This isn’t going to be some shocking opinion or me tryin to be smarter than the room. The OG is BY FAR the best there is. After that, people will have some wiggle room to debate their favs.
Scream. To this day, one of theeeeee absolute best film experiences I’ve ever had. My future wife and I missed it when it came out, it was sooooo popular that it was for some reason re-released in the theater in the Spring, and we decided to check it out. Went in blind. 5 minutes in, I was breath taken. Such an amazing open. No film will ever do that to me again. I wish I could MIB myself just so I could do it all over again. It was smart, witty, hip, didn’t take itself too serious while breaking walls, a little ridiculous (as all horror films ultimately are especially considering the idea of a random boy hanging out in a girls bathroom stall for ___ amount of time and somehow knowing exactly when to make a scare. (Literally, come the hell on
) But it all worked. The cast was perfectly put together, the story was sharp. You second guessed damn near every character in the film. It was brilliant. It was Star Wars in the sense that you feel like Empire upped the ante and surpassed, but not one person can ever explain the way 1977 hit them over the head for the first time like that. Most folks give Empire the nod as the best, but OG Star Wars was their first. Scream was like that. It COULD be surpassed in terms of overall story/plot/execution, but OG 96 will always be the first.
Scream 4. Despite not having the “first” part I alluded too, story wise, this ALMOST pulled off being the better story/finish. I will die believing this could have changed Horror. It COULD have been one of the goats, if they had the balls, but they didn’t. They played it safe instead of swinging for the fences. Alas, it’s still really really good, it delivers, it just didn’t go for the home run they could have hit. The time passage was good enough, the coming back to Woodsboro right, the next gen, related genes, the really solid opening etc was all proper.
Scream 5. Very interesting spin. In fact, again, I’m excited with the future they could go with here. I can’t get too far into specifics here, but Sam and her lineage…..the border of victim nay killer…..I could see somethin there. We could get crazy. In terms of bringing in the OG 3 and the nostalgia, I was good with it. It also offered maybe the most awesome visual of the five films yet, I will save that moment until more have seen, but most will recognize it. It was a powerful image (to me) Stakes raised, new era formed, just as self-aware as the OG but with modern takes. Dialogue just as strong, the self-doubt of each and every character again, all really well done. Again with a little bit of that “horror-magic” that needs to happen to have the killer in all the right places, even in broad daylight, but hey.
The Stab 8 scenes were hilarious and the self-depreciating way they made fun of Stab 5 all got me sittin there lookin like Leo pointing at the screen.
Scream 2. I really like this movie, and the fact that it’s 4th should speak to the franchise strength. It actually offers my actual favorite line, the quip from Randy about wanting to play with the big boys, Manson, Bundy, OJ……
It was a solid progression, college, new pieces still blended in with the originals. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a solid follow up to the OG and a bit rushed, which I suspect is part of why it didn’t quite stick the landing. Take an extra 6-9 months and they might have come a little closer. But on its own, it’s a solid sequel, just not Empire.
Scream 3. Again, I liked the film, but of the 5, it has to be last. It’s Tokyo Drift. A decent enough film, but last in the franchise. Has some heart, has some good moments, has some fun characters, but just not enough to beat out the other films. The movie within a movie within a movie stuff was ok, certainly laid the tracks for the Stab franchise to be such a key part in the next films.
I expect a Scream 6. And tho I wish for a certain angle, I don’t know if they’ll go thru with it. Something like that is hard to gauge with your audience, especially given the topic they follow so well in the Requel. (Such a clever phrase) It would take serious guts to do it, and it would need some sign off from someone, and I don’t know if that happens. I think the girl that plays Sam could pull it off. She showed it. The storyline is built in. But, they may play it safe and carry on with the random thrills and screams and just deliver horror films rather than truly genre bending films.
Regardless of me liking the franchise, to me, it belongs with the true Horror OG’s. If you wanna watch Halloween, just watch 78. Thassit. If you want Elm Street, just do 84. If you want Scream, do 96 and you’re Gucci. I could live off those forever without having to worry about sequels and all that, even the ones I actually liked. 1996 Scream is one of the best films/theater experiences I have ever had. It’s part of why I love going to theaters, hoping for an experience like that where I am completely shocked, in a good way.
s. I was reaching to make my point, but I do however think Omar gets labeled as one of the best "black actors" instead of just being an amazing actor. They keep my guy in a box.
walkingBred went to the old-timey theater. But that movie is not that enjoyable even if the main protagonist, Buddy, and also the father, Jamie Dornan, were good. 3/8.
