A new video released ahead of Scream’s debut in January next year takes a look at what it is that makes Ghostface such an iconic horror character. Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, next year’s Scream is the fifth film in the franchise which began with Wes Craven’s classic 1996 slasher. Previously the highest-grossing slasher film until 2018’s Halloween took the title, the original Scream would go on to spawn three more sequels helmed by Craven and a spin-off television series.
In 2019 Spyglass Media acquired the rights to the franchise and announced a new film was in development, and by September 2020 original actors Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox were all signed on to reprise their respective roles as Sidney Prescott, Dewey Riley, and Gale Weathers. In the same month that Campbell’s return was announced, voice actor Roger L. Jackson, who supplied the voice of the various Ghostface killers in each of the previous franchise entries, was also announced to be returning to lend the film’s new killer his trademark menace. Joining the franchise’s veterans are a cast of new faces including Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Dylan Minnette, Kyle Gallner, and Jack Quaid.
In a new video released by the official Paramount Pictures YouTube channel, Scream 2022 cast members Arquette, Cox, Minette, Gallner, and Barrera join co-director Gillett in dissecting what makes Ghostface such a memorable horror villain. Suggesting that “Ghostface is a killer that is about playing games,” Gillet also says that “when it comes time to do the job, [he’s] really brutal.” Check out the full video and the cast’s reactions below:
Click Here to Watch the Video on Youtube
As Cox herself points out, what makes Ghostface such an “ominous and scary” addition to the typical lineup of horror villains, is “because you don’t know who’s underneath” the mask. While Ghostface is certainly not the first horror villain to hide his identity behind a mask, thanks to Craven’s unique spin on the whodunnit genre, the true identity of each film’s Ghostface has been a different person each with their own special relationship to the film’s leads. Much of the suspense comes not only from anticipating when Ghostface may strike next but in the realization that the killer’s true identity (or identities) could very well be a close friend or loved one of the intended victims.
Unlike other masked horror villains, such as Halloween’s Michael Myers and Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees, the willingness for other characters to pick up and assume the mantle of Ghostface across each successive film has kept the mystery behind the killer’s true motivations alive and audiences guessing. With the previous film, 2011’s Scream 4 bestowing that honor upon Sidney Prescott’s own cousin Jill (played by Emma Roberts), fans will be eager to see who will now be the next in line to take up the iconic mask. In the meantime, there are sure to be plenty more teasers and special treats as Scream's release date looms ever closer.
Source: Paramount Pictures
