The darkness envelops the room as the iconic music starts to play. Your  heart starts to race with anticipation as the opening scene unfolds, the phone rings and the question rises once again “What’s your favorite scary movie?” You can feel the tension building…a few moments pass and the first scream echoes through the theater; Scream strikes again. Watching the Scream movies is a rollercoaster of emotions – fear, excitement, and anticipation – all mixed together in a thrilling and unforgettable experience.

The original Scream movie, which was written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Nightmare on Elm Street director Wes Craven, came out in 1996. Scream gained notoriety for establishing several slasher movie conventions and tropes.
The first movie follows a group of teenagers, more specifically the main character, Sydney Prescott, that are followed and stalked by the masked killer, Ghostface, who taunts them with phone calls and brutal attacks. This movie unlike any other included 2 killers in the movie instead of 1, which was unexpected and probably blew the audience’s mind.

“I think the first time that 2 killers were introduced, it was something really altering in the franchise, as it has never been seen before,” Elisa Fajardo, a Grade 9 student, said.

Sydney Prescott, the main character known as ‘The final girl’, played by Neve Campell, fought Ghostface as the protagonist in the first four films. The focus, however, has switched from Sydney to the Carpenter sisters, Sam and Tara, in the most recent Scream film. However, Prescott is a secondary character in  Scream 5. Sam is directly connected to the last group of characters since she is the daughter of Billy Loomis, the murderer and Sydney’s ex-boyfriend from the first film.

Scream 5 begins with Tara Carpenter getting attacked by Ghostface, which made her older sister Sam, come back to town with her boyfriend Richie Kirsch. As they returned, the attacks became more persistent and eventually resembled the plot of the original film.
That motive is actually the same or similar to other killers across the franchise. How do they know the original film? Turns out that in the movies, they use a concept called movie within a movie. In this case, their movie franchise is called “Stab” which is based on their “true life events.”

“I think it generates a lot of humor even though the plot is supposed to be serious. However it makes fun of itself and it’s cliche writing throughout the journey and I really like that,” Alyssa Jodoin, Art of Fiction teacher, said.

Wes Craven, who passed away in 2015, the creative force behind the Scream series accomplished so using his own directing approach, and he had a big hand in determining the mood and atmosphere of the movies. Mixing comedy and horror in a way that was both entertaining and suspenseful as one of Craven’s signature directing techniques.  His impact can still be felt in Scream 5 and, hopefully, Scream 6.

Several familiar faces from previous films are returning for their roles in this new installment, including Courtney Cox as Gale Weathers, the news reporter who has appeared in all of the Scream movies. Moreover, Hayden Panettiere will return to play Kirby Reed, a character in Scream 4 who was presumed dead.
Some of the new faces appearing in this latest incarnation of the film are Avatar actor Jack Champion, John Segarra of She-Hulk fame, Ready or Not actress Samara Weaving and Tony Revolori from the Tom Holland Spider-Man Trilogy.

Instead of appearing out of thin air, these new characters are all linked to a few of the recurring Scream characters. For instance, a new character named Ethan seems to be crushing on Tara Carpenter. There have been rumors that he would die, much like another character, Wes Hicks, that liked Tara in the last Scream picture.

On January 19, 2022, a two-and-a-half-minute trailer for Scream 6 was released. This trailer has generated a great deal of controversy among fans because of other theories that have been formed. Some of those theories suggest using an older character than the standard new one for Ghostface. In addition, the trailer showed really incriminating scenes of Tara, who is played by Jenna Ortega, while being held off a ledge she shows a very mischievous and suspicious grin which led the audience to theorize she could be one of the murderers. That is just one of the credible theories as to what is going to happen in this movie.

“I’ve heard so many theories and I think it’s gonna be 2 bands of Ghostfaces that don’t know who the other is, but while still killing people. I have no clue what’s gonna happen but I can’t wait to see it,” Samuel Perez, Senior, said.

With all of these potential outcomes for the film, people keep saying and thinking that it will be a fantastic film, even more, successful than the others. We will get to experience the thrill of the Scream franchise and forever change our minds to the iconic question… “What’s your favorite scary movie?”