Rewatch Bonus / Scream

The reveals of the Ghostfaces in Scream do not come from left field, some of the hints also come through random scenes, some of which is able to be recognized on repeated viewings.

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Scream (1996)

• In the opening scene, Ghostface seemingly teleports around Casey's house. On a first viewing, this seems to be the movie being sloppy and giving Ghostface Offscreen Teleportation powers, a common horror movie trope. However, on repeat viewings, one realizes this teleportation is realistically possible because there are two killers at the house, not one.
  • Also relevant, Ghostface's final trivia question to Casey: "What door am I at?" "He" was at both doors.
  • Similarly, the fact that the killer knows his way around Casey's house is an early sign that it's someone familiar to Casey, like Stu, her ex-boyfriend, is.
  • Look carefully at Casey when she unmasks the killer. She opens her eyes and then starts visibly gasping. Also, Ghostface only kills her after she opens her eyes. A subtle hint that she recognizes who's killing her.
• On a first viewing, Billy sneaking into Sidney's house is a romantic gesture. On repeat viewings, the implication is darker, as Billy has just finished murdering Casey and Steve, and is only visiting Sidney to set up an alibi.
• Rewatching the fountain scene casts many of the characters' behavior in a new light:
  • After Casey Becker gets killed, the five main characters sit around discussing her murder, and Stu starts to describe in graphic detail how one would go about gutting her, at which point Billy admonishes him to shut up. At first glance, you might think that Billy just thinks Stu is being rather tasteless, but in retrospect, Billy told him to shut up because he realized the fact that Stu knew so much about how to gut someone could in itself be a giveaway.
  • Immediately afterwards, Sidney and Randy reveal that Stu used to date Casey, but Casey dumped him for Steve, which gives Stu a motive in killing the two, contradicting Stu's later explanation that peer pressure prompted him to murder multiple people.
  • Then, Randy jokingly accuses Stu of murdering Casey and Steve. In response, Tatum states that Stu was at her house at the night of the murders, but Randy counters that Stu could have been at Tatum's house before or after the murders. On repeat viewings, one can infer that Stu was at Tatum's house after the murders since Billy arrived at Sidney's house after the murders as well. Most importantly, this scene shows how thorough Billy and Stu's plans were, as they visited their girlfriends after the murders to set up their alibis.
  • After Randy questions the legitimacy of Stu's alibi, Stu is noticeably less cocky and denies murdering anyone, to which Billy has to reassure Stu that no one seriously accused Stu of anything. When the conversation becomes more comedic again, Stu threatens to gut Randy, which in hindsight, becomes less funny when one realizes that later on, Stu comes close to killing Randy while the latter is too busy watching Halloween.
• After Tatum's murder, Billy shows up wanting to talk with Sid. Notice the look he gives Stu, clearly signalling that he took care of business.
• For a first time viewer, it seems like Stu's mockingly declaring "I'll be right back!" just seconds after being warned not to by Randy is just another instance of many of Stu being a dumbass. On repeat viewings, we realize that the real reason for his confidence and prankish tone is because he knows he genuinely has nothing to fear from breaking any of Randy's rules, as he is one of the killers himself.
  • Not only that, Randy even mentions he'll see him later with a kitchen knife. And where's Stu later, and what is he holding?
• Combined with Freeze-Frame Bonus, as Billy is "killed," he turns to Sidney with blood all over his shirt, but behind him you can see Ghostface quickly tuck the clean blade of the knife into his hand, making a kind of squeezing motion. Sidney looks to the killer, who shows her the bloody knife before wiping the blade clean again. Stu was applying the fake blood to the knife while Sidney was distracted.
  • Billy's bloody shirt also looks more fake than the realistic on-screen wounds of the actual victims. This turns out not to be a coincidence.
  • That being said, this might not be intentional. You can see that the blade is clean in one shot, stained in the next shot, and then clean, before being stained again when Ghostface cleans it off, so the lack of In-Universe fake blood on the knife might be a production mistake.
• The scene at the video store has a lot:
  • Randy pegs Billy as the killer and Stu tries to dissuade him by saying he thinks Sidney's dad is guilty because he's gone missing. Randy responds by calling Stu a lapdog and suggesting that Sidney's dad is a Red Herring. On rewatch, Randy is entirely correct, both by calling Stu a lapdog (since he's Billy's accomplice) and about Sidney's dad being a misdirect (as Billy and Stu plan to frame him for their crimes). It's also apparent that Stu is trying to make Randy think Mr. Prescott is guilty in order to frame him and keep suspicion off of Billy.
  • Stu asks what Billy's motivation would be if he were the killer. Randy: "There's always some stupid bullshit reason to kill your girlfriend." Stu's girlfriend Tatum ends up being their next victim, killed by Billy.
  • When Billy and Stu gang up on Randy, he's sandwiched between the two killers.
• Notice that during the third-act bloodbath, Sidney acquires a gun and is left to wonder who she can still trust between Stu and Randy. Randy yells that they need to get the fuck out of there, while Stu claims that Randy killed Billy and Tatum and tries to get the gun from her, and never once says that they need to escape.

