Editorials
Ghostface Glossary: A Guide to Every Horror Reference in ‘Scream 4’
Welcome to the Ghostface Glossary, a guide to every horror reference and nod throughout the first five films of the Scream franchise.
After a lot of pausing, rewinding, and zooming in, as well as researching, we’re catching all of the many horror-specific references Williamson, Craven, and Co. included in this beloved postmodern slasher franchise. If we’ve forgotten any glaring ones, kindly let us know.
This guide will exclude homages from previous Scream films and their respective sequels— we’re only looking at outside horror franchises and inspirations, because any red-blooded Ghostface fan is likely already aware of those. (Goes without saying that the beloved faux franchise ‘Stab’(s) 1-8 will also not be counted, since, even though our neon green ‘Stab’ t-shirts and mock VHS tapes feel very real, it’s still a very fake franchise). If we’ve forgotten any glaring ones, kindly let us know.
“You forgot the first rule of remakes, Jill: Don’t fuck with the original”
Fifteen years after its 1996 patriarchal film and more than a decade after Scream 3, Scream 4 (SCRE4M) was birthed into a weird era for slasher films. The horror movie landscape in 2011 had gone through significant changes since the Scream franchise made its mark on what would become the neo-slasher movement of the early 2000s– with remakes, “little ghost girl” movies, “torture porn,” and even more remakes taking charge of what horror fans spent their movie theater money on in the mid-aughts and early 2010s.
Because of that, 4 remains the least financially successful movie in the franchise to date, in spite of its razor-sharp wit and reward of the fan-favorite, diehard female horror fan Kirby, who actually knew her Cravens from her Carpenters. This millennial-generation sequel is spewing with horror homages, as nearly every frame feels like a very humorous dig to the tired barrage of “horror has run out of ideas” movies that gripped the late 2000s.
‘Saw IV’
Saw IV (2007): In the opening meta sequence, Trudie says she saw this in theaters, before referring to it as “torture porn.” This line is also commenting on the parallels of the Scream franchise in its repetitive fourth installment.
Ringu (1998) and Ju-On: The Grudge (2002) and its remake The Grudge (2004): In the opening sequence, Chloe references movies (somewhat offensively) containing “little Asian ghost girls,” and why she considers ‘Stab’ scarier.
The Twilight Zone (1959-1964): Jenny explains the movie-within-a-movie opening in ‘Stab 7’ to Marnie, by comparing it to the iconic series. They debate on whether or not she’s overthinking it or if the filmmakers are “underthinking” it.
Final Destination (franchise): When making digs about Sidney, Olivia refers to her as the “Angel of Death” and says FD would make a more appropriate franchise for her over ‘Stab.’
An American Werewolf in London (1981) and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954): Unsuspecting horror fan Jill’s bedroom wall boasts a few bangers– suggesting we perhaps should’ve been more suspicious of her from the start. After all, she apparently was the Ghostface who quizzes Kirby later on!
‘Shaun of the Dead’
Shaun of the Dead (2004): Kirby and Jill are watching the film in Jill’s bedroom while they’re on the phone with Olivia– an interestingly original choice, considering most of the film exhaustively comments on remakes.
The Breed (2006): Next to Jill’s TV lies a DVD of this mid-aughts film in which a group of friends gets attacked by ravenous dogs on an island.
Rear Window (1954), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and Deep Red (1975): 1) The title is written on the classroom whiteboard at the Cinema Club’s meeting. 2) Kirby owns the poster. 3) When Kirby and Jill watch Olivia get murdered from the bedroom window next door, the scene is identical to the Hitchcockian classic that refreshingly isn’t Psycho, for a change. In regards to NOES, Nancy watching Glen get murdered amongst a fountain of blood is very reminiscent of Jill and Kirby watching Olivia’s demise, along with the absolute blood massacre that follows. In Deep Red, a woman gets pushed out of a window, just like Ghostface does to Olivia.
The Omen (1976): As Sidney’s assistant Rebecca falls to her death (or was she already dead?) from the roof of the parking garage, we’re reminded of a similar death in The Omen, in which a woman also falls onto a news van.
The Hills Have Eyes (1977), Wolf Creek (2005), Feast (2005), The Thing (1982), Dawn of the Dead (1978), Rob Zombie’s Halloween II (2009), Death Proof (2007), Critters 2: The Main Course (1988), Blood Simple (1984), King Kong (1933), The People Under the Stairs (1991), Vertigo (1958), Troll 2 (1990), Army of Darkness (1992), Panic Room (2002), Zombie Strippers (2008), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008): All of these posters are adorning the walls of Woodsboro High’s Cinema Club– and there are still a ton of other non-genre posters featured, as well.
‘The Exorcist’
Halloween (franchise) and The Exorcist (1973) (amongst the many other horror films featuring Curtis and Blair): Charlie claims Sidney is a better get as a Cinema Club guest than even Jamie Lee Curtis or Linda Blair.
