Connect with us

Movies News

The ‘Scream’ Franchise: All of Ghostface’s Kill, Ranked

Published

on

The ‘Scream’ Franchise: All of Ghostface’s Kill, Ranked

On the heels of the anniversary of Scream (1996), slasher, horror and meta enthusiasts will be looking forward to the premiere of the latest installation in the franchise, Scream 5, this January. It’s set a full 10 years after we left our dynamic trio after they thwarted yet another Ghostface killer. Naturally, Sidney Prescott’s luck never changes, and she, Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers will once again have to face another incarnation of Ghostface.

Unfortunately, director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson did not return for Scream 5, with the former unfortunately passing away in 2015. Hopefully, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett will give us a combination of good old-fashioned bloody horror, and maybe a dash of some new tricks to distinguish themselves.

This gives us a perfect opportunity to look back at the long-running franchise, and what makes Scream so entertaining and endearing. There’s definitely a lot to be said for the Ghostface kills, which are numerous but usually enjoyable. So, we’re doing a ranking of all of the murders Ghostface committed throughout the series.

Advertisement

This does not include murders that happen in any of the Stab movies, nor any kills that our main heroes commit. And, of course, spoilers ahead!

32. Sarah Darling (Jenny McCarthy)

Film: Scream 3 (2000)

Cause of Death: stabbed in the torso

Scream 3 is easily the weakest entry in the Scream franchise, notably not written by Williamson, and lacking a lot of the witty dialogue and entertainment value that made the others so fun. And the movie is certainly not helped by Jenny McCarthy, who plays Sarah Darling, a bit actor in Stab 3. Receiving a call from Ghostface, Darling gets scared and hides in the wardrobe department, surrounded by other Ghostface masks and outfits. Hiding among the costumes, the real Ghostface jumps out and stabs Darling to death. This would be higher up on the list if it weren’t for McCarthy’s lackluster performance, who gives an all-around unmemorable death.

Advertisement

31. Christine Hamilton (Kelly Rutherford)

Film: Scream 3 (2000)

Cause of Death: stabbed in the torso

Christine Hamilton barely gets a name in the third Scream and is killed within the first 15 minutes of the movie. Hamilton is Cotton Weary’s girlfriend, who unceremoniously dies simply because of that connection. Her death is forgettable and provides no more purpose than to raise the body count.

Advertisement

30. Officer Richards (Chris Doyle)

Film: Scream 2 (1997)

Cause of Death: stabbed in the neck

In Scream 2, Sidney gets two police officers assigned to protection detail. Naturally, they die relatively soon. While driving Sidney to a safe house, Officer Richards gets stabbed in the neck by Ghostface after encountering some road work. His death isn’t great but does provide a great jump scare that will lead us to the climax of the film.

29. Ross Hoss (Adam Brody)

Film: Scream 4 (2011)

Advertisement

Cause of Death: stabbed in the back

Similar to the previous entry, Officer Ross Hoss is assigned to protect Sidney and the Roberts during Scream 4. In another jump scare, Ghostface stabs Ross Hoss in the back, which makes this death not very interesting or meaningful.

28. Steven Stone (Patrick Warburton)

Film: Scream 3 (2000)

Cause of Death: stabbed in the back

Advertisement

Police officers and security details don’t usually survive very long in Scream movies — they’re basically the red shirts of the franchise. Steven Stone is a celebrity bodyguard hired to protect Jennifer Jolie as more and more members of the Stab 3 cast are killed. Again, unsurprisingly, Stone dies while taking a sweep of Jolie’s house, as Ghostface pops out of Dewey’s trailer and stabs him in the back.

27. John Milton (Lance Henriksen)

Film: Scream 3 (2000)

Cause of Death: throat slit

Yet another Scream 3 entry towards the bottom of the list, John Milton is one of the producers of Stab 3. He was also responsible for pimping out a young and innocent Maureen Reynolds while at one of his parties. Kidnapped by Ghostface, he has his throat slit as the killer blames him for setting off the chain of events that led to all the Scream movies. This character doesn’t inspire much love, nor do we feel much vindication at his death, so John Milton’s murder is quite boring.

