the killer’s identity and explains to his friends and acquaintances the rules to follow when trying to survive a real-life horror movie situation. In the end it is revealed that Sidney’s boyfriend, Billy, and his best friend, Stu, have been working together to commit the murders, each wearing a Ghostface costume and using a voice changer over the phone. They also confess that they were the ones who killed Sidney’s mother because she had been having an affair with Billy’s father, which had led Billy’s mother to leave the family. Planning to frame Sidney’s father for all of the murders, Billy and Stu stab each other to seem like intended victims. As they close in on Sidney, Gale comes to the rescue. Sidney and Gale dispatch the killers and, along with the wounded Randy and Dewey, survive the night.

The next three films continue to follow Sidney and, to varying degrees, Dewey and Gale, who are romantically involved. Though he is killed by Ghostface in the second film, Randy also makes an appearance via videotape in Scream 3 (2000). The killers in subsequent films often have personal connections to Sidney or to the killers in the first film. Unlike other slasher franchises, in which the same supernatural killer somehow returns each time to terrorize new or former victims, the killer (usually revealed to be multiple killers) in the Ghostface costume is different each time, and every movie has a “whodunit” element. The killers generally attack with knives and often express an interest in or even an obsession with horror films. To compound the meta horror film references, beginning in Scream 2 (1997), there is an in-universe series of films based on the Ghostface murders called Stab, which is often referenced by the characters. Scream 3 (2000) revolves around the making of one of the Stab movies.

The fifth and sixth films, Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023), are “requels” (reboot sequels) of the series with new main characters: sisters Samantha (Sam) and Tara Carpenter, the former of whom is secretly Billy’s daughter. Their friends include Randy’s niece and nephew, Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown). Characters from the original run of films also appear but are not the main focus, though Dewey’s death is one of the most significant moments in the fifth film. Scream 7 (2026) returns the focus to Sidney, who now has a daughter (Isabel May) with her police officer husband (Joel McHale). The family comes under threat from a trio of Ghostface killers, one of whom uses his advanced technology to mimic the voices and appearance of dead characters from previous movies, including Dewey and Stu.

In addition to the seven films, the spinoff Scream: The TV Series (2015–19) reimagines the original concept with new characters and settings over the course of three seasons. The television series is not in continuity with the films and has no crossover characters.

List of movies in the Scream franchise