Scream 1, 2, 3, and 4. Also, Scream (2022)
Episode 160 Summary
This week, we’ll watch the entire “Scream” franchise, at least the ones available so far. There is a part 6 already in the works. Here’s the original “Scream” (1996), plus “Scream 2” 1997, “Scream 3” (2000), “Scream 4” 2011, and this year’s new one, “Scream” (2022), which is not called Scream 5 for some reason.
Next week, we’ll be back with a little less screaming!
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Scream (1996)
Directed by Wes Craven
Written by Kevin williamson
Stars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette
Run Time: 1 Hour, 51 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Even a second watching after knowing all the spoilers, it was still a fun movie. Great script, good acting, top-notch special effects. If you’re lucky enough to have your mind untainted by spoilers at this point, by all means check it out.
Synopsis
Casey answers the phone and tells the guy that he has the wrong number. Then he calls back and she tells him to call a 900 number. Are those still a thing? He calls back again and says she’s about to watch a scary movie. They talk about Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street as she walks through the house. Then the call takes a turn for the creepy. She locks the doors. The voice on the phone has her boyfriend Steve tied up outside. They play movie trivia over the phone, and Steve pays the price for wrong answers. She sneaks out the back door and makes a run for it, but he catches her– and kills her.
We cut to Sidney who gets a scare from friend Billy. They make out for a bit, and it’s clear that he’s a big movie fan. The next morning, the reporters and police are all over the school because of what happened to Casey and Steve. Reporter Gale Weathers is reporting live on campus. Sidney’s friend Tatum tells Sidney what happened last night. Meanwhile, Sheriff Burke and Deputy Dewey talk to Mr. Himbry, the school’s principal. Sidney, Billy, Tatum, Randy, and Stuart talk about the murder after school.
Sidney goes home and we get a few scenes that look like something scary might be happening, but it isn’t. We hear on the news that Sidney’s mother was raped and murdered in the same toen just last year.
Sidney’s phone rings, and it’s the same voice that Casey dealt with last night. “Do you like scary movies, Sifney? What’s your favorite scary movie?” The masked man attacks her inside the house, but he’s interrupted when Billy climbs into her window again. After a minute, she looks at Billy funny and runs away from him. She runs downstairs and finds Dewey, who has found the killer’s mask outside. Billy is arrested.
We soon see that Sidney doesn’t like Gale much when she punches her in the face. Gale’s writing a book about Sidney’s mother’s murder. Sidney goes home with Tatum and gets a call from the killer there. Maybe it wasn’t Billy. Sidney and Gale argue over Cotton Weary, who was found guilty of killing Sidney’s mother. Various students at school the next day wear the killer’s costume, which is easily available all over town.
School gets canceled, so Stuart throws a party that night. Principal Himbry gets a little creepy with the mask and some scissors, but we soon find out that he couldn’t be the killer– but he could be the next victim.
Stuart and Randy argue over the rules of horror and movie formulas at the video store. They talk about Sidney’s father, who can’t be found and isn’t where he said he would be. Randy asks, “Will someone find his body in the second reel?” Billy shows up, and the three talk about motives and how they’re all suspects. The sheriff is also leaning toward Sidney’s father being the killer.
That night, everyone goes to Stuart’s party. Everyone shows up, including the killer, who goes after Tatum first. She calls him “Ghostface” and mostly beats the crap out of him until she gets stuck in the garage door and dies. Gale smuggles in a camera and films the party.
Billy arrives and he and Sidney make up and have sex. Downstairs, Randy explains the rules of horror movies: only the virgins survive a horror movie. Outside, Dewey and Gale go for a walk to check out a car reported in a ditch, which turns out to belong to Sidney’s father. The party breaks up when they get a call that the principal’s body has been found.
Sidney and Billy continue to talk about “what if” Billy was the killer. “What do I have to do to prove to you that I’m not the killer?” he asks. Then the killer walks in and stabs Billy. Ghostface then chases Sidney around the now-empty house. The chase continues out into the yard as Gale and Dewey return and find bodies.
Dewey gets stabbed in the back while Gale crashes the news van. Stuart and Randy run up screaming; they’ve found bodies. They accuse each other of being the killer while Sidney goes inside and locks them out. Billy staggers in, not quite dead yet. Sidney hands him the gun, and he shoots Randy with it. Yeah, it was him all along, faking his wound. She runs and finds Stuart, and it turns out he’s in on it too. There are two of them.
