You wanna play psycho killer? Fine, you can be Freddy Krueger.
As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Individual Pages:
Examples:
- The new Ghostface is without a doubt one of the scariest depictions of the character in the franchise.
- Rather than simply taunting Tara over the phone, which they still do, Ghostface also threatens her friend, Amber. Taking action, Tara decides to go help her but instead discovers Ghostface waiting at her door. They slash at her stomach and is also somehow able to hack into her home security network. They then proceed to screw with Tara's home security network, forcing her to tears as she frantically tries to relock it.
- A running theme with the Scream movies is that, despite what you'd expect, technology will not save you. Or at least, it won't save you if the killers have planned around it or has access to it too. In the first film, the killers had to get around caller ID. In this one? You'd think smartphones and home security would save Tara, but they thought of that, too.
- Of particular note is how technology can't save you even without Ghostface sabotaging things. Chad tries to call for help after getting attacked but his hands are too bloodied for the touch screen to work. And then his failed attempts take up enough time Ghostface is able to catch up to him before he can yell for help.
- Ghostface also stomps on Tara's leg, breaking it, and stabs her hand, causing her to scream in pain. As she cries for help and reaches for the door curtain, they drag her away and stab her — but thankfully, she survives.
- Rather than the more brutal and drawn-out kills of prior movies, this Ghostface seems to be focusing on ensuring their victims are scared for the life, which makes for a far scarier sight as we watch them in the above mentioned moment, another when they stalk a hapless Tara trying to flee in a wheelchair, and when they swiftly walk over and drive a knife into Chad's back to incapacitate him.
- The kills. While not as plentiful or violent as other installments, there’s something terrifying about how easy it is for Ghostface to take down many characters without much effort. Dewey is the one exception due to fighting Ghostface in an empty hospital… and is killed graphically by getting his chest and back slit open vertically with two hunting knives.
- Judy’s death has an extra layer of horror in it. Unlike most of the deaths within the franchise, which usually take place during nighttime and in enclosed spaces, Judy gets killed in broad daylight in front of her house while screaming for help that arrives after it’s too late. It doubles as a Tear Jerker since Judy also fails to save her son in the process.
- The Reveal that Richie and Amber are behind the new killings specifically to inspire a new Stab movie. Quite possibly the most petty motive in the entire series. Think about it, so many people killed for nothing more than the hope that it inspires just another run of the mill slasher.
- Doubles as a Tear Jerker: Whereas Richie was always pretending to be Sam’s boyfriend as part of the plan, Amber is at least somewhat implied to have been friends with Tara and the gang for a good while before she put her plan into effect, and perhaps even before Stab 8 came out; whether this was before or after she became obsessed with the films as a whole (or whether she moved from a new town to Woodsboro or just from one house in town to Stu’s house), as well as how old she was when she met the others, is left up to interpretation, but she had at least been an established member of the friend group for some time. And she’s willing to just turn around and murder these friends she’s known for years in cold blood… all because she didn’t like a movie.
- And when you think about it, their motive almost feels the most grounded in reality out of the previous Ghostfaces, at least for a Gen Z audience. In past installments (as well as the following), Ghostface’s motive is usually some kind of twisted Disproportionate Revenge that feels deliberately over-the-top; this one feels like it genuinely could happen if the wrong person is pushed too far. Fandom culture has always been infamous for having its dark underbelly, and who knows how many potential Ambers and Richies there are out there, lurking in the shadows, willing to do whatever it takes, no matter how depraved, to satiate their hunger.
- While he undoubtedly deserved it, Richie's death is absolutely vicious. He’s stabbed through the side of his mouth, and then Sam goes to town on him, stabbing him at least a dozen times before slitting his throat. Oh, and then he’s triple tapped (two in the chest, one in the head), just in case.
- Amber getting shot by Gail, causing her to stumble back and touch the lit stove burners. And because her body was already drenched from being hit in the face with a glass bottle of hand sanitizer, she immediately goes up in flames and falls to the floor in agonizing shrieks of pain.
- Amber (pictured above) trying to attack one last time, with half of her fucking face melted off.
- Amber in general is probably the most sadistic Ghostface since both Billy and Stu. Y’know, the guys who disemboweled two of their classmates? She displays no qualms with trying to kill the people supposed to be her friends, and takes the time while gutting Dewey to say “it’s an honor,” like the twisted fan that she is.
- Most of the time, Richie is with Sam, trying to sell the bit as a caring boyfriend. This is pretty unassuming, until you realize that Amber is responsible for a large portion of the body count. A 5”3 teenager was able to take down almost half a dozen people just on her own.