Advertisement

26. Angelina Tyler (Emily Mortimer)

Film: Scream 3 (2000)

Cause of Death: stabbed in the torso

Unquestionably, all of the Stab 3 cast had to die in Scream 3. The very point of introducing these characters is for them to be killed for our amusement. However, this could have been the franchise’s opportunity to be more creative and fun with their deaths, instead of the usual knifing to the chest. Angelina Tyler, who was cast to play Sidney in Stab 3, dies in this way, just another knife to the torso.


25. Tyson Fox (Deon Richmond)

Film: Scream 3 (2000)

Advertisement

Cause of Death: stabbed in the torso and thrown off roof

Her castmate Tyson Fox is also stabbed in the torso, but at least his death is a little more enjoyable as he is also thrown off the roof. The blood seeping out of his head makes for a nice welcome mat for Sidney when she comes to rescue her friends at the climax of the film.

24. Jenny Randall (Aimee Teegarden)

Film: Scream 4 (2011)

Cause of Death: stabbed in torso

Jenny Randall and her friend Marnie Cooper open the fourth Scream movie as they are brutally murdered. Attractive blondes who make all the wrong decisions while being stalked by Ghostface, Jenny’s death is enjoyable and satisfying, proof that the Scream movies always know how to craft an opening scene. Although this is the least entertaining of the Scream film openings, Jenny’s death still marks our entry into some of the better deaths in the franchise.

Advertisement


23. Hallie McDaniel (Elise Neal)

Film: Scream 2 (1997)

Cause of Death: stabbed in the torso

As with most of Sidney’s friends, poor Hallie McDaniel makes it almost to the end of the movie. Hallie is Sidney’s best friend and roommate in Scream 2, and despite the increasing danger to her life, never leaves Sidney’s side. Ghostface pops out after they escape a car crash, and stabs her to death as Sidney watches. Hallie deserved a better death scene, but this one is at least good enough.

22. Principal Arthur Himbry (Henry Winkler)

Film: Scream (1996)

Advertisement

Cause of Death: stabbed in the gut

The original Scream’s first entry into the list! Principal Arthur Himbry’s death is seemingly random, one of the few adults who Ghostface kills in the first movie. We do get an amazing shot during Himbry’s death, where Ghostface appears in the reflection of Himbry’s terrified eye. Even more macabre and entertaining though, is the fact that Ghostface strings Himbry up on a football goal post to lure partygoers away later that night. Unfortunately, we do not get to see that image, as it is performed off-screen.


21. Rebecca Walters (Alison Brie)

Film: Scream 4 (2011)

Cause of Death: stabbed in the gut and thrown off roof

Alison Brie notably plays annoying and hateful characters, and her role as Sidney’s book publicist in Scream 4 continues this streak. Therefore, her death scene is all the more enjoyable as viewers relish seeing Rebecca Walters viciously stabbed in the gut. The combination of the sound effects and Brie’s acting really sell this death scene, which is only further exacerbated by Ghostface flinging her body off the roof of a parking garage into an official public statement by the Woodsboro police force.

Advertisement

RELATED: ‘SCREAM’ Featurette Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the Original Wes Craven Slasher

20. Steve Orth (Kevin Patrick Walls)

Film: Scream (1996)

Cause of Death: disemboweled by knife

Unless you’ve seen Scream many, many times, you’re probably not familiar with the name Steve Orth. With no lines and barely any screen time, the name isn’t that memorable. However, he is Casey Becker’s boyfriend, who is also Ghostface’s first kill of the entire franchise. And it’s a super memorable one. We do not even expect this character to show up, since, at this point, we’ve only seen Ghostface harassing and stalking Casey for the past 10 minutes. So for another character to show up and be brutally disemboweled is quite the shocker. It also lets the audience quickly know that this is indeed a slasher horror film, and while it may have moments of levity and humor, it will certainly be bloody.

