The original 1997 film Scream follows Sidney Prescott, a high schooler who becomes the target of a horror-obsessed mask-wearing killer, Ghostface, in the sleepy town of Woodsboro. All 4 Craven-directed films follow Sidney as various new psychopaths don the Ghostface masks and begin the nightmare anew. The Gillett and Bettinelli-Olpin sequels follow new protagonists, Tara and Sam Carpenter, as they find themselves likewise targeted by Ghostface imitators. The later films boast a strong continuity with their predecessors, featuring many returning characters and achieving a similar balance of genre pastiche and earnest horror. For clarity’s sake, the 5th installment in the franchise, Scream (2022), will be referred to as Scream 5.

1 Scream Has Moved Away From Neve Campbell's Sidney

The decades-long continuation of Scream 1-4 protagonist Sidney Prescott’s torment at the hands of numerous masked killers constructs a compelling overarching narrative in which the character becomes a sort of tragic figure, one who is cursed to see those around her killed again and again. With Sidney handing the torch of franchise lead to Sam Carpenter in Scream 5, it’s the end of an era; however, it’s hard to argue Sidney doesn’t deserve a break after all she’s been through. Neve Campbell declined to appear in Scream 6 amid a pay dispute, confirming the end of the character’s run as series protagonist.

2 Modern Scream Is Using New Technology & Filming Techniques

Wes Craven’s Scream films demonstrate a continued commitment to the cutting edge, with every new film embracing new technology both on and off-screen. Scream 2’s plot features the use of caller-ID technology, while Scream 4’s post-production made use of CGI for the first time in the franchise. However, one technique that Craven’s era of Scream films didn’t have access to is digital de-aging. Scream 5 & 6’s controversial use of a de-aged Billy Loomis proved unpopular with some, but it allows the franchise to bring back one of its most significant characters in a meaningful way. The bold use of innovative technology keeps the series fresh.

3 Scream Has TWO Franchise Leads Now

There’s no dispute that Sidney Prescott is the sole protagonist of Scream 1-4. Gale Weathers also persists throughout the franchise as a final girl, but she often operates within her own subplots and rarely finds herself at the heart of the killings. With Scream 5 & 6, both Sam and Tara Carpenter could make claim to being the series lead. Both sisters prove resilient final girls who see their loved ones killed off by Ghostface. While it’s true that Sam Carpenter has seen more screen time in the franchise so far, this could change with Jenna Ortega’s rise to fame and the franchise’s positioning Ortega’s Tara as the new Sidney.

4 Scream 5 Broke A Ghostface Identity Rule

In Scream 1-4, the killing sprees were generally explained by a mix of self-referential commentary on the horror genre and a personal history with the protagonist that is revealed at the film’s climax. The personal history aspect is a double-edged sword; if done well, as in Scream, it can add an engrossing dimension of human investment to the drama; if done poorly, as with the soapy identity reveal of Billy Loomis’ mother in Scream 2, it can feel melodramatic and contrived. Scream 5 sidesteps this danger altogether by being the first in the franchise to feature two killers who have no hidden personal history with the character.

5 Ghostface Has More Firepower In Scream 6

The Craven Scream films generally keep pistols out of the killer’s hands until the climax. After all, the distance and efficiency allowed by a gun makes for far less engaging kills than the brutal intimacy of a knife. Scream 6 breaks this tradition, not only putting a gun in the killer’s hands sooner but upgrading the firepower to a shotgun. It’s a risky move; once the killer shows a readiness to use guns, it’s harder to buy them going back to the inefficient knife. However, the gamble pays off, with the bodega shotgun sequence proving brutal and inventive.

6 Scream 6's Bustling Urban Setting

Scream 6 takes a big risk in moving the franchise’s action to a bustling urban metropolis. The majority of the films take place in the quiet town of Woodsboro and even Scream 3, which takes place in Los Angeles, focuses the action on empty studio lots and private dwellings. Horror generally thrives in quiet, empty spaces, but there’s something just as frightening about kills that occur in ostensibly safe, crowded areas. One of Scream’s best opening scenes takes place in a crowded movie theater in Scream 2. The packed subway car and busy bodega in Scream 6 meet and escalate the terror of an attack in a bustling environment.

7 Scream Movies Are Getting Longer

Scream films are of a more or less consistent length, with none of Wes Craven’s films going over 2 hours. It’s generally recommended for a slasher film to keep its runtime short, so as to ensure a maintained momentum. However, Scream 6’s 122 minute runtime makes it the first in the franchise to run over 2 hours. While this length isn’t a far cry from Scream 2’s 120 minutes, the willingness to cross this threshold puts Scream 6 at odds with Craven’s installments and aligns itself with the modern trend of longer runtimes for horror films, as seen in Midsommar, Suspiria (2018) and IT Chapter Two.

8 Ghostface's Collateral Damage Has Increased

Ghostface isn’t imbued with supernatural abilities like some other horror protagonists; their high body count can generally be chalked up to a meticulous nature. Ghostface shows a calculating streak which allows them to isolate their victims and strike when they are at their most vulnerable. Scream 6 departs from this tradition by featuring a Ghostface who disregards caution, throwing themselves into high-risk situations and dispatching any bystanders who might get in the way. It’s a change that distinguishes Scream 6’s killer as dangerously brazen, willing to chalk up messy collateral damage in pursuit of a kill.

9 Scream Is Putting More Emphasis On Fan Culture

The distinguishing feature of the Scream series has always been its keen critique of the wider culture in which it exists; throughout Wes Craven’s run, these critiques have generally been focused on the collective controversy around horror’s effect on the psyche of viewers. However, public discourse around this subject has died down since the '90s and 2000s. Scream 5 & 6 comment on one phenomenon that has grown more ravenous in the internet age: toxic fan culture. The killers in these films display a level of caustic entitlement to the meta series, commenting less on Scream’s identity as a horror series and more on its existence as a legacy property.

10 Modern Scream's Survival Rates Are Pretty Good

Scream 1-4 showed little regard for the sanctity of its core characters’ lives. Outside of the three leads, survival rates for Ghostface’s attacks are extremely low. In Scream 5 & 6, core characters are far more likely to survive apparently fatal attacks. While it’s true that Dewey meets his end in Scream 5, Tara, Sam, Mindy, and Chad all survive multiple stab wounds, and the films even bring back Kirby from Scream 4 after her apparent demise. It makes sense that a franchise losing its original core characters would hope to keep some consistency in its cast, but Ghostface’s attacks feel less impactful when survival rates are high.