Scream (franchise)

Scream
File:Scream film series box set.jpg DVD box set containing the first three films
Directed by	Wes Craven
Written by	Kevin Williamson (1, 2, 4) Ehren Kruger (3)
Starring	David Arquette Neve Campbell Courteney Cox-Arquette Jamie Kennedy Liev Schreiber
Music by	Marco Beltrami
Distributed by	Dimension Films The Weinstein Company
Release date	1996–present
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$79 million
Box office	$507,244,240

The Scream film series is a series of horror films directed by Wes Craven, written by Kevin Williamson and Ehren Kruger, and was inspired by the Halloween film series and the Gainesville Ripper murders of 1990. The main plot involves a psychopathic serial killer wearing a Halloween costume attempting to kill Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and various other characters involved in her life. Each film begins with the gory murder of a couple before showing the whereabouts of Sidney. It takes off from there leading to the revelation of the killer's identity and the final battle between Sidney and the killer. They revitalized the slasher film genre in the mid 1990s, in a similar way to Halloween (1978) in the 1970s, by using a standard concept with a tongue-in-cheek approach that successfully combined straightforward scares with dialogue that satirized slasher film conventions. The first film became a major commercial success upon its release, and was one of the highest grossing films of 1996. It was also highly acclaimed by many critics worldwide, who appreciated the film's tongue-in-cheek approach.

Plot

Throughout the series (specifically the first and third film), parts of a back story were uncovered that occurred before the first film's timescale. It is revealed that Maureen Roberts (Lynn McRee) spent time in Los Angeles trying to become an actress. She appeared in three horror films using the pseudonym of Reena Reynolds. At a Hollywood party, she was gang raped by movie insiders and became pregnant with Roman Bridger (Scott Foley). After giving birth, Maureen gave her son up for adoption and left Los Angeles. She then went back home to Woodsboro, where she met and married Neil Prescott (Lawrence Hecht). They went on to have a daughter named Sidney (Neve Campbell). Neither Neil nor Sidney were told of the existence of Maureen's son. Meanwhile, Roman grew up wondering what had happened to his mother.

When Sidney was 16 years old, Roman found Maureen (Reena) and went to her hoping to spend some time with her only to find out Reena Reynolds was "dead" and that she had a new life, with no interest in digging up old secrets. She also tells Roman that he was Reena's son, not hers, and she wanted nothing to do with him. The rejection enraged Roman who followed her incessantly, (sometimes recording her activities) learning that she wasn't the perfect wife and mother she pretended to be. She was engaged in several affairs with local men, including Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber) and Hank Loomis (C.W. Morgan), father of Sidney's boyfriend Billy Loomis. Roman later revealed the affair to Billy (Skeet Ulrich) which enraged him and, using his creativity as a director, Roman persuaded him to kill Maureen and frame Cotton. With the help of Billy's best friend, Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), Billy does as instructed, and together they murder Maureen. Sidney, having witnessed someone wearing Cotton Weary's jacket, testifies that she saw Weary leave the house and Cotton is subsequently convicted of the crime and sentenced to death.

As the first film begins, Billy and Stu continue their murderous rampage, stalking other people who they feel have wronged them such as Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) who previously dumped Stu for another guy. They begin killing Sidney's friends as part of a game whereby their actions mimic the cliche "rules" of horror movies, and although they intend to isolate Sidney and kill her as well, they are discovered by reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) who manages to help Sidney thwart and kill her attackers in a showdown at the Macher house. In the second film, Billy's mother (Laurie Metcalf) is the killer, seeking revenge on Sidney and Gale, and she coerces one of Sidney's film student friends, Mickey Altieri (Timothy Olyphant), a psychopathic serial killer seeking celebrity status, into helping her by paying for his school tuition. The events are mimicking the plot of a newly released film, Stab, depicting the events of the first film. In the end, both Mrs. Loomis and Mickey are killed by Sidney. In the third film, while filming of the latest Stab film begins in Hollywood, Roman, who also happens to be the director of the film, is dissatisfied that Sidney is still alive, and begins slaughtering members of the film crew in order to draw Sidney out of hiding, and seeks retribution for the life that he believes should have been his. Sidney mortally wounds him, and Dewey Riley (David Arquette) finally ends Roman's life by shooting him in the head. With the last of the original masked killers dead, Sidney apparently found the strength to move on with her life.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Scream characters

List indicator(s)

• Italics indicate appearances in flashback or archive footage from previous films.
• A light grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.
• A dark grey cell indicates the character has not been announced for Scream 4.