Advertisement

19. Kenny Jones (W. Earl Brown)

Film: Scream (1996)

Cause of Death: throat slit

Kenny Jones is Gale Weathers’ cameraman in the first Scream movie and unsurprisingly ends up dead. His death scene is a great one though, as Ghostface pops up out of nowhere once again and slits Kenny’s throat. Ghostface then places Kenny on top of the news van, so when Gale Weathers attempts to escape, she is confronted by his dead body and rivers of his blood down the windshield.

Advertisement

18. Cici Cooper (Sarah Michelle Gellar)

Film: Scream 2 (1997)

Cause of Death: stabbed in the back and thrown off roof

The cast of Scream 2 is littered with Williamson veterans, who broke onto the teen scene in the late ‘90s with the help of the first Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Dawson’s Creek. Sarah Michelle Gellar famously signed on to Scream 2 without reading the script due to the success of the first, and while her character only gets two scenes, her death is pretty fun and entertaining.

Running all around the house in a deluded and desperate attempt to get away from Ghostface, Cici Cooper finally meets her end at the terrace on the top floor of the sorority house. Ghostface stabs her in the back multiple times and then tosses her flailing body off the roof as she screams. Ghostface loves tossing bodies in and out of houses throughout the series, and this is the first notable instance of his penchant.

Advertisement

17. Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber)

Film: Scream 3 (2000)

Cause of Death: stabbed in the chest

Part of what makes the Scream series so enduring is its reliable unpredictability. Audiences assume that no one is safe, but by the third movie, there are some familiar faces that seem likely to stick around. But Scream 3 opens to dispel this idea by killing Cotton Weary, a character who has appeared in the first two movies and had quite a significant role in Scream 2. While he may not die in a very interesting way, as Ghostface just stabs him in the chest, his death itself proves that the franchise keeps audiences on its toes.


16. Jennifer Jolie (Parker Posey)

Film: Scream 3 (2000)

Cause of Death: stabbed in gut

Advertisement

The remarkable Parker Posey plays Jennifer Jolie, an actress cast as Gale Weathers in Stab 3, and she’s easily the best new cast member to the series in a while. Delivering every line with sharp wit, playing off Courteney Cox’s own Gale and hamming it up every possible moment, Posey’s death is memorable simply because she is.

As she’s being chased by Ghostface through hidden passageways in John Milton’s house, Jolie has the audacity to tell Ghostface to go away and that she’s not afraid of him. It’s a moment of levity much needed after a couple of boring kills earlier. With a heavy dash of dramatic irony, Ghostface stabs her in the gut while she tries to get Dewey’s attention through a two-way mirror, and crashes through with a bang.


15. Marnie Cooper (Britt Robertson)

Film: Scream 4 (2011)

Cause of Death: stabbed off-screen and thrown through a window

The first kill of Scream 4 is slightly high on our list even though the character is killed off-screen. Marnie Cooper is a ​​formulaic antithesis to the more attractive Jenny Randall, and the former’s death serves as a way to only terrify the latter more.

Advertisement

However, the fact that Ghostface throws Marnie through a window into the house makes this death more interesting. Ghostface normally throws victims out of the window to accentuate their death and give audiences a gorier scene. In a reversal of events yet again, the Scream franchise continues to surprise, and it’s also just hilarious to imagine one of the killers throwing a body through a window.

14. Kate Roberts (Mary McDonnell)

Film: Scream 4 (2011)

Cause of Death: stabbed through the mailslot

Scream 4 certainly had a large body count, with the cause of death ranging from the classic and standard to the absurd and ridiculous. But the deaths that skewed towards the latter were much more entertaining. And none were as silly as Kate Roberts’ death by stabbing through the mailslot. At first, it seems impossible that Ghostface was able to kill Kate through a solid front door, but after her body slides off the knife, we see the gleeful Ghostface mask instead of your friendly mailman.

Advertisement

13. Tom Prinze (Matt Keeslar)

Film: Scream 3 (2000)

Cause of Death: explosion from a gas leak

The highest death from Scream 3 would be Tom Prinze, yet another cast member from Stab 3. He’s the best Scream 3 kill because he’s openly the most stupid and the most fantastical death scene in the series. Whilst being chased by Ghostface, the cast members, Gale, and Dewey get threatening messages via fax. Naturally, everyone gets out of the house to avoid being hunted down.

