Scream completely changed the horror movie landscape, and along the way, it introduced some great (and not so great) characters.
The Scream franchise began in 1996, followed by Scream 2 in 1997, Scream 3 in 2000, and Scream 4 in 2011. A fifth film is set to come out next year. This story, for those who don’t know, follows Sidney Prescott going up against Ghostface, a masked villain who torments and kills various victims.
Each movie usually features the same main characters, as well as introduces new people. Some of them become friends with Sidney or are related to her, some of their lives are cut short after meeting Ghostface, and some of them are even the bad guys and gals. And down below, the five best and five worst characters of this horror franchise are listed.
Obviously, the star of this terrifying tale, Sidney Prescott, is the best character, and she is one of the most popular and beloved characters from this genre, too; she was just a high schooler when all the madness started in Woodsboro, and she quickly had to dig deep, finding the strength and bravery needed to defeat Ghostface. Whenever this monster does reappear, she uses her bright and bold ways to help protect those around her and to save herself.
Yes, when it comes to this character, portrayed by Neve Campbell, there are no dumb moves that can usually be found in scary flicks, such as turning her back to Ghostface, dropping her weapon so that it can be stolen or thinking that the antagonist is dead after one shot.
Spoiler Alert: Several different people have taken on the role of Ghostface, and in the first installment, it was Sidney’s boyfriend, Billy Loomis.
See, Sid’s mother, Maureen, was involved with Billy's father, so Billy and his accomplice (who will be discussed down below) murdered Maureen and framed someone else for it then planned on killing Sidney and blaming it all on her father. Some serious lying and manipulating was required for this kid to trick and betray his girlfriend like this.
The franchise would not be complete with David Arquette’s character, Dwight "Dewey" Riley; he is the deputy sheriff and then sheriff in Woodsboro, as well as a dear friend to Sidney. He is the perfect blend of tough and sweet, as he has stood up to Ghostface more than once and as he has this soft and sensitive side.
Speaking of that, his relationship with Gale Weathers (played by Courteney Cox) is intriguing, too, especially since Arquette and Cox were married in real life.
As mentioned, Billy Loomis had an accomplice in the original Scream: his friend, Stu Macher.
The first victim shown to be killed in this movie is Casey Becker, Stu's ex-girlfriend. This causes school to be let out, so Stu throws a party, and at that party, Tatum Riley (Dewey’s sister, Sid’s best friend and Stu’s current girlfriend) is murdered. He obviously had some issues, based on these two crimes alone.
Unfortunately, one of the best characters lost his life, and that would be Randy Meeks. Portrayed by Jamie Kennedy, this character was very into horror films, which helped him figure out and predict some of Ghostface’s behavior.
Even after his death, he assisted Sidney, leaving her a video about the rules of the current killer with which she was dealing.
In Scream 2, Timothy Olyphant was Mickey Altieri a.k.a. Ghostface, and he was working with Debbie Salt a.k.a. Billy Loomis’ mom. And when all of this was revealed, Mrs. Loomis betrayed Mickey and shot him, which definitely earns her a spot on this list. She was killed, though, as the good guys always ultimately win.
Another note from this moment is that Mickey was not dead from that initial shot, so Gale and Sidney had to really shoot and kill him. After that, Sid shot Mrs. Loomis again… just to be sure.
If this list were just focusing on the first installment, Gale Weathers would not be listed as one of the best characters. Back then, she was a vain, nosy and rude TV reporter.
Since she was following the story, she got tangled up in the fight against Ghostface, though, meaning she eventually became friends with the main group. And she became more than friends with one main character in particular, as she married Dewey.
The story of Ghostface was made into a movie within a movie titled Stab, and in Scream 3, the killer was the director of Stab 3, Roman Bridger.
He turned out to be Sidney's half-brother, making this another bitter person who wanted to take down this leading lady.
Someone else who had a transformation was Cotton Weary. At first, he was thought to have been the one who raped and murdered Maureen Prescott.
Later, he ended up saving Sidney. He even went on to have his own talk show, turning his notoriety around and into something positive.
Emma Roberts has been in several creepy films and shows, including this franchise. In Scream 4, she portrayed Jill Roberts, Sidney’s cousin. Oh, and she was Ghostface. Why? She was jealous that Sid got famous after surviving murder spree after murder spree.
During her reveal, she stabbed Sid and hurt herself, to make it look like she was attacked by someone else. Then, in the hospital, she snuck into Sidney’s room to try and finish her off for good. Family… gotta love ‘em.
