Outside Jaws and Halloween it’s hard to imagine an opening scene in horror film history that is more iconic than that of Wes Craven’s Scream. It is one of the definitive examples of how to escalate tension to the boil-over point. Those 13 minutes are fully deserving of being displayed in screenwriting classes. But those 13 minutes set a mighty high bar for the franchise. Like the Ghostface reveal (more often reveals, plural), the opening scene of a Scream film is expected to be strong. It needs to be a commentary on something, or at least be as shocking as the deaths of Steven Orth and Casey Becker.
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Quite impressively, the franchise hasn’t disappointed. There are no outright awful opening scenes in a Scream film. However, of the seven, results have varied. The first one’s isn’t the only truly great one, but there have been examples that fell far short. Which ones are which? Let’s find out.
Spoilers for Scream 7 follow.
7) Scream 4
Outside the irritating over-bright light filter, Scream 4 is a winner. It looks even better now than it did in 2011 (not visually, but as a film). It’s funny, it’s scary, and the pair of Ghostface reveals are phenomenal.
But it gets off to a rough start. What’s its point? That meta is hack now? It wasn’t even particularly overdone in 2011. In fact, it still kind of works 15 years later. Then there’s the fact that it’s just too much. We get a standard stalk and slash scene that is revealed to be Stab 6, then another featuring Kristen Bell stabbing Anna Paquin that is revealed to be Stab 7, then the official opening which kicks off with Britt Robertson’s Marnie Cooper saying that it doesn’t make sense that Stab 7‘s opening is the opening of Stab 6. She’s not wrong. It’s an entertaining opening, and technically the deaths of Marnie and Jenny Randall are relevant to later events (Jill and Olivia getting calls from their numbers), but it’s the franchise’s most shrug-worthy.
Stream Scream 4 on Paramount+.
6) Scream 3
Right off the bat, Scream 3 announces itself as inferior to the two movies that precede it. It can still build tension, but not as well as Scream or Scream 2. Furthermore, it announces itself as not quite as clever as those two movies.
Even still, it does work. Of all the third movie scenes that kill off an important character early on (usually a very bad sign for a trilogy capper, see Beverly Hills Cop III and RoboCop 3 for further proof), this one is the best. Ghostface is still kind of scary, we like Cotton Weary well enough so it’s hard to see him go. His departure does do the job of upping the stakes. Again, it works. But “it works” isn’t the same as “brilliant,” and “brilliant” is what the opening of the first two movies was.
Stream Scream 3 for free on Kanopy.
5) Scream 7
Some might disagree with Scream 7‘s opening ranking this low. After all, the Stu Macher house Airbnb is easily one of the film’s best scenes. But it ranks this low for a reason: it has next to nothing to do with the plot itself.
The running thread in Scream 7 is that Stu is back. He isn’t, but we and Sidney are being led to believe that’s the case. The opening scene exists only to make the audience believe this is the case. The burning down of the Airbnb and the two people who were killed just before are never really brought up to or by Sidney, much less deemed important. Anyway, it’s not like it absolutely had to be Stu who burned down the house. It’s memorable enough, it’s a great trailer moment, but it’s one of two openings in the franchise that don’t exactly serve to kick the narrative into gear.
4) Scream VI
The other opening scene that doesn’t kick the narrative into gear is Scream VI‘s, but it ranks higher just for how much it throws things off. Technically, when you’re watching Scream 7‘s beginning, you don’t feel like you’re watching anything knew. You’re watching a stalk and kill scene. They’re the bread and butter of the slasher subgenre.
Scream VI‘s is a stalk and kill scene as well, but it then subverts the expectation of this particular franchise. Ghostface kills his target…and takes off his mask. The third act becomes the first act. But, then, the third act again becomes the first act because in comes another Ghostface, who kills not the murderous Jason Carvey and his boyfriend, who is diced up in the refrigerator. Points also go to it for featuring Samara Weaving in an A-list slasher property. It was only a matter of time, and the number one modern scream queen doesn’t disappoint.
Stream Scream VI on Paramount+.
3) Scream (2022)
Scream (2022) wants the audience to know from the very beginning that it holds the power of Wes Craven’s original film close to its heart. However, it also wants to convey that it isn’t content repeating the classic’s story beats. It succeeds on both counts.
The stalking of Jenna Ortega’s Tara Carpenter is, on the surface level, a repeat of the telephone game played with Drew Barrymore’s Casey Becker. A phone call comes in, it starts peaceful in tone, and it ramps up until it’s fully sinister. However, we also get the added elements of Tara being fully knowledgeable in a new era of horror movies as well as the threat of her bestie getting gutted (though, as it turns out, said bestie is one of the Ghostfaces). There’s also the nice touch of Tara being able to use her phone to lock the home’s doors, only for Ghostface having the same ability. It brings the franchise into a new era of technology and goes a long way towards building tension in the scene. Lock. Unlock. Lock. Unlock.
But what gets this scene so high up the list is that, like Scream VI, it subverted expectations. This is the one time where someone does not die in the opening scene, yet the danger is established, nonetheless. As Dewey says later, “Something about this one feels different.” Not to mention, as mentioned, there’s a level of importance in having the opening scene of a Scream film have direct relevance to what comes next. It needs to exist for a reason. This opening most directly kicks the narrative into gear. The Ghostfaces needed Tara alive to bring her sister, Sam, to her. And, with Sam, came one of the Ghostfaces, Richie. Without this opening scene the rest of the movie wouldn’t exist.
Stream Scream (2022) on Paramount+.
2) Scream 2
As great as the opening of the original film is, Scream 2‘s movie theater scene comes extremely close. It’s just as tense, but in a slightly different way.
Casey Becker is isolated. There’s not one soul to help her, especially after her boyfriend is murdered. Jada Pinkett Smith’s Maureen Evans, however, is in a crowd. And it’s a crowd that has no idea what’s going on because, like 90% of the remainder of the audience, Mikey Altieri is wearing a Ghostface costume. And, because they’re having such a wonderful time watching people get stabbed on screen, we question whether they would put their dark enthusiasm aside to help even if they were aware of what’s going on.
Stream Scream 2 for free on Kanopy.
1) Scream (1996)
The power of the Casey Becker scene was already touched upon in the intro paragraph, but there’s more to unpack. Even if one isn’t looking at the elements that were hugely impactful specifically in 1996 (primarily that Drew Barrymore was something of a fallen star rising once more), this scene is one of the best to have ever introduced a film.
It’s here that we’re immediately introduced to what makes Scream different from 20 years of preceding slasher film history. This is elevated horror before elevated horror became a true thing. This was a raising of the bar, and an intelligent one at that. Even if that’s harder for post ’90s generations to appreciate now that it’s been done multiple times (and not just by Scream), they’re sure to appreciate just how well-paced it all plays out. We’re introduced to Casey, we find her charming, we sense her growing worry, we understand her terror, we’re forced to watch her die, then her own parents discover her mutilated corpse. What better way is there to tell an audience that all bets are off?
Stream Scream (1996) for free on Kanopy.
Which Scream opening scene is your favorite? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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