Tom stays inside the house to read the last fax. Since Ghostface killed the lights, Tom uses his lighter to read the last fax. And it hints that Ghostface created a gas leak, which kills Tom and creates an explosion so big that it destroys the house and sends the rest of the cast rolling down the hill. It’s ridiculous and over-the-top, but it’s still hilariously fun in the same way.

Advertisement


Movies News

Review: SAMARITAN, A Sly Stallone Superhero Stumble

Published

on

By

Review: SAMARITAN, A Sly Stallone Superhero Stumble

Hitting the three-quarter-century mark usually means a retirement home, a nursing facility, or if you’re lucky to be blessed with relatively good health and savings to match, living in a gated community in Arizona or Florida.

For Sylvester Stallone, however, it means something else entirely: starring in the first superhero-centered film of his decades-long career in the much-delayed Samaritan. Unfortunately for Stallone and the audience on the other side of the screen, the derivative, turgid, forgettable results won’t get mentioned in a career retrospective, let alone among the ever-expanding list of must-see entries in a genre already well past its peak.

For Stallone, however, it’s better late than never when it involves the superhero genre. Maybe in getting a taste of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) with his walk-on role in the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel several years ago, Stallone thought anything Marvel can do, I can do even better (or just as good in the nebulous definition of the word).

Advertisement

The property Stallone and his team found for him, Samaritan, a little-known graphic novel released by a small, almost negligible, publisher, certainly takes advantage of Stallone’s brute-force physicality and his often underrated talent for near-monosyllabic brooding (e.g., the Rambo series), but too often gives him to little do or say as the lone super-powered survivor, the so-called “Samaritan” of the title, of a lifelong rivalry with his brother, “Nemesis.” Two brothers entered a fire-ravaged building and while both were presumed dead, one brother did survive (Stallone’s Joe Smith, a garbageman by day, an appliance repairman by night).

In the Granite City of screenwriter Bragi F. Schut (Escape Room, Season of the Witch), the United States, and presumably the rest of the world, teeters on economic and political collapse, with a recession spiraling into a depression, steady gigs difficult, if not impossible, to obtain, and the city’s neighborhoods rocked by crime and violence. No one’s safe, not even 13-year-old Sam (Javon Walker), Joe’s neighbor.

When he’s not dodging bullies connected to a gang, he’s falling under the undue influence of Cyrus (Pilou Asbæk), a low-rent gang leader with an outsized ego and the conviction that he and only he can take on Nemesis’s mantle and along with that mantle, a hammer “forged in hate,” to orchestrate a Bane-like plan to plunge the city into chaos and become a wealthy power-broker in the process.

Schut’s woefully underwritten script takes a clumsy, haphazard approach to world-building, relying on a two-minute animated sequence to open Samaritan while a naive, worshipful Sam narrates Samaritan and Nemesis’s supposedly tragic, Cain and Abel-inspired backstory. Schut and director Julius Avery (Overlord) clumsily attempt to contrast Sam’s childish belief in messiah-like, superheroic saviors stepping in to save humanity from itself and its own worst excesses, but following that path leads to authoritarianism and fascism (ideas better, more thoroughly explored in Watchmen and The Boys).

While Sam continues to think otherwise, Stallone’s superhero, 25 years past his last, fatal encounter with his presumably deceased brother, obviously believes superheroes are the problem and not the solution (a somewhat reasonable position), but as Samaritan tracks Joe and Sam’s friendship, Sam giving Joe the son he never had, Joe giving Sam the father he lost to street violence well before the film’s opening scene, it gets closer and closer to embracing, if not outright endorsing Sam’s power fantasies, right through a literally and figuratively explosive ending. Might, as always, wins regardless of how righteous or justified the underlying action.

It’s what superhero audiences want, apparently, and what Samaritan uncritically delivers via a woefully under-rendered finale involving not just unconvincing CGI fire effects, but a videogame cut-scene quality Stallone in a late-film flashback sequence that’s meant to be subversively revelatory, but will instead lead to unintentional laughter for anyone who’s managed to sit the entirety of Samaritan’s one-hour and 40-minute running time.

