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The phone rings. A man asks, “What’s your favorite movie?” What begins as a potentially innocent conversation quickly becomes threatening and Casey, the high school girl who is about to be the victim of a heinous crime, is forced to play a movie trivia game to save her boyfriend, Steve’s life. Casey gets an answer wrong and suddenly sees Steve tied to a chair outside…with his intestines falling out.
Steve is the first victim of the mysterious killer. And so it begins…the slasher kicks off.
The unseen caller throws a chair through the glass door and comes in searching for Casey. That’s when we see him for the first time. Ghostface. Wearing a full black drape with a ghostly mask, he wields a hunting knife, a Buck 120, to be exact, which he will use to brutally murder Casey, just as her parents arrive home.
We all know the notorious opening scene of the franchise, and though the casts and crews have changed over the years, they continue to deliver these horrifying moments.
With the debut of Scream, the Ghostface mask suddenly became the literal face of the franchise. Scenes from the movies would immediately register with a viewer upon any visual or mention of the mask.
Fun Fact: The concept for the mask was modeled after Fun World’s Fantastic Faces, a series of Halloween masks, the inspiration for which was titled The Peanut-Eyed Ghost. The mask was discovered in a garage at a location scouting, and director Wes Craven immediately recognized its similarity to Edward Munch’s haunting The Scream painting. They modeled tens of designs after the mask but ultimately obtained the rights to the Fun World design.
Spanning close to three decades, the Scream franchise has horrified viewers time and time again – and we don’t see them stopping anytime soon. Here’s the best order to watch the Scream movies.
Scream (1996)
High school senior Sidney Prescott (Nev Campbell) is grieving the death of her mother, who was murdered just one year ago, when two of her classmates are found brutally murdered by an unknown suspect.
Before long, Sidney comes face to face with Ghostface and finds herself dodging the Buck 120 until the masked figure eventually flees when Sidney attempts to contact 911.
Ghostface returns to haunt Sidney, repeatedly threatening her over the phone in his infamous voice. Sidney must then do her best to survive the impending slayings, leaning on her friends for support, all while not knowing who she can trust.
Nothing in the franchise is more infamous than the party at Stu Macher’s (Matthew Lillard) house. Note to self: always look behind you.
Who is this franchise’s OG killer? And who will die at the hands of Ghostface?
Scream 2 (1997)
The highly anticipated sequel was released less than a year later. Having survived Ghostface the first time around but still trying to heal from the murders of those around her, Sidney begins her freshman year at Windsor College.
As she ventures into what she hopes to be a new life far from her hometown, two college students are murdered at the premiere of “Stab,” a movie based on the Woodsboro Murders Sidney hoped she had left behind.
It’s clear there’s a copycat, and she must find out who it is. Her new boyfriend? Her best friend? Someone new altogether?
Scream 3 (2000)
When someone from Sidney’s past is murdered, and the unknown killer calls her home phone, she leaves her remote cabin and fake life to travel to Hollywood, where the murders have started once again – on the set of Stab 3.
Cast members are being killed off one by one, in the same order as how they die in the third installment. However, with three versions of the script, where the order of deaths never stays the same, it’s impossible to know for sure who might be next.
Sidney’s travels lead her to reunite with the survivors of the Woodsboro and Windsor College murders and to meet new people who may or may not survive the brutal slayings.
Everyone appears to be a suspect, and once again, Sidney doesn’t know who she can trust. The detectives? The actress portraying her? The other survivors? She’ll find out soon enough.
Scream 4 (2011)
It’s been 15 years since the Woodsboro Murders, and Sidney has coped by writing a self-help book. She returns to Woodsboro as a part of her book tour, only to find out that two high school students were murdered the day before.
After evidence of the murders is found in Sidney’s car, she becomes a suspect and must stay in town while the detectives investigate. Sidney’s younger cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) and her friend group are at the forefront of the killer’s spree, and Sidney must protect them without getting herself killed in the process.
Scream (2022)
Twenty-five years have passed since the original Woodsboro Murders. Local high school student Tara (Jenna Ortega) is attacked in her home by someone donning the Ghostface mask.
Her estranged sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) returns to Woodsboro with her boyfriend Richie (Jack Quaid) to reunite with her sister. Sam needs to protect her younger sister, but she also has a super dark secret she can’t imagine sharing.
As Sam and Tara navigate familial troubles on top of the ongoing murder spree, they reach out to a Woodsboro original survivor for help. One of Tara’s friends, Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown,) who is also connected to an original survivor, deduces that the killer is following the rules of a “requel,” that is, a reboot and a sequel.
They must discover hidden connections in order to solve the mystery of the fifth Ghostface murders.
The town of Woodsboro sees that these murder sprees will keep happening – no matter how far removed they are from the tragic night in the nineties.
Scream VI (2023)
The survivors of the last round of murders move to New York City for a fresh start, only to discover for themselves that fresh starts don’t necessarily exist.
More versions of Ghostface emerge, and as the people around them begin to be killed off, Sam and Tara can only trust each other as they try to put an end to another senseless killing spree.
Scream 7 (in development, rumored to be released in 2024)
While we don’t know much about Scream 7, it’s rumored to be starring Tara once again.
We have no idea what’s in store for us besides a whole lot of slashing.
You can watch all of the Scream movies on Paramount +, with the exception of Scream 4, available on Starz.