Saw (franchise): This may or may not be intentional, but a pig head is mounted on the wall while Gale arrives at the Stab-a-thon screening. Of course, a number of horror films feature ghastly pig heads (Motel Hell, anyone?) but a nod to Saw would make the most sense for the era.
Psycho (franchise): Anthony Anderson plays Deputy Perkins, named after you-know-who.
Se7en (1995): Hoss says to Perkins, “If you’re a rookie and just found out your wife is pregnant” when discussing movie cop tropes.
Suspiria (1977) and Don’t Look Now (1973): Color Charlie impressed– he points out these classics on Kirby’s DVD shelf.
Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974): Incel Charlie quizzes Kirby on Leatherface’s Gunnar Hansen to prove her horror cred, in a shock to no one.
Teeth (2007), Cabin Fever (2002), The Final Destination (2009): These aughts titles can be spotted in Kirby’s DVD collection. But where is Ginger Snaps?
‘Tremors’
Tremors (1990) and Nosferatu (1922): These posters are adorned on Kirby’s walls. The girl clearly has a range of tastes!
Friday the 13th (franchise): Ghostface gives Kirby a warm-up question regarding Jason’s weapon. She knows it’s a machete. Too easy.
Halloween franchise, Texas Chain Saw Massacre (franchise), A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise): Ghostface grills Kirby yet again with the same weapon question as above, and of course she nails every answer: butcher knife (err, chef’s knife, technically); chainsaw; razor “hands.”
The Last House on the Left (1972) and Psycho (1960): Ghostface gives Kirby multi-choice options to his question. “None of the above!”
Peeping Tom (1960): This is the correct answer to which movie had started the slasher craze and “first movie to ever put the audience in the killer’s POV.” Kirby fumbled by answering “Psycho.”
The entirety of Kirby’s delightful 2000s remakes rant to Ghostface: “Halloween (2007), Texas Chainsaw (2003), Dawn of the Dead (2004), The Hills Have Eyes (2009), Amityville Horror (2005), Last House on the Left (2009), Friday the 13th (2009), A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), My Bloody Valentine (2009), When A Stranger Calls (2006), Prom Night (2008), Black Xmas (2006), House of Wax (2005), The Fog (2005), Piranha (2010).” It’s one of those, right?!
Black Xmas (2006): Just like Billy and Agnes try to kill final girl Kelly in a hospital scene, Jill also tries one last time to kill Sidney before going “clear”– never to be seen in a sequel again.
Halloween (franchise) again: A bitter Jill compares Sidney to “Michael fucking Myers” because she “just won’t die.” She’s a survivor.
Thanks to IMDb and the Zack Cherry YouTube channel for picking up a couple this writer had missed for this comprehensive guide.
‘Scream 4’
Twice a month Joe Lipsett will dissect a new Amityville Horror film to explore how the “franchise” has evolved in increasingly ludicrous directions. This is “The Amityville IP.”
A bizarre recurring issue with the Amityville “franchise” is that the films tend to be needlessly complicated. Back in the day, the first sequels moved away from the original film’s religious-themed haunted house storyline in favor of streamlined, easily digestible concepts such as “haunted lamp” or “haunted mirror.”
As the budgets plummeted and indie filmmakers capitalized on the brand’s notoriety, it seems the wrong lessons were learned. Runtimes have ballooned past the 90-minute mark and the narratives are often saggy and unfocused.
Both issues are clearly on display in Amityville Karen (2022), a film that starts off rough, but promising, and ends with a confused whimper.
The promise is embodied by the tinge of self-awareness in Julie Anne Prescott (The Amityville Harvest)’s screenplay, namely the nods to John Waters’ classic 1994 satire, Serial Mom. In that film, Beverly Sutphin (an iconic Kathleen Turner) is a bored, white suburban woman who punished individuals who didn’t adhere to her rigid definition of social norms. What is “Karen” but a contemporary equivalent?
In director/actor Shawn C. Phillips’ film, Karen (Lauren Francesca) is perpetually outraged. In her introductory scenes, she makes derogatory comments about immigrants, calls a female neighbor a whore, and nearly runs over a family blocking her driveway. She’s a broad, albeit familiar persona; in many ways, she’s less of a character than a caricature (the living embodiment of the name/meme).
These early scenes also establish a fairly straightforward plot. Karen is a code enforcement officer with plans to shut down a local winery she has deemed disgusting. They’re preparing for a big wine tasting event, which Karen plans to ruin, but when she steals a bottle of cursed Amityville wine, it activates her murderous rage and goes on a killing spree.
Simple enough, right?
Unfortunately, Amityville Karen spins out of control almost immediately. At nearly every opportunity, Prescott’s screenplay eschews narrative cohesion and simplicity in favour of overly complicated developments and extraneous characters.