Scream 2

• Mickey tests his legal defense argument by trying to convince his peers in film class that violent movies create real-life violence.
• Gale jokes "I thought you looked familiar" to Debbie Salt aka Mrs Loomis. On the first watch, it seems like a lie on Gale's part. After The Reveal, Gale says "I've seen pictures", so she did recognize her.
• It's hard to hear what the Ghostface that kills Phil in the opening scene says. On rewatch, it's easier to make out that he's saying "Billy, don't tell Mommy what you did." This forehadows that the killer is Billy's grieving mother.
• Mickey has an interested gleam in his eyes when Gale tries to interview Sidney. Given Mickey's motive, he's likely fantasizing about the media circus after turning himself in.
• Debbie Salt justifies her suspicion of Dewey and Sidney's father by stating that if the killer is repeating Woodsboro, the killer could be from Woodsboro themselves. She's right, even if the killer doesn't live there any more.
• Debbie Salt keeps away from the confrontation between Gale and Sidney at the start. She doesn't want to risk Sidney recognizing her.
• Mickey's line "Why would anyone go back in that house anyway?" He's deliberately trying to make Sidney think Derek is the killer.
• Mickey also theorizes to Derek and Hallie that Randy could be the killer. This is just him trying to turn his friends against one another.
• After Cici Cooper is murdered, Debbie Salt tells Gale that she has to go as she "has a deadline". In reality, she's actually leaving to attack Sidney.
• After the opening murders, Mickey's knuckles are bruised, which are best seen when he takes out his camcorder to record Randy.
• In hindsight, Ghostface attacked Cici not just because she had a similar name to Casey Becker, but also because she argued against the the idea that movies were Murder Simulators and that sequels could be superior to the original.
• Once one knows the killer's identity, Randy's conversation with Ghostface becomes dramatically ironic. Randy correctly guesses Mickey's motive, but he is talking to Mrs. Loomis, who has a different goal in mind.

Scream 4

• In the beginning of the movie, Kirby jokingly asks Jill to promise not to kill her. And Jill keeps her promise, since Charlie is the one who gets his hands on Kirby instead.
• Jill tells Kirby that Kirby could do lot worse than to date Charlie. At first, this seems to be Jill venting her feelings about Trevor, but Jill later reveals that Charlie is secretly her boyfriend, so Jill's advice to Kirby came from first-hand experience.
• At the police station, Judy and Gale get into an argument, forcing Dewey to interrupt his interrogation of Sidney so that he can calm Gale down. On a first viewing, Judy seemingly looks away to give Dewey and Gale some privacy in their talk, but on a rewatch, it's easier to observe that Judy is also trying to get a good look at Sidney.
• On a second viewing, it's easy to figure out how Ghostface knew that Kirby and Jill were watching Shaun of the Dead despite hiding in Olivia's closet. Jill was the other Ghostface and was able to text Charlie the necessary information to scare Kirby.
• Sidney's heart-to-heart conversation with Jill after Rebecca's death takes on a darker tone on rewatch.
  • Sidney comforts her cousin by mourning Olivia's death, which Jill reciprocates by mourning the death of Sidney's publicist Rebecca. It's portrayed as an awkward moment since Sidney doesn't care much for Rebecca, but in retrospect, Jill only mentioned Rebecca because she mistakenly believed that Rebecca and Sidney had a good relationship and that Rebecca's death will emotionally hurt Sidney. Similarly, Sidney's genuine sympathy for Olivia is lost on Jill as well because she had no issue ordering Charlie to kill their friend.
  • Furthermore, Jill's mention of Rebecca takes on a second meaning in that she did the deed of killing Rebecca herself.
  • Jill also asks Sidney how she can handle the fame of being a survivor, specifically how Sidney can stand everyone looking at her. In hindsight, this is more envy on Jill's part and an early indicator of Jill's obsession with fame. For extra irony, Jill claims that she "could never handle that kind of attention".
• After Trevor enters Kirby's house uninvited, Kirby immediately glares at Charlie, who apologizes for forgetting to lock the front door. Upon reexamination however, it becomes clear that this was intentional on Charlie's part since Charlie and Jill needed Trevor to be the Fall Guy.
• At the afterparty at Kirby's house, most of the gang are drinking alcohol. But Charlie is hitting a Red Bull, both to stay sober and to keep energetic while killing.

