30 Years of the Iconic Killer Ghost Face

Warning: You will encounter spoilers for the whole franchise in this article. Go watch Scream and its franchise before continuing…

The world was first introduced to the iconic serial murderer Ghost Face back on December 20, 1996 when the hit movie Scream came out. Now, 30 years later, Ghost Face is still one of America’s favorite horror movie killers and has seven feature-length films with an eighth on the way. 

I Want To Be In The Sequel!

In the mid-90s, the horror genre was beginning to fall flat. It was over-saturated and had repetitive slasher franchises, which exhausted many audiences. Wes Craven's 1996 Scream would be the revival of the slasher genre. 

The Scream franchise rewrote common horror movie tropes at the time. For example, in the first 10 minutes of Scream, the character that Drew Barrymore plays is killed off, which wasn't often seen in horror movies at the time. If a horror movie had a very big star like Drew Barrymore, that big name actor would be the ‘final girl’ (the person, typically a female, who survives at the end of a horror movie). 

Scream also humanized its killers, which was not frequently seen; it subverted expectations. In slashers before Scream, characters like Michael, Jason, and Freddy were all supernatural beings, but Scream gave audiences killers who were humans wearing a mask. 

By far the most important thing that Scream commented on—and why it's called a meta-commentary horror movie—is that its characters are aware of other horror movies. The characters discuss rules in horror movies, like don't say ‘I'll be right back’ or don't go into a room by yourself, otherwise this sure spells death for the character. 

The satirical awareness in Scream bridged a gap between audiences and slashers at the time, and brought audiences even closer to the horror genre, expanding the genre once more. 

After Scream would come many self-aware slashers that would follow the path made by Scream. Most notably was I Know What You Did Last Summer and Urban Legend. There would also be seven other additions to the Scream franchise. Out of the seven films, which are the best and which are the worst?

What’s Your Favorite Scary Movie?

Here in The Cyclone Chronicle, our Co-Executive Managing Editors, Carlee Nigro and Elizabeth May, have selected their favorite and least favorite editions in the franchise.

Nigro picked the first Scream as her favorite. 

“Scream 1 is far too iconic to not be picked as my favorite,” said Nigro. “From the frequently quoted opening scene to the shocking killer reveal, the whole movie was highly memorable. I will never forget the shock I felt when I found out Billy and Stu were the killers. Jaw dropper!”

Unlike Nigro, May picked Scream 4 as her favorite.

“While I adore Scream 1 and Scream 6, Scream 4 will forever be my favorite,” said May. “Which I’m aware is not a usual take on the fourth installment. I personally love the twist that one of the killers is Sidney’s cousin. The twist of the killer being a family member of Sid’s was done before in Scream 3; I think Scream 4 does it significantly better, while also introducing my favorite character in the franchise, Kirby.”

As far as her least favorite, Nigro picked Scream 7.

“Scream 7 was extremely hyped up and I was so excited to watch it, but then I was met with one of the most underwhelming movies of all time, ” said Nigro. “The kills were good ‘horror movie kills,’ but the killers were characters we saw in one maybe two scenes. Also, the main aspect why I was so excited for this movie was to see how they’ll have Stu’s return. However, they ended up having him be AI. As a writer and avid AI hater, I was very disappointed.” 

May also selected Scream 7 as her least favorite.

“Scream 7 was a massive let down,” said May. “I was fully ready to accept that somehow Stu Macker survived a TV crushing his head in the first Scream, then for his character’s return to be chalked up to an AI deep fake, ticked me off. Also, the big reveal of the killers had me confused enough that I turned to my friend in the theater and said, ‘who the hell is that?’”

But it’s not just Nigro and May that have a favorite Scream film, it's the entire Centenary campus as well. We polled our students and found that the first Scream is the popular favorite, Scream 2 and 4 come in second place, and the other movies didn’t get a single vote.

I’ll Be Right Back…

The Scream franchise has brought a whole new meaning to the slasher genre and continues to redefine what a slasher is to this day. With seven films already released, Scream 8 is anticipated to release in late 2027 or sometime in 2028. 

This spooky season, settle down and celebrate 30 years with Scream by taking the time to watch one of horror’s most beloved franchises.

And remember, the rules Randy Meeks laid out for us horror hounds: 

“This is the moment when the supposedly dead killer comes back to life, for one last scare."