Billy gloats that they framed Cotton Weary and killed Sidney’s mother. They continue that there was no motive; it was just fun. They pull out Sidney’s father and plant the cell phone and voice changer on him; they’re going to frame him for all the murders. Stuart and Billy then stab each other to make it look like they’re victims too. They argue about the movies as they stab each other some more.
Gale comes in with Dewey’s gun. The gun safety is on, so they take care of her. The distraction is enough for Sidney and her father to run away. Finally Sidney puts on the costume and stabs Billy with an umbrella. She then finishes off Stuart. Gale comes in and finally shoots Billy.
As the sun rises, Gale finally gets to report on a breaking news story.
Commentary
Just about all the major characters eventually went on to have big careers, but most of them had only done a few things here and there prior to this. Probably the most famous person in the cast (at the time) was Drew Barrymore, who died in the opening scene.
It’s been said a million times in a million reviews before this one that the big thing with this film series is that it plays on the well-established tropes of the horror genre, and often subverts them to surprise us. This kind of “meta” film, full of references to other films, has been done many times since, but this was the first big one to do so. There’s nothing supernatural, no monsters other than the human kind. That doesn’t make it any less tense and unsettling.
It’s got an element of whodunit to it, as most of the characters accuse each other at some point, and there are a few red herrings thrown in, but we aren’t really sure until the end if it’s anyone we know at all , much less whether it’s a known character.
The franchise got a little repetitive as the series went on, but the first one was excellent.
Scream 2 (1997)
Directed by Wes Craven
Written by Kevin Williamson
Stars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette
Run Time: 2 Hours
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s a decent sequel. Still entertaining, but not as clever or original as the first one. It’s still a whodunit with some surprises, and it’s worth checking out if you’ve seen the first one. You positively do want to see the first one before this one.
Synopsis
We open on the premiere of the new film, “Stab.” Maureen and Phil are in line talking about how tacky horror movies are and how horror films exclude black folks. Everyone in the theater is wearing Ghostface masks as the movie is all about what happened in the previous film and written by Gale Weathers. It starts with Casey getting naked. Apparently, nudity is a requirement in the movies, because that didn’t happen in reality. Then her phone rings… Maureen goes out to the lobby for popcorn and overhears how the film is all based on a true story. Phil goes to the restroom, and gets stabbed in the ear. Ghostface then goes into the theater and sits next to Maureen, stabbing her. Credits roll.
Sidney, now away at university, gets a call asking about her scary movie. This time, she has caller ID and tells the prankster to go away. She watches Cotton Weary on TV talking about being exonerated for Sidney’s mother’s murder. Her roommate Hallie suggests that the movie might be stressing out Sidney by bringing up bad memories. They hear about the two murders on TV.
There’s a discussion in film class about art imitating life and vice-versa. Randy is in the class, and he says that sequels are never as good as the original. Sidney’s boyfriend Derek makes an appearance.
Gale Weathers is on campus checking out the murders. A pair of sorority sisters invite Sidney and Hallie to their party tonight. Dewey stops by to catch up. He suggests that if someone is following in Billy’s footprints, then she probably already knows him. Gale wants to introduce Sidney to Cotton on TV.
Cici, one of the girls from film class, gets a call from the killer. She hears noises upstairs. It doesn’t take long until the chase begins; then it’s all over for Cici. Soon, police are swarming everywhere, and Sidney and the other partiers go to investigate. Gale asks Dewey if it’s all happening again. Sidney gets a phone call with a very familiar voice. She’s immediately attacked, but Dewey and Derek go after the guy; Derek gets cut. At the ER, the two cast aspersions on each other.
Gale looks at the list of victims so far and finds links with all the deaths from the first movie; this must be some kind of copycat. Mickey, Hallie, and Derek talk about Sidney and Randy. Randy educates Dewey on the rules of a sequel, and they decide that pretty much everyone could be a suspect this time.
Sidney is a drama student, and her teacher explains how the show must go on. She is surrounded by men in masks with knives on stage, but it’s all part of the show… maybe. Sidney starts suspecting Derek more and more.
Randy gets a phone call and he argues with the killer until the killer grabs him. Cotton confronts Sidney, and he wants to do an interview on Diane Sawyer’s show to tell his side of the story. They argue, and the police arrest Cotton. Gale finds herself stalked by Mrs. Salt, another reporter.
Gale and Dewey decide to watch all the video footage from the campus. They find footage from the killer’s own camera. Then they figure out that they’re being watched, right now. Dewey falls down the stairs and Gale gets chased by the killer. Dewey gets stabbed again.