Advertisement

Samaritan is now streaming worldwide on Prime Video.

Samaritan

Cast
  • Sylvester Stallone
  • Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton
  • Pilou Asbæk

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Movies News

Matt Shakman Is In Talks To Direct ‘Fantastic Four’

Published

on

By

According to a new report, Wandavision’s Matt Shakman is in talks to direct the upcoming MCU project, Fantastic Four. Marvel Studios has been very hush-hush regarding Fantastic Four to the point where no official announcements have been made other than the film’s release date. No casting news or literally anything other than rumors has been released regarding the project. We know that Fantastic Four is slated for release on November 8th, 2024, and will be a part of Marvel’s Phase 6. There are also rumors that the cast of the new Fantastic Four will be announced at the D23 Expo on September 9th.

Fantastic Four is still over two years from release, and we assume we will hear more news about the project in the coming months. However, the idea of the Fantastic Four has already been introduced into the MCU. John Krasinski played Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The cameo was a huge deal for fans who have been waiting a long time for the Fantastic Four to enter the MCU. When Disney acquired Twenty Century Fox in 2019 we assumed that the Fox Marvel characters would eventually make their way into the MCU. It’s been 3 years and we already have had an X-Men and Fantastic Four cameo – even if they were from another universe.

Deadline is reporting that Wandavision’s Matt Shakman is in talks to direct Fantastic Four. Shakman served as the director for Wandavision and has had an extensive career. He directed two episodes of Game of Thrones and an episode of The Boys, and he had a long stint on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. There is nothing official yet, but Deadline’s sources say that Shakman is currently in talks for the job and things are headed in the right direction.

Advertisement

To be honest, I was a bit more excited when Jon Watts was set to direct. I’m sure Shakman is a good director, but Watts proved he could handle a tentpole superhero film with Spider-Man: Homecoming. Wandavision was good, but Watts’ style would have been perfect for Fantastic Four. The film is probably one of the most anticipated films in Marvel’s upcoming slate films and they need to find the best person they can to direct. Is that Matt Shakman? It could be, but whoever takes the job must realize that Marvel has a lot riding on this movie. The other Fantastic Four films were awful and fans deserve better. Hopefully, Marvel knocks it out of the park as they usually do. You can see for yourself when Fantastic Four hits theaters on November 8th, 2024.

Film Synopsis: One of Marvel’s most iconic families makes it to the big screen: the Fantastic Four.

Source: Deadline

Continue Reading

Movies News

Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase Star in ‘Zombie Town’ Mystery Teen Romancer (Exclusive)

Published

on

By

Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase have entered Zombie Town, a mystery teen romancer based on author R.L. Stine’s book of the same name.

The indie, now shooting in Ontario, also stars Henry Czerny and co-teen leads Marlon Kazadi and Madi Monroe. The ensemble cast includes Scott Thompson and Bruce McCulloch of the Canadian comedy show Kids in the Hall.

Canadian animator Peter Lepeniotis will direct Zombie Town. Stine’s kid’s book sees a quiet town upended when 12-year-old Mike and his friend, Karen, see a horror movie called Zombie Town and unexpectedly see the title characters leap off the screen and chase them through the theater.

Zombie Town will premiere in U.S. theaters before streaming on Hulu and then ABC Australia in 2023.

“We are delighted to bring the pages of R.L. Stine’s Zombie Town to the screen and equally thrilled to be working with such an exceptional cast and crew on this production. A three-time Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award winner with book sales of over $500 million, R.L. Stine has a phenomenal track record of crafting stories that engage and entertain audiences,” John Gillespie, Trimuse Entertainment founder and executive producer, said in a statement.

Advertisement

Executive producers are Trimuse Entertainment, Toonz Media Group, Lookout Entertainment, Viva Pictures and Sons of Anarchy actor Kim Coates.  

Paco Alvarez and Mark Holdom of Trimuse negotiated the deal to acquire the rights to Stine’s Zombie Town book.

Continue Reading

Trending