Looking at the Ghostface Killers Motivations in Scream
With the new Scream movie coming out in just under a week, I have re-visited the franchise to look at the different motivations the killers have had through the franchise. We have had a full range of motivations through the films and I personally can not wait to see where the new one will go for the franchise.
There will be spoilers for the first 4 films in the franchise from now on, so, if you haven’t seen them and don’t want to know who the killer is, come back when you know the truth.
Scream – 1996
Scream gave us two killers, which fast became the trend for the series, Scream will have the closest of the two killers, with two best friends behind it all. Strangely enough Scream is the only film in the franchise where a victim does remove a mask, letting them know who killed them before they took their final breath.
Killer One
Billy Loomis
Billy is Sidney’s boyfriend who has been patiently waiting for their first time together, between friends he is getting frustrated and instantly becomes one of the first suspects, even though he gets out. Billy will reveal his motivation later in the film, using Sidney’s mother’s affair with his father for causing him to snap, as it saw his parent’s marriage to fall apart. When it comes to his motivation to get revenge for his parent’s marriage falling apart, you can understand why he was behind Sidney’s mother’s death, but going after Sidney and her friends, does making things come off strange, almost like he enjoyed it too much and has finally lost it. He has however made a plan to make himself and his partner look like the heroes that survived a vengeful attack by Sidney’s father. He is clearly the brains between the two, having the plan down exactly how he wants things to unfold.
Killer Two
Stu
Stu is one of Billy’s best friends, he is a bit of a goofball, right down to his lack of motivation, willing to go along with the Peer Pressure motivation, despite showing regret for what he finds himself getting involved in, feeling like he has let down his parents. Stu does seem to be a character that comes off more unstable than the film presents him, as we have one moment where he is funny love, then regretful, then rage fuelled, going through everything in a matter of moments.
Scream 2 – 1997
Scream 2 kept with the trend of the franchise by having two killers again, which is used for the miss-direction the franchise likes to create when it comes to having one of the killers on the screen, when Ghostface is around. Scream 2 also struggled with the planned ending, after the script leaks forced a change along the way.
Killer One
Debbie Salt
Debbie Salt is an overly nosey reporting trying to get close to Gail, always around the stories as they are breaking, never being afraid to cross the line like her idol Gail Weathers. Debbie does have a different side, which is why she is kept away from Sidney for the whole film, with the final reveal, showing her to be Billy’s mother. She has come for revenge on the Sidney for killing her son, and everything the Prescott family has done to her in the most recent years. She recruits Mickey, needing someone who is eagerly willing to get involved in a killing spree.
Killer Two
Mickey
Mickey is one of the fellow film studies student whose knowledge of movies is above the rest of the class, he will use it to point fingers at different classmates, never looking like a suspect after being similar to Randy in the first film, having the movie fanatic not looking like a threat. Mickey wants to blame everything on the violence in movies, looking forward and enjoying killing people, making him the biggest psychopath created in the franchise yet.
Scream 3 – 2000
Scream 3 broke the mold of the franchise by only have one killer, despite having the largest cast, with the biggest list of potential suspects, misleading us once again with the final reveal.
Killer
Roman
Roman is the director of the third Stab movie, with this being a chance to break into the industry, he is feeling the stress because of the production being delayed, with the killer leaving pictures of Sidney’s mother at each murder. Roman has used his position in the film industry to get more information about Sidney’s mother, his own mother that abandoned him and never wanted anything to do with him. This has fueled his anger for his lifetime, which saw him guide Billy in the original film to get revenge on the family he was never welcomed too.
Scream 4 – 2011
Scream 4 returned to the two killers, using the story to make the clearer points that when it comes to reboots, there are new rules and that anyone could be killed off, being a franchise that has always made the clear points for it position in the franchise, while poking fun at the idea that horror will continue to cash in on making more. Right down to having the ‘Stab’ movies already being at 7 within the movie world.
Killer One
Jill
Jill is the cousin of Sidney’s she has always lived in the shadow of her growing up in Woodsboro. She finds herself being targeted by the killer this time around, always making sure she is the victim, creating the narrative that she is being stalked by her ex-boyfriend Trevor. She does reveal her plan being about how she has always hated Sidney for living in her shadow, wanting to become the lone survivor of a vicious attack from a jilted lover, like Billy was to Sidney, setting up a framing plan on Trevor. She will leave the bodies laying around the home, before injuring herself to show how much she has been through. Jill will get the extra scene to react to news that Sidney survivors, which will break her cover and leave her plan, nothing more than a crazed person desperate for fame.
Killer Two
Charlie
Charlie does seem to have the weakest motivation, while being part of a film club, he only give one line to signal his motivation, which is to Kirby about how it so long her to even notice, him, making him more a brooding dangerous killer, only he doesn’t seem to have the click Stu had with Billy, just being the second when it comes to the bigger plan. This does show Jill in an even more evil light, as she knew who she could use to get more kills, for her greater fame if she succeeds.
That concludes my look at the different killers’ motivations, I will leave you with my ranking from weakest to most dangerous, even if some are only given more motivation because of the previous films. My ranking is based on the menace and threat they offer through the film, along with their motivation and how dangerous they would have been if they had succeeded.
7 – Charlie
6 – Stu
5 – Mickey
4 – Debbie
3 – Roman
2 – Billy
1 – Jill
Who would you pick as the best villain behind the Ghostface mask?
