Scream (franchise)

The Scream franchise is a series of six cult horror films directed by Wes Craven (1-4) and later Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett (5-6). It was originally written and created by Kevin Williamson, and later Ehren Kruger, James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. 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 two people and 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 and black comedy 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. A television spin-off of the film series was launched by MTV on June 30, 2015. The television series follows an anthology format with different, yet similar, characters and new story-lines which are not connected to the film series.

Plot summary
Throughout the films (specifically the first and third film), parts of a back story were revealed, that occurred before the first film. As it turns out, Maureen Roberts (Lynn McRee) went to L.A to become an actress. She played in three horror films using the name Rina Reynolds. At one particular Hollywood party, she was gang raped by movie insiders and became pregnant with Roman Bridger (Scott Foley). After giving birth, Maureen left Hollywood, as well as Roman, and went back home to Woodsboro, California, where she met and married Neil Prescott (Lawrence Hecht). They then had a daughter named Sidney. Meanwhile, Roman grew up wondering, what had happened to his mother.

When Sidney was around 16 years old, Roman found Maureen (Rina) and went to her, hoping to spend some time with her only to find out Rina Reynolds no longer existed and that she had a new life, with no interest in digging up old secrets (Roman said she told him he was Rina's son and wanted nothing to do with him). This enraged Roman, who followed her incessantly, (sometimes video 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 more surprisingly, Hank Loomis (C.W. Morgan), father of Sidney's boyfriend Billy Loomis. Roman then decided to revealed the affair to Billy (Skeet Ulrich) which enrages him and, using his creativity as a director, Roman persuaded him to kill Maureen and frame Cotton. With the help of his 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 incarcerated. In the first film, 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 the second film, during the height of fame (thanks to a book and subsequent movies based on the Woodsboro Murders) 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), into helping her. In the end, they are both killed by Sidney. In the third film, while filming of the latest Stab movie commences in Hollywood, Roman 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. She mortally wounds him with a pick and Dewey Riley (David Arquette) finishes him off with a gunshot to the head.

Ten years later, Sidney returns to Woodsboro, now a famous author after writing a book about reinventing herself. However, she is forced to stay there after evidence is found linking her to the murder of two teenage girls. Sidney stays with her aunt Kate Roberts (Mary McDonnell) and cousin Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts). Jill's friends are Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), Olivia Morris (Marielle Jaffe), Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin), Robbie Mercer (Erik Knudsen), and has an ex-boyfriend named Trevor Sheldon (Nico Tortorella). Local people, including Jill's friends, begin getting killed off in a way striking similar to the original killing spree. The newest murderer is trying to remake the original spree. It is ultimately revealed to be Jill and Charlie; Jill wanted to become famous as a remake of Sidney, while Charlie wants to become a remake of Sidney's dead friend Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy). Jill stabs Charlie to death, betraying him, to frame him as one of the killers alongside Trevor. Sidney is knocked out and Jill deliberately injures herself before they are both taken to the hospital. Jill attempts to kill Sidney once and for all, but is electrocuted by a defibrillator. She jumps back up, but Sidney fatally shoots her in the heart. Sidney, Gale and Dewey again remain the survivors.