Thirty Years of 'Scream'

I was 23 when Scream was released in theaters in 1996. I’d always loved films, and back then, I enjoyed horror in particular and revered Wes Craven, so I was excited to see Scream. Craven’s direction was impeccable, as usual, but it was Kevin Williamson’s script that blew me away with its self-referential genius and meta awareness that reshaped the genre. It is, without exaggeration, one of a number of seminal films that pushed me to explore themes and homages in filmmaking and eventually pursue critiquing and analyzing films as a vocation. Wes Craven, who directed the first four films in the franchise, passed away in 2015, so directorial duties for 2022’s Scream and the follow-up Scream VI fell to Matt Bertinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who also directed the vampire flick Abigail. 

Scream 2022 was essentially a requel, a soft reboot and sequel to a franchise featuring new heroes, a pair of final girls in Sam and Tara Carpenter (Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega, respectively). The two taking turns to kill off the Ghostface killers in the film was the passing of the torch, and while a Sidney Prescott-less Scream VI might’ve felt a little awkward, it seemed appropriate for a franchise that was looking forward to growing with a new generation. The truth was, Neve Campbell felt that she wasn’t going to be compensated in a manner that matched her contribution to the franchise and opted out of being in the film, so while Scream VI referenced the ultimate final girl, she never actually makes an appearance. Scream 7 was set to be another Sam and Tara story, but Barrera was famously fired from her role after her tweets on the Gaza war were labeled as antisemitic. For the record, they weren’t because expressing support for Palestine isn’t inherently antisemitic, and it was basically because Spyglass Media’s founders, Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, are pro-Israel Jews. The company’s statement in 2023 read: “We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech,” but in September 2025, the UN Human Rights Office released a statement that Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza strip according to their findings. So Barrera was right, after all, but she was no longer going to be in Scream 7. Ortega exited the project soon after, and the entire film was retooled.

This opened the door for the return of Sidney Prescott, the true heart and soul of Scream and arguably Williamson’s greatest character (the man also created Dawson’s Creek, RIP James Van Der Beek aka Dawson Leery). Ghostface will always be some killer in a mask, but Sidney will always be Sidney, a hero who stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Sarah Connor and Ellen Ripley. At the very least, a heroine as great as Halloween’s Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). With Craven gone and past directors dropping out, Williamson stepped in to write and direct the seventh installment of the franchise he created 30 years ago. In some ways, it’s poetic. In others, it’s ironic.

Scream 2022 was meant to be Scream for the next generation, a franchise ensuring its longevity by introducing fresh faces and a new dynamic of two final girls played by a couple of Latina actors on the rise, much like Neve Campbell in the '90s. It even finally killed off the resilient mainstay, Dewey Riley (David Arquette), re-establishing one of the franchise’s earlier rules: no one is safe in the sequels. The original Scream is also famous for one of the biggest fakeouts in cinema marketing history when America’s sweetheart, Drew Barrymore, was featured prominently in the film’s promotion, only to have her character killed in the first 12 minutes. It was actually Barrymore’s idea to play the first victim, Casey Becker, instead of Sidney Prescott. That opening scene shocker flipped the script on audiences expecting one of the biggest stars at the time to make it through until the end, and it goes down as one of the most iconic horror movie sequences of all time. So there’s a little irony in a franchise that’s built a reputation for subverting expectations to fall back on nostalgia for its 30th anniversary.

The Carpenter sisters were emblematic of freedom from generational trauma, as Sam was the daughter of original Scream killer Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), so turning her into one of the final girls was a triumph over the franchise’s never-ending cycle. But now we’ve got Scream 7 and the introduction of Tatum Evans, Sidney Prescott’s eldest daughter, played to forgettable vanilla blandness by Isabel May. Scream 7 reminds us all that the roots of the franchise lie in generational trauma, as Billy Loomis’ motive in the first film was to exact revenge on Sidney’s mother and inflict trauma on her daughter. Every film thereafter has featured a complicated, interconnected web of familial relationships. One of Scream 2’s Ghostfaces was Billy Loomis’ mom, Nancy (Laurie Metcalf), who makes an appearance in the latest installment. This would’ve made Sam a third-generation serial killer if she didn’t break the mold. Scream 3’s Ghostface was Roman Bridger (Scott Foley), Sidney’s long-lost half-brother, while one of Scream 4’s killers was her cousin Emma (Emma Roberts).

That’s why Scream 2022 was something of a fresh start because neither of the killers was related to any of the main characters. Instead, Scream franchise fanatics Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid) and Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison) satirize toxic fandom by taking it to murderous heights, which then leads to a return to old themes in Scream VI, where the trio of Ghostfaces are revealed to be Richie’s sister, brother, and father (Liana Liberato, Jack Champion, and Dermot Mulroney) out for revenge. Maybe the lesson is that some families are just really fucked up.

Scream 7 attempts to build up Tatum, named after Rose McGowan’s character in the first film, as the successor to the Scream mantle, but it’s a tall order when May has to follow in the footsteps of not just Barrera and Ortega but Campbell herself. Scream’s genius has always been in its self-awareness and ability to parody the genre and the times while being one of its best examples. This is present in Scream 7, which uses the troubling rise of AI and deep fakes to revive some of the franchise’s most memorable characters. As far as installments go, Scream 7 is neither the most surprising nor inventive, at times even being predictable, but it’s a clear homage to fans who have been with Scream from the very beginning. There are plenty of Easter eggs and the delightful inclusion of the film-within-a-film Stab series. Fans of the recent films might miss the Carpenters (whom I would guess were named after legendary horror director John Carpenter, who directed The Thing), but old fans will appreciate the triumphant return of Sidney Prescott and the old gang, including a welcome reference to Dewey’s resilience. IYKYK. The new is old, and what’s old is new again.

ALSO READ:

The First Scream VI Reviews Are In

From Kaluuya to Peters, These Are the Best Scream Kings in Horror