Summary
One of the reasons the Scream franchise continues to be a success is down to its meta commentary via the ‘film within a film’ Stab movies, but with each sequel, the presence of the fictional franchise has become tired and boring.IfScream 7is to be a massive success like its predecessors, it needs to completely move away from the Stab movies as a basis for the upcoming sequel’s horror movie commentary.
Neve Campbell is backand is currently the only confirmed cast member forScream 7, with Courteney Cox and Patrick Dempsey rumored to return to the franchise as well. The sequel will be directed by the original creator, Kevin Williamson and filming is set to begin sometime in 2024, with a potential release in 2025.
What are the Stab movies?
The events in Woodsboro, California that saw Sidney Prescott and her friends stalked by a pair of Ghostface killers in the originalScream, became the book known asThe Woodsboro Murders,by Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and during the events ofScream 2, this book has been adapted intoScream’s meta horror,Stab.Scream 2opens at the premiere ofStab, as Windsor College students, Maureen Evans (Jada Pinkett) and Phil Stevens (Omar Epps) end up getting killed by the latest Ghostface killer while watching Casey Becker (played by Heather Graham) getting murdered on the big screen.
Stabbecame a major part of the events ofScream 2, with the release of the movie considered to be a huge factor in inspiring these copycat Ghostface killings, and providing some key meta commentary on horror movies, and sequels in particular.
The fictional cast of Stab: (as featured in Scream 2)
Except for David Schwimmer, who was only mentioned as the actor who played Dewey Riley inStab, the other fictional cast members of the movie actually made appearances inScream 2,playing themselves playing the characters inStab. It was a confusing yet entertaining aspect of the first sequel, and provides a lot of comedic moments as the ‘real life’ characters watch footage of the movie made about their lives.Stabwas directed by Robert Rodriguez, but the actual footage from the movie within the movie was directed by Wes Craven, but Rodriguez gave his permission for his name to be used.
The events ofScream 3take place during the filming ofStab 3: Return To Woodsboro,with fictional characters now playing the characters in the Scream universe. The latest Ghostface killer is picking the cast off one by one in the order they get killed off in the movie. First up, it’s Cotton Weary, who has filmed a cameo inStab 3,and ends up on Ghostface’s kill list after he refuses to give up Sidney Prescott’s whereabouts.
It was a simple game, Cotton, you should’ve told me where Sidney was… now you lose.
The cast of Stab 3: Return To Woodsboro: (as featured in Scream 3)
Scream 4’s plot pointssaw the Stab movies still front and center of the narrative, as the commentary focused on remakes. The opening sequence ofScream 4sees Sherrie (Lucy Hale) and Trudie (Shenae Grimes) being terrorized by a potential stalker before the two Ghostface killers murder them both.
In a twist, it is revealed that this was actually footage fromStab 6, as the title card pops up, and this transitions into two friends called Rachel (Anna Paquin) and Chloe (Kristen Bell) watchingStab 6, and moaning about the predictability of sequels. Chloe then stabs Rachel with a huge knife into her gut, and this is then revealed to beStab 7, which is being watched by the realopening killsofScream 4, Jenny Randall (Aimee Teegarden) and Marnie Cooper (Britt Robertson) who are in Woodsboro, and contemplating the real life consequences of theStabmovies, before they are ironically murdered by Ghostface.
The original trilogy is based off Sidney Prescott, but then she threatened to sue them if they used her story, so they just started making stuff up. Stab 5 has time travel, which is by far the worst.
Directed By
Kevin Williamson
Scream (2022)once again mentioned theStabmovies in its narrative, but it was used effectively as it played into Ritchie and Amber’s motive for wanting to make a newStabmovie, after Ritchie’s hatred forStab 8.This latestStabmovie plays into the commentary on toxic fandom and requels inScream (2022)and it works. There is even a brief clip ofStab 8, which features a flame throwing Chrome Ghostface, voiced by Stu Macher actor, Matthew Lillard.
Scream 6didn’t delve into theStabmovies much at all, and was stronger for it. There were a couple of off the cuff mentions of theStabfranchise, but nothing too heavy.IfScream 7is to be a success, it should move away from the Stab movies entirely, in order to recapture the magic of the originalScream, which wasn’t bogged down by the fictional horror franchise that would come to fruition in the sequels.
It would be a good idea forScream 7to focus instead on the effects of the trauma faced by Sidney Prescott, and the personal journey she has gone through to heal, before ripping off the band-aid, and forcing her to confront her past with the re-emergence of Ghostface.If Gale Weathers returns inScream 7, it would also be interesting to focus on her true-crime books that led to the creation of the Stab franchise, rather than the Stab movies themselves. Stab is an integral part of the Scream franchise, but there isn’t much more to say about them moving forward, and they are holding the story back from going in new and interesting directions.
