Guide Note

The Scream movies (1996-2000) are a series of popular slasher films directed by Wes Craven. The films are noted for their ironic use of self-reflexive clichés recurrent in many previous horror films, and revitalizing the slasher genre in the process.

Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) and her boyfriend Steven Orth (Kevin Patrick Walls) are brutally murdered by an elusive killer who first calls and taunts his victims. Because of this tragedy Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) finds it extra difficult to cope with the past murder of her own mother, and initially suspects her own boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich). The killings continue, and “Ghostface” eliminates Prescott's friends one-by-one, as the authorities and media struggle to discover the identity of the killer. The film plays itself out as a parody of past horror film formulas, as the character Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) seems to be able to predict the movements the killer based on his knowledge of slasher films.

1. Written By: Kevin Williamson
2. Directed By: Wes Craven
3. Released: December 20, 1996

“Ghostface” has returned, following Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) to Windsor College, where she thought she had escaped her dark past. Upon the release of the in-movie film Stab, inspired by the events of the first Scream story, the killings continue. Randy (Jamie Kennedy) again uses his knowledge of slasher films to predict the outcome of various events, before he is himself killed on campus.

1. Written By: Kevin Williamson
2. Directed By: Wes Craven
3. Released: December 12, 1997

Sindey Prescott (Neve Campbell) has retreated to a life of seclusion, rarely leaving the house and avoiding contact with the outside world. When Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber)—originally suspected of murdering Prescott's mother—is murdered, Prescott's past comes back to haunt her.

1. Written By: Ehren Kruger
2. Directed By: Wes Craven
3. Released: February 4, 2000