Ranking the Awful to Awesome Hairstyles of the 'Scream' Movies

The '90s and early aughts were an unforgiving time for the 'do.

Jun 30, 2015
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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Do you like scary movies? Would you have survived the Scream films? Though Sidney, Gale, and Dewey manage to outlive most of their fellow Scream mates, they're about to enter a whole new cutthroat competition: THE SCREAM HAIR RANKINGS. Can they survive the slashing? Who makes it out alive and who gets totally slayed?

As Scream returns today as a reboot on MTV, we take a look at the various hairstyles that graced this iconic horror film franchise, which kicked off in 1996 and birthed sequels in 1997, 2000, and 2011. Though the movies totally hold up after all these years, there are naturally some things that feel kind of outdated… Which brings me to the 'do. Man, somebody either had it out for Courteney Cox or we all just collectively thought red highlights were cool back then. Even Scream 4, which only came out four years ago, had a major flop or two. The new show—with a brand new struggle mask and a completely new cast of teens outside of Sidney Prescott's world—looks like major trash, and everyone on that show has nice-ass basic hair, which is sooooo booooooring. Give me bad highlights and hair tendrils! Give me blunt '90s bobs and jagged bangs! Who makes the cut? Check out how the Scream players' hairs rank, below. 

P.S. If you have never seen the Scream movies before, A) you are fucking up your life and B) spoilers lie ahead.

22. Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox, Scream 3)

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OMFG I was so distracted by Gale's terrible red highlights in Scream 2 that I TOTALLY forgot about this TRASH LOOK. I'm screaming. This is abominable.

21. Fictional Billy from Stab (Luke Wilson, Scream 2)

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Luke Wilson makes a brief cameo as “Billy” from the Stab movie (movie within a movie, y'all 'cause Scream is hella meta) and his attempt at imitating Skeet Ulrich's fire tendrils is so sad. This weeping willow look is not doing him any favors, sorry. Good thing his screentime is so brief you don’t have to stare at this hot mess for too long.

20. Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere, Scream 4)

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THE FUCK IS THIS SHIT? This is unforgivably bad. If I were Ghostface, I would take a knife, chop this all off, whisper “you're welcome,” and peace out of there.

19. Gale Weathers (Scream 2)

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Sorry to keep dragging Courteney Cox in these blurbs but dang I have a conspiracy theory that whoever the Scream stylist was was out to destroy her career. Or was this considered a decent look in 1997? I can't fathom this.

18. Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber, Scream)

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Ew, who cares?

17. Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy, Scream 2)

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Hair-wise mostly forgettable in the first Scream, but a low-key terror in Scream 2 with that goatee.

16. Rebecca Walters (Alison Brie, Scream 4)

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BORING AF. Trudy Campbell would never approve of this.

15. Gale Weathers (Scream)

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Okay this is the last time I'll be trash-talking Gale Weathers but dang this streaky mop is cramping her bad bitch style.

14. Dewey Riley (David Arquette, all the Scream movies)

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Dewey doesn't really change throughout the Scream series. His hair is pretty nice, but I have nothing much to say about it. If you're wondering, yeah, I'd probably touch it.

13. Derek (Jerry O'Connell, Scream 2)

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Such a pretty boy.

12. Sorority Sisters Murphy and Lois (Portia de Rossi and Rebecca Gayheart, Scream 2)

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OH MY GOODNESS PORTIA WHAT'S UP WITH YOUR EYEBROWS GIRL? RIP her pre-fleek days. Those brows are truly shocking every time she appears on the screen—which, by the way, is NEVER without her sorority sister, Rebecca Gayheart. And their hair! Woof. Despite their terrible style choices, I really love them. So glad they didn’t die, God bless.

11. Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts, Scream 4)

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Cute, but in a boring way. Hair that I want but can never maintain. Meh.

10. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell, all the Scream movies)

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Sidney looks somewhat the same in every Scream movie (GIRL HOW DO YOU NOT AGE? WHAT KIND OF CRAFT SHIT ARE YOU ON?). Likewise, her hair generally stays in that short to medium length range, sometimes bangs, sometimes no bangs, keeping her safe in the decent hair middle-ground.

9. Martha Meeks (Heather Matarazzo, Scream 3)

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Oh hey, BFF from The Princess Diaries. I'm weirdly very into this borderline cyber look.

8. Maureen (Jada Pinkett Smith, Scream 2)

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I love a girl who can rock a buzzed 'do. Also she somehow pulls off this challenging, all-maroon look, so extra props for that. If anyone DIDN'T deserve to die in the Scream movies, it was definitely Maureen (who weirdly shares a name with Sidney's mother, Maureen Prescott).

7. Jennifer Jolie (Parker Posey, Scream 3)

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Ayy those highlights again. I know she basically has the same look as Scream 1 Gale, since she is supposed to play her in the movie version, but she's ranked so much higher because she occasionally puts her hair in these adorable Bjork buns and I am very here for them. Also, Parker Posey forever.

6. Cici (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Scream 2)

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My girl Cici a.k.a. sober sister! Her hair was top five fleekiest of all Scream hairs. Dang, SMG has never had a bad hair day, I'm sure of it. Also her death scene always takes me by surprise 'cause I want her to pull a Buffy and slay the shit out of Ghostface but she doesn't. :-(

5. Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin, Scream 4)

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Ugh, Rory Culkin, be still my heart. The non-Macaulay Culkin Culkins are my favorite Culkins, and this one definitely won me over with this smooth hair.

4. Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan, Scream)

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Rose McGowan, usually a raven-haired beauty, goes blonde in the first Scream as Sidney's BFF Tatum. And it works! Homegirl looks so good, such a shame she had to die.

3. Casey (Drew Barrymore, Scream)

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This is obviously such wig hair but I'm also really into it? Plus, this whole look is so iconic—possibly the most iconic Scream look of them all.

2. Billy (Skeet Ulrich, Scream)

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BET YOU DIDN'T SEE THIS ONE COMING DID YA? Skeet Ulrich has perfected the man tendrils. No really, there are no tendrils out there more fire than his. Look at this bad boy. Swoon.

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