Ghostface kills Sidney’s protection cops right in front of her. Sidney and Hallie are trapped in the back of the police car, and the killer is knocked out. The killer jumps out from nowhere and stabs Hallie.
Gale finds Cotton, who has Dewey’s blood all over him; he claims he was trying to help. Sidney runs to the abandoned theater and finds Derek in there, tied up, but not dead. The killer comes in and takes his mask off; it’s Mickey, who says Derek was in on the whole thing. He then shoots Derek, who in fact wasn’t in on it at all.
Mickey gives a long speech about being psychotic. His accomplice, the reporter, Mrs. Salt, who turns out to be Billy’s mother. She shoots Mickey and Gale, but Sidney gets away. Sidney activates all the stage props and smoke machines to fight back. Mrs. Loomis/Salt gets control, and she’s about to kill Sidney when Cotton comes in and picks up a gun. He thinks about things for entirely too long and then shoots Loomis.
Of course, the dead killers always come back, and this film is no exception.
Commentary
Again, there are a huge number of meta, self-referential horror film tropes that are used and thrown out. There were a lot fewer suspects this time, since we saw most of the main characters running or avoiding Ghostface at one point or another. Mickey was “that guy” we saw a bit early on that sorta vanishes in the middle. It had to be him.
It’s fine. It’s nowhere near as unique or clever as the first film, but it’s a fair followup with all the survivors of the first film returning.
Scream 3 (2000)
Directed by Wes Craven
Written by Kevin Williamson, Ehren Kruger
Stars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette
Run Time: 1 Hour, 56 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It’s another bit of a step down on this one. It’s still decent and entertaining, but the sequels aren’t getting stronger as they go along. It’s a whodunit again of course, with a clever script that leaves you guessing until the big reveal. You’ll enjoy this one much more if you see the first two beforehand.
Synopsis
Cotton Weary is stuck in a traffic jam. He gets a call from a woman who recognizes him from his TV show. The voice changes to that of Ghostface, who claims to be in the house with Cotton’s girlfriend. He wants to know where Sidney Prescott is. Cotton rushes home to Christine, who is currently being chased all over the house by Ghostface. This time, Ghostface threatens her in Cotton’s own voice, so she thinks it’s him. The real Cotton arrives home, and Christine tries to kill him in self-defense. Ghostface is still there and kills them both. Credits roll.
We cut to Sidney, who now lives on a farm with high security. She works for a crisis counseling place answering calls remotely. Detective Mark Kinciad informs Gale Weathers about Cotton’s murder. Sidney also hears about the murder from TV.
Meanwhile, the “Stab 3” movie is in production. The actors for the film discuss meta stuff about movie making and acting. Gale shows up on set and runs into Dewey, who is a consultant for the film. Jay and Silent Bob do a quick walk-on cameo.
Sidney and her father talk. He complains about her secretive lifestyle. That night, she dreams about her dead mother, who then turns into Ghostface. One of the actresses, Sarah, goes to the production studio and runs into Ghostface. She tries to fight him with plastic stage prop knives and machetes. She doesn’t last long.
Dewey tells Gale that he thinks someone working on the film is hunting for the real Sidney. They soon hear about Sarah’s death and come to the conclusion that people are being killed in the same order as they are in the new movie; Gale, or the actress who plays her, should be next– except there are three versions of script; which one did the killer read? The two cops discuss the fates of cops in horror films, and it’s not a good outlook.
Dewey loans his cell phone to Detective Kincaid. Almost immediately after that, the killer finally calls Sidney and lets her know he’s back. Gale does research on Sidney’s long-dead mother, Maureen Prescott, and can’t find any record of her before coming to town way back in the day. The killer murders the security guard inside Dewey’s trailer. The killer next starts faxing them pages of a script. Then the house explodes.
Kincaid interrogates Gale and Dewey; he wants to know where Sidney is, as the killer is now taking credit for Sidney’s mother’s murder. Sidney comes to see Dewey. They meet Martha, dead-Randy’s sister, who works there as well. She has a videotape of dead-Randy, who explains the rules of a third sequel and unexpected backstories. Could it be … a trilogy?
Gale and Jennifer, the actress who plays her in the movie, investigate. They talk to Carrie Fisher, in another cameo. They find out that Maureen Prescott’s stage name was Rena Reynolds, and she used to be an actress in low-budget horror films.
Sidney meets Angelina, the actress who plays her, and then ends up on the set of Stab 3, which looks just like her old house. The killer attacks her, and she runs away.