Take, for example, the wine tasting event. The film spends an entire day at the winery: first during the day as a band plays, then at a beer tasting (???) that night. Neither of these events are the much touted wine-tasting, however; that is actually a private party happening later at server Troy (James Duval)’s house.
Weirdly though, following Troy’s death, the party’s location is inexplicably moved to Karen’s house for the climax of the film, but the whole event plays like an afterthought and features a litany of characters we have never met before.
This is a recurring issue throughout Amityville Karen, which frequently introduces random characters for a scene or two. Karen is typically absent from these scenes, which makes them feel superfluous and unimportant. When the actress is on screen, the film has an anchor and a narrative drive. The scenes without her, on the other hand, feel bloated and directionless (blame editor Will Collazo Jr., who allows these moments to play out interminably).
Compounding the issue is that the majority of the actors are non-professionals and these scenes play like poorly performed improv. The result is long, dull stretches that features bad actors talking over each other, repeating the same dialogue, and generally doing nothing to advance the narrative or develop the characters.
While Karen is one-note and histrionic throughout the film, at least there’s a game willingness to Francesca’s performance. It feels appropriately campy, though as the film progresses, it becomes less and less clear if Amityville Karen is actually in on the joke.
Like Amityville Cop before it, there are legit moments of self-awareness (the Serial Mom references), but it’s never certain how much of this is intentional. Take, for example, Karen’s glaringly obvious wig: it unconvincingly fails to conceal Francesca’s dark hair in the back, but is that on purpose or is it a technical error?
Ultimately there’s very little to recommend about Amityville Karen. Despite the game performance by its lead and the gentle homages to Serial Mom’s prank call and white shoes after Labor Day jokes, the never-ending improv scenes by non-professional actors, the bloated screenplay, and the jittery direction by Phillips doom the production.
Clocking in at an insufferable 100 minutes, Amityville Karen ranks among the worst of the “franchise,” coming in just above Phillips’ other entry, Amityville Hex.
The Amityville IP Awards go to…
- Favorite Subplot: In the afternoon event, there’s a self-proclaimed “hot boy summer” band consisting of burly, bare-chested men who play instruments that don’t make sound (for real, there’s no audio of their music). There’s also a scheming manager who is skimming money off the top, but that’s not as funny.
- Least Favorite Subplot: For reasons that don’t make any sense, the winery is also hosting a beer tasting which means there are multiple scenes of bartender Alex (Phillips) hoping to bring in women, mistakenly conflating a pint of beer with a “flight,” and goading never before seen characters to chug. One of them describes the beer as such: “It looks like a vampire menstruating in a cup” (it’s a gold-colored IPA for the record, so…no).
- Amityville Connection: The rationale for Karen’s killing spree is attributed to Amityville wine, whose crop was planted on cursed land. This is explained by vino groupie Annie (Jennifer Nangle) to band groupie Bianca (Lilith Stabs). It’s a lot of nonsense, but it is kind of fun when Annie claims to “taste the damnation in every sip.”
- Neverending Story: The film ends with an exhaustive FIVE MINUTE montage of Phillips’ friends posing as reporters in front of terrible green screen discussing the “killer Karen” story. My kingdom for Amityville’s regular reporter Peter Sommers (John R. Walker) to return!
- Best Line 1: Winery owner Dallas (Derek K. Long), describing Karen: “She’s like a walking constipation with a hemorrhoid”
- Best Line 2: Karen, when a half-naked, bleeding woman emerges from her closet: “Is this a dream? This dream is offensive! Stop being naked!”
- Best Line 3: Troy, upset that Karen may cancel the wine tasting at his house: “I sanded that deck for days. You don’t just sand a deck for days and then let someone shit on it!”
- Worst Death: Karen kills a Pool Boy (Dustin Clingan) after pushing his head under water for literally 1 second, then screeches “This is for putting leaves on my plants!”
- Least Clear Death(s): The bodies of a phone salesman and a barista are seen in Karen’s closet and bathroom, though how she killed them are completely unclear
- Best Death: Troy is stabbed in the back of the neck with a bottle opener, which Karen proceeds to crank
- Wannabe Lynch: After drinking the wine, Karen is confronted in her home by Barnaby (Carl Solomon) who makes her sign a crude, hand drawn blood contract and informs her that her belly is “pregnant from the juices of his grapes.” Phillips films Barnaby like a cross between the unhoused man in Mulholland Drive and the Mystery Man in Lost Highway. It’s interesting, even if the character makes absolutely no sense.
- Single Image Summary: At one point, a random man emerges from the shower in a towel and excitedly poops himself. This sequence perfectly encapsulates the experience of watching Amityville Karen.
- Pray for Joe: Many of these folks will be back in Amityville Shark House and Amityville Webcam, so we’re not out of the woods yet…
Next time: let’s hope Christmas comes early with 2022’s Amityville Christmas Vacation. It was the winner of Fangoria’s Best Amityville award, after all!
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