Scream (2022)

• Before Richie introduces himself to Amber at the hospital, he covertly glances in Sam's direction to make sure that she is still fooled into believing that he and Amber are total strangers.
• Richie suggests Amber could be the killer because it appears like an obvious solution, despite evidence suggesting otherwise. Of course, Richie is right, since not only is Amber the killer, so is he.
• Richie watching the first Stab film on his phone in the same room as a sleeping Sam and Tara after the latter has been attacked by Ghostface and put in the hospital seems like a shockingly insensitive action for Sam's supposedly caring boyfriend. In hindsight, the character is most likely mocking the sisters for failing to deduce that he is one of the killers.
• The meetup at the Meeks-Martin house gets a different interpretation on a repeat viewing.
  • When the main cast starts talking about how hardcore Stab fans hate Stab 8 for its Mary Sue protagonist and elevated horror elements, Richie and Amber are the first to start asking questions, with Richie asking what a Mary Sue is and Amber praising Jordan Peele's elevated horror movies. On a second viewing, it is easier to tell that Richie and Amber were playing dumb to draw attention away from themselves.
  • Wes is killed shortly after Mindy reassures him that his family is safe because "no one cares about the [Stab] sequels". Both the killers, Richie and Amber, are in the room when Mindy and Wes have this conversation, and likely got the idea to attack both Wes and Judy next to throw them off.
  • After Mindy explains what a requel is, Richie suggests that she is the killer trying to cover her tracks. At first, it may seem that Richie was guessing randomly for a suspect like Wes was doing, but in retrospect, Richie was hastily throwing suspicion onto Mindy because Mindy's accurate description of he and Amber's requel plan worried him.
• Ghostface's attack at the hospital plays out differently on rewatch.
  • Why does the Ghostface that's attacking Tara and Richie in the hospital use the voice changer instead of the second killer? Because the second killer was one of the victims that was just attacked.
  • In addition, it's easier to tell that Ghostface's threat to kill either Richie or Tara depending on Sam's choice to save one was a bluff all along. Richie is the second killer, so obviously Amber wouldn't follow through with killing him. On the other hand, killing Tara is too risky, since Richie would look too suspicious for Sam to trust if Ghostface left him alone, not to mention that it would be harder for Richie to manipulate Sam's next move without Tara weighing her down. Thus, it was more practical for Ghostface to leave both victims alive.
  • It seems kind of boneheaded of Richie to just sit there instead of trying to escape while Dewey is fighting Ghostface. It makes more sense later on when it’s implied that Richie is seeing all of the murders through the lens of a real-life slasher film.
• As Dewey is carrying Richie to the elevator, Richie turns around to look back at Ghostface. Initially, it seems that Richie is being Properly Paranoid by making sure Ghostface is actually down for the count, but in reality, it's actually because he is worried that Dewey may have killed Amber.
• Amber goes off into the basement alone despite knowing a killer is on the loose. Like Stu in the first film, she has no reason to worry about that.
• Richie states "I'll be right back" before getting a beer. He does come back, and tries to kill Mindy.

Scream VI

• Quinn mentions that she had a brother who recently died and their father became overprotective afterwards, having moved to New York after she got accepted into college.
• Danny sees the killer in Quinn’s room, somehow having gotten into their apartment. Considering Quinn is one of the Ghostfaces, it is pretty clear who let them in.
• During the killer's phone call with Gale, he makes a quip that legacy characters are expendable now, a call back to Mindy's earlier speech about franchise rules. The only people besides the Core Four who were present during this conversation are Anika, Quinn, and Ethan. Anika was definitely killed earlier in the movie, and Ethan is with Mindy and Chad at the time. Since Quinn was apparently Killed Offscreen in a manner similar to Roman in the third movie (who is revealed to have faked his death), by process of elimination, the killer talking to Gale can only be one person.
• For the subway scene, everyone in the group is freaked out by all the Ghostface costumes around them, since they could be the killer. Everyone except Ethan. Because he is one of the killers.
• After Quinn dies, Detective Bailey tells Sam and Tara that anyone who fucks with his family will die. He specifically eyes Sam when he says this — which makes sense as he holds Sam responsible for his eldest son Richie’s death a year before and wants her dead as a result.

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