Gale, Dewey, and Jennifer confront John Milton, the producer of the film. He also worked with Sidney’s mother many years ago. He hosted a party back in the day, and Maureen attended one of them.
Sidney talks to Detective Kincaid about her mother. Dewey gets a call from Sidney, who says she’s going to go to John Milton’s house. Some of the other actors are there as well. They find a mask, a voice-changer, and a cell phone. Gale finds a body in the basement. The killer shows up, and the actors start dying. Things go badly for Dewey and Gale as well.
Meanwhile, Sidney looks at her own file from Detective Kincaid’s desk. It’s very thorough. She gets a call from the killer, who claims to have Dewey and Gale as prisoners. She drives over to Milton’s house and finds several bodies. Sidney pulls out a gun and shoots him several times, but he gets away again somehow. Kinciad shows up, and he and Ghostface fight.
Sidney finds herself in a screening room with the ghost of her dead mother. No, it’s Ghostface. Ghostface says he’s been searching for his own mother, Rena Reynolds. Maureen abandoned him, Sidney’s unknown brother. He pulls off his mask, and it’s Roman, the director of Stab 3. He has John MIlton tied up in a closet. Roman wants to frame Sidney for all the murders. They fight.
Roman gets a gun from Kincaid’s unconscious body and shoots Sidney twice. He turns around, and her body is gone. She’s wearing a bulletproof vest just like he was; she stabs him in the back. And the front. She is thorough. He still gets up, until Dewey shoots him in the head.
Afterwards, Dewey proposes to Gale.
Commentary
With this film, we’ve completely run out of horror movie tropes and have moved into the realm of filmmaking tropes. As Randy explained in his post-mortem video, a bunch of unknown things are revealed about Sidney’s mother which leads to all the drama.
It was a fun touch having action happen on a set recreation of Sidney’s house out of the first movie. Kind of a movie within a movie thing.
It’s fine, but nowhere near as good as the previous films.
Scream 4 (2011)
Directed by Wes Craven
Written by Kevin Williamson
Stars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette
Run Time: 1 Hour, 51 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
It was okay. More of the same sort of thing as the first three only not quite as good. Or maybe we were just getting a little tired of them. Our friends are brought back from the previous movies, and again it’s pretty necessary to see the previous films to fully enjoy the experience.
Synopsis
Two girls talk about Jigsaw and the film Saw 4. One girl has a Facebook stalker. The phone rings, and it’s “The Voice.” The doorbell rings and there’s nobody out there. Two separate Ghostfaces kill both girls.
Rachel and Chloe turn off the movie; they were watching “Stab 6.”. “These sequels don’t know when to stop! They just keep recycling the same old shit,” whines Rachel. Chloe stabs her, “Did that surprise you?”
Jennie and Marnie turn off the copy of “Stab 7” they were watching. Jenny explains that it’s like a movie within a movie. Still, it is based on a true story, which happened right here in Woodsboro. The phone rings, and Marnie answers– it’s just Jenny playing a joke. Jenny comes downstairs and finds Marnie’s body–the chase is on. A very short chase. Actual Credits Roll– for “Scream 4”, if you weren’t quite sure anymore.
Sidney is planning on going to a book signing tonight; it’s for her own title.. Dewey and Gale are still married, and he’s the sheriff now. Kirby, Jill, and Olivia are annoying teenagers that are probably going to be this film’s fodder. Jill is Sidney’s cousin, and she gets the call from the killer, asking about her favorite scary movie. They go to high school with Robbie Mercer and Charlie, who are movie nuts.
Dewey crashes the book signing with all the cops. They’ve traced a phone involved with a crime to the bookstore. It’s in the trunk of Sidney’s car, along with a bloody knife and posters of Sidney. Deputy Judy went to school with Sidney, but Sidney doesn’t remember her. Gale and Deputy Judy don’t get along. Sidney’s manager, Rebecca, is totally thrilled at the publicity. Jill’s mother, Kate, is Sidney’s dead mother’s sister. Jill’s ex-boyfriend, Trevor, sneaks into her window; she doesn’t want him around, but he’s insistent.
Jill calls Olivia, but she doesn’t fall for the impersonation. Still, the voice can be done with an easy-to-get phone app, so anyone can sound like Ghostface. Trevor calls using the voice, and Kirby answers. He says he’s standing in the closet. Maybe it’s not Trevor. He jumps out of Olivia’s closet and kills her in front of Jill, Kirby, and Sidney. They run next door and battle Ghostface, but as always, he gets away. Trevor runs in and takes Jill to the hospital.