Character	Film
	Scream	Scream 2	Scream 3	Scream 4
Dewey Riley	David Arquette
Sidney Prescott	Neve Campbell
Gale Weathers	Courteney Cox Arquette
Ghostface	Roger L. Jackson (voice)
Randy Meeks	Jamie Kennedy
Cotton Weary	Liev Schreiber
Reporter		Nancy O'Dell
Maureen Prescott	Lynn McRee
Neil Prescott	Lawrence Hencht	(character mentioned in Scream 2)	Lawrence Hencht
Hank Loomis	C. W. Morgan		C. W. Morgan
Billy Loomis	Skeet Ulrich	(character mentioned in Scream 2)	Skeet Ulrich
Stuart "Stu" Macher	Matthew Lillard	(character mentioned in Scream 2)	Matthew Lillard
Tatum Riley	Rose McGowan	(character mentioned in 2 and 3)
Casey Becker	Drew Barrymore	(character mentioned in Scream 2)
Kenneth "Kenny"	W. Earl Brown	(character mentioned in Scream 2)
Steven "Steve" Orth	Kevin Patrick Walls	(character mentioned in Scream 2)
Principal Himbry	Henry Winkler	(character mentioned in Scream 2)
Mrs. Loomis	(character mentioned in Scream)	Laurie Metcalf
Derek		Jerry O'Connell	(character referenced in Scream 3)

Films

Main articles: Scream (film), Scream 2, and Scream 3

Future

Main article: Scream 4

Craven and Williamson are signed on for two more sequels creating a second trilogy to the series, but they will only go into production depending on the success of the fourth installment.

Reception

Box office performance

Film	Release date	Box office revenue			Box office ranking		Budget	Reference
		United States	Foreign	Worldwide	All time domestic	All time worldwide
Scream	December 20, 1996	$103,046,663	$70,000,000	$173,046,663	#400		$15,000,000
Scream 2	December 12, 1997	$101,122,258	$71,000,000	$172,363,301	#416		$24,000,000
Scream 3	February 4, 2000	$89,143,175	$72,700,000	$161,843,175	#499		$40,000,000
Total		$293,553,139	$213,700,000	$507,253,139			$79,000,000

Critical reaction

Film	Rotten Tomatoes		Metacritic	Yahoo! Movies
	Overall	Cream of the Crop
Scream	81% (53 reviews)	63% (8 reviews)	65 (25 reviews)	B (11 reviews)
Scream 2	80% (66 reviews)	86% (7 reviews)	63 (22 reviews)	B- (12 reviews)
Scream 3	38% (94 reviews)	80% (5 reviews)	56 (32 reviews)
Average Ratings	66%	67%	61	N/A

Rules

A signature device of the series, started in Scream and continued in Scream 2',' Scream 3, and Scream 4, was to deliver the typical "rules" for the slasher subgenre of horror movies, recited by the movie-buff character Randy in the first three films and Robbie and Charlie in the fourth film.

Rules of a horror movie (Scream)

1. You can never have sex. ("Big no-no! Sex equals death!")
2. You can never drink or do drugs. (The "sin factor, an extension of number one".)
3. Never, ever, EVER, under any circumstances say "I'll be right back", 'cause you won't be back.

Randy also elaborates further during another scene, claiming that one should not assume the most likely person is always the killer and that "Everyone is a suspect." He also talks about how the one person it seems to be (in this case Sidney's father) is never that person. These, however, are not one of the "official" rules.

In addition to the films rules, a similar set of "rules" were used for the film's trailer:

• Don't answer the phone
• Don't open the door
• Don't try to hide (on the video/DVD/Bluray edition, it's "Don't try to escape")
• But most of all, don't scream

Rules of a horror movie sequel (Scream 2)

1. The body count is always bigger.
2. The death scenes are always much more elaborate, with more blood and gore.
3. Randy starts to describe the third rule: "If you want your films to become a successful franchise, never, ever...' before being interrupted by Dewey. However, the film's original teaser trailer featured an extended version of the rules scene which reveals that originally the third rule was supposed to be "Never, ever, under any circumstances assume the killer is dead." This referenced Randy's last line in the first Scream which stated that a killer always comes back to life for one last scare.

Rules of a horror movie trilogy (Scream 3)

Despite his death in the second film, Randy makes a special appearance in a video tape the character made during the events of Scream 2. In it he states that if the third movie is just another sequel, then the standard rules for a sequel apply. However, "If you find yourself dealing with an unexpected back story, and a preponderance of exposition, then the sequel rules do not apply. Because you are not dealing with a sequel, you are dealing with the concluding chapter of a trilogy." The rules for the final concluding chapter of a trilogy are different:

1. "You've got a killer who’s gonna be superhuman. Stabbing him won’t work, shooting him won’t work. Basically in the third one, you gotta cryogenically freeze his head, decapitate him, or blow him up."
2. "Anyone, including the main character, can die." (Which it was meant for Sidney) then he tells Sidney," I'm sorry it's the final chapter."
3. "The past will come back to bite you in the ass. Whatever you think you know about the past, forget it. The past is not at rest! Any sins you think were committed in the past are about to break out and destroy you."

In closing Randy goes on to say good luck, godspeed, and that he will see some of the people soon because according to the rules, some of them won't make it.

External links

• Scream at IMDb
• Scream 2 at IMDb
• Scream 3 at IMDb
• Scream 4 at IMDb
• Scream 4 at Movie-Pedia