Gale confronts Charlie and Robbie, the movie experts. Sidney fires Rebecca because she doesn’t approve of the greed. Five minutes later, she’s the next victim. The film club suggests that the latest thing would be for the killer to livestream his murders. The “reversal has become the new standard,” they explain. They talk about the new, updated rules of modern horror films. The movie marathon, “Stabathon” is tonight. Sidney and Jill bond over their trauma.
Gale goes to Stabathon in disguise. Kirby and the movie geeks are there as well. Gale places not-too-subtle video cameras all over the place. She goes out to her car and watches the cameras go out, one by one. She goes inside to fix her camera and finds a camera watching her. Gale gets stabbed, but tells Dewey what’s going on, “This time, he’s making the movie.”
The cops on patrol talk about new rules for cops in horror movies. They… prove themselves right. Aunt Kate gets stabbed right through the mail slot. Deputy Judy calls it in, but Sidney runs out looking for Jill. Jill is with Kirby and the movie geeks. Trevor’s there too, being creepy as before; he says he was texted from Jill’s phone, which she now notices is gone.
Kirby and Charlie make their move for each other before Trevor interrupts. Robbie dies for his art. Sidney arrives, and Ghostface attacks. Charlie is tied up and Kirby has to play movie trivia to save his life. Charlie then stabs Kirby. As Sidney runs from Charlie, Ghostface appears and takes his mask off; it’s Jill. Charlie and Jill plan to frame Trevor for the whole thing. They want to get famous for livestreaming murders.
Charlie tells Jill to stab him a little so he can look like a victim. She stabs him right in the heart; no surprise, it’s a double-cross. Jill wants to be the sole survivor this time around. “I don’t need friends, I need fans,” she gloats. She rants a bit about Internet fame before stabbing Sidney.
She sets up Trevor with some incriminating evidence and then stabs herself on purpose. She finishes up by passing out next to Sidney.
Dewey, Judy, and every other cop in town arrive to find the carnage.
Jill wakes up in the hospital with Dewey there. Dewey reveals that Sidney is in the ICU; she might be fine. As soon as he leaves, she gets up and heads to the ICU to finish off Sidney. Sidney puts up more of a fight than she expects. Dewey gets beaten down with a bedpan. Gale comes in and almost gets shot until Judy rescues her.
Judy does get shot, Gale starts talking, and Sidney fries Jill with the defibrillator paddles. She gets up again, so this time, Sidney simply shoots her. Judy gets up; bullet-proof vest.
All the reporters outside talk about how Jill saved everyone by putting an end to the “Woodsboro Massacre.” They don’t know about this final attack yet.
Commentary
That ending though. There are apparently no nurses, orderlies, or security in this ICU? None that would hear all the gunfire, screaming, and bedpannery?
These films do have a knack for introducing a whole bunch of new characters quickly, so the suspect pool is always large in the beginning.
So, as before, there are two Ghostfaces. Neither of these two were huge surprises.
It wasn’t terrible, but it was far less inspired than its predecessors.
Scream (2022)
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett
Written by James Vanderbilt, Guy Busick, Kevin Williamson
Stars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette
Run Time: 1 Hour, 54 Minutes
Trailer:
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Buy or rent the all-new Scream movie tonight on Digital! Starring Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox, the new hit movie is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and critics are calling it "100% terrifying". Buy on Digital today and get killer bonus content including deleted scenes, cast interviews, and much more. Available at participating retailers. Rated R. From Paramount Pictures.
More secrets, more surprises, more stabby-stabs, more chases and suspense. This one was a cut above the 4th film. And word is there is a 6th on the way. May the upward trend continue.
Synopsis
Tara is home alone. “The voice” calls and asks for Christine who isn’t there. He claims to be in “group” with Christine. The topic of scary movies comes up. Tara’s favorite is “The Babadook.” They discuss elevated horror, which he thinks sounds boring. He prefers the “Stab” series. They talk about girls at home alone talking on the phone. The call starts out civil, but gets creepier as it goes along. Soon, the voice is texting from her friend Amber’s phone. The phone trivia goes badly. Credits roll.
Richie and Sam are a couple. Sam gets a call from Wes, who talks about Tara being attacked last night. Tara is Sam’s sister, and she survived the attack. Richie explains that he’s never seen any of the Stab movies, even though most of them are based on things that really happened there in Woodsboro. They arrive at the hospital, where we meet a whole new crew of young victims– I mean characters. Chad, Mindy, Amber, and Wes are there.
Bully Vince picks on the gang at the local bar, and when he leaves, Ghostface kills him far too easily. Meanwhile at the hospital, Richie is binge-watching the Stab films on Netflix, “I just want to be prepared.” Sam has a psychotic vision of Billy from the first film. He asks, “When are you gonna tell her why all this is happening.”
The Voice calls Samantha and claims to know her family secret. Almost instantly, he attacks. She runs out and grabs a security guard, but Ghostface is gone. Sheriff Judy gets involved at this point. Judy suggests that Sam leaves, as her presence in town is not appreciated.
Sam tells Tara the story. Her mother got pregnant by Billy Loomis. When the truth came out, their father left the family. Somehow, Tara’s attack must be related to that.
Sam and Richie go to see Dewey. Dewey explains the rules to surviving a “Stab” movie, one of which is don’t trust the boyfriend, as he glares at Richie. Also, the killer is part of the first victim’s friend group. Dewey’s been stabbed nine times and doesn’t want to get involved again.
Dewey calls Sidney to fill her in and warn her not to come to town this time. Then he calls Gale, whom he’s divorced from now. Dewey and all the suspects meet at dead-Randy’s sister Martha’s house. The first three attacks were all on people related to the killers from the previous films. The new killer is doing a “requel” which is a sequel that’s not a reboot, but not quite a sequel. They all come to the conclusion that Sam is the killer, which offends Sam just a little bit.
Sheriff Judy gets the call next. He threatens to kill her son, Wes. She hurries home and runs right into Ghostface and his knife. Wes follows very shortly afterwards.
Sam arrives on the scene and encounters Gale there. She argues with Dewey who is retired now. While everyone is busy at the Ludy/Wes crime scene, Tara’s been left all alone at the hospital where the power suddenly goes off. Tara finds the body of the cop who was guarding her. Ghostface calls Sam and asks her to choose between Tara and Richie. Sam and Dewey arrive in time to save them both. Dewey shoots Ghostface and then everyone leaves his body behind. Dewey stays behind to shoot him in the head… because rules. He’s too slow and gets stabbed a couple more times– it looks fatal this time.
It is fatal, and Gale arrives just in time to see them wheel out Dewey’s body. Sidney does come to town now, and there is much angst and drama. Gale and Sidney want Sam to help them track down the killer. Sam, Tara, and Richie plan to leave town, but they have to stop for Tara’s inhaler first.
Amber, Mindy, Tara, and the other friends are having a memorial/party for Wes. They all watch the first Stab movie. Chad gets stabbed just as Sam, Tara, and Richie arrive. Richie says “I’ll be right back” as he goes to the basement for beer. Mindy and LIv give each other the side-eye.
Amber pulls out a gun and starts shooting people. Richie points out that there are always two killers. He suspects the other killer is Tara. Sidney and Gale arrive, and Amber shoots Gale. Sidney pulls her gun and goes inside. Sam finds Tara tied up in the closet, but she has second thoughts about releasing her. The Voice calls Sidney on her cell, “I’m not Amber, I'm the other one.”
Sidney shoots Richie, possibly by accident. Ghostface attacks. Richie then stabs Sam. The killers are Amber and Richie. “Someone has to save the franchise. No one has made a great Stab movie since the first one,” Richie complains. He rants about toxic fandom and how Hollywood is totally out of ideas. Mindy stabs Sidney. Richie points out that Dewey was right on the first guess, it was the love interest.
Tara attacks Mindy; Sam attacks Richie. Gale shoots Mindy and sets her on fire. She’s not getting up again, right? Sam goes all daughter-of-a-serial-killer on Richie. He’s not getting up either.
Sam and Tara finally make up. Gale and Sidney seem to be doing pretty well after both were stabbed. Dewey is still dead. “Can we go to a different hospital this time?” asks Tara.
Commentary
Ghostface seems a lot more violent and vicious this time around. The gore effects are much improved, there’s more than just blood spatters this time. Wes’s knife through the neck is particularly gross.
They finally killed off a main character, which was probably a weakness of the series overall going so long with them all repeatedly surviving. Still, why did it have to be Dewey?
Mindy and Richie stop using knives after a while and switch to guns, which feels wrong somehow. The meta-movies are called “Stab” after all, not “Shoots.”
It was OK, but I’m not sure if it qualifies as a “requel.” Still a lot of characters did survive to be in the inevitable next part.
Oh, and I wonder why this wasn’t titled, “5cream” with a five?
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