Editorials
Ghostface Glossary: A Guide to Every Horror Reference in ‘Scream’ (2022)
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 can’t just reboot a franchise from scratch anymore. The fans won’t stand for it.”
Nearly seven years after Wes Craven’s passing and eleven years after his final, lowest-performing entry into the franchise, Scream 4, Ready or Not’s Radio Silence filled in the massive shoes of hitting all the checkmarks for a modern Scream film: new, engaging Woodsboro High School characters, self-aware humor, discourse on what’s been happening in the horror movie market, and a couple of … killer new Ghostfaces with specific motives to hack things up once again.
This first sequel of the new 2020 decade and under Radio Silence’s direction updates and pokes fun at everything about contemporary horror that we hate to love and love to hate— including us very modern, very “online” horror fans, ourselves. In Ghostface 2022 voice, it’s an honor to present all of the horror references for Scream (2022) in their respective order of occurrence.
‘Halloween’ (2018)
Halloween (2018) and Candyman (2021): The title in itself, simply Scream, which already exists in form of the original 1996 film, is a commentary on this recent trend of “requels” in which franchises name the newest film (many of which eliminate previous other sequels from their storylines) after the original film. In the finale, Amber argues, “Can’t have a bona fide Halloween without Jamie Lee!” (a jab at ignoring the other “shittier” sequels to bring back the legacy characters.)
The Babadook (2014): When Ghostface calls Tara, she cites The Babadook as “an amazing meditation on motherhood and grief.” As Ghostface mocks Tara for loving “elevated horror,” she lists this film as an example. “Not just some schlocky, cheeseball nonsense,” she claims. Additionally, Tara will later proclaim that she “still prefers The Babadook” over this real-life slasher movie that she’s living in.
It Follows (2014), Hereditary (2018) and The Witch (2016): When taunted by Ghostface to answer ‘Stab’ trivia, Tara insists she’s more knowledgeable about these movies, instead. After the franchise being MIA for so long, the filmmakers had no choice but to comment on this “fancy pants” brand of A24 (and the like) horror.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984): 1) Tara correctly answers a question about ‘Stab’ protagonist Sidney living on “Elm.” 2) Deputy Hicks’ astutely prepared teenage son Wes is named after you-know-who.
Halloween (1978): 1) When Sam describes the ‘Stab’ franchise to alleged non-fan Richie, he says it sounds “a lot like Halloween.” 2) Of course, Sam and Tara’s last name is also Carpenter, after JC himself. (Technically, they’re actual last name is Loomis, which, again, still fits under this umbrella, Dr. Loomis.) 3) Chad also refers to Vince as “uglier Michael Myers.” 4) “There’s no Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees to keep coming back,” Amber says, as she later explains why her and Richie chose to “save” the ‘Stab’ franchise.
Friday the 13th (franchise): Richie jokes, “That Jason guy— he’s got some pretty solid ideas.” As we find out later, he apparently wasn’t just joking…
Christine (1982): Ghostface goads Vince with his own car, revving the engine and shining the lights in his face while blaring Nick Cave’s “Red Right Hand” before stabbing him. These menacing shots of Vince’s 1971 Dodge Charger give Christine a run for her money.
‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’
A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), The Hills Have Eyes (1977), The Last House on the Left (1972): As a tribute to Wes Craven, a framed picture of the Grand Lake theater marquee containing these three titles sits amongst Randy’s memorial home theatre.
The Skull (1965), The Blob (1958), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Vertigo (1958), and Psycho (1960): All posters featured on the Meeks-Martin family wall, which may or may not have been passed down by their late Uncle Randy’s collection. (The massive Blu-ray collection on the shelves also undoubtedly contains a ton of horror titles but is too difficult to see with the naked eye— unless any of you 4K owners can spot them…)
Knives Out (2019): The maligned ‘Stab 8’— which becomes Richie and Amber’s primary source of toxicity and anger towards the Stab franchise—is revealed to have been directed by Rian Johnson, aka the “Knives Out guy.” (Murder mystery is horror-adjacent enough.)
Get Out (2017) and Us (2019): “What’s wrong with elevated horror?” Amber asks. “Jordan Peele fucking rules.” No argument there.
Black Christmas (2019), Child’s Play (2019), Flatliners (2017): Mindy lists these movies when describing the recent late 2010s trend of divisive, same-title requels that “didn’t work.”
Halloween (2018) again, Saw (franchise), Terminator Dark Fate (2019), Jurassic World (2015), Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021): Mindy insists these movies thrive on legacy characters. “It always, always goes back to the original!” When Mindy mentions Saw, it’s unclear if she’s referring to Jigsaw (2017) or Spiral (2021).
Psycho (1960) once again: Ghostface taunts to Deputy Hicks, “Ever seen the movie Psycho?” as the film cuts to her son Wes getting ready to shower— even though Wes doesn’t actually get stabbed in the shower.
The Craft (1996) This is likely a stretch, but the mad speed chase to the Woodsboro Community Hospital between Sam and Dewey, running through red lights, may be a subtle nod to this other Neve Campbell movie, in which the four witches speed through lights in Nancy Downs’ new convertible.
‘Halloween 2’ (1981)
Halloween II (1981): A crippled Tara seething in a hospital gown, as well as Dewey’s unfortunate takedown within an unrealistically quiet, abandoned hospital setting is all too inspired by the fictional events that transpired at Haddonfield Memorial Hospital on October 31, 1978. Purists may also make the same argument for Halloween Kills (2021), which is unlikely, as the film was only released mere months before Scream.
Rawhead Rex (1986): When Chad decides to go after girlfriend Liv after admitting he’s not entirely sure she’s not the killer, Mindy insists he grab a weapon, to which Chad grabs a candlestick. While this candlestick is clearly a nod to Scream 3, in which Sidney fought off big bro Roman with a candlestick, perhaps the Radio Silence guys are secret fans of this ‘80s B-movie classic in which protagonist Howard uses a candlestick to retrieve a weapon in his fight against Rawhead, as well.
Blood Trails (2006): After Sam gets away from Richie and Amber, Richie notes the high usage of blood trails in slasher movies. While this could just serve as a general nod to the subgenre, viewers shouldn’t put this mid-aughts German slasher past psycho slasher fanatic Richie.
A Nightmare on Elm Street, again (1984): “Time to pass the torch!” One last major nod to this Craven classic is Gale’s revenge for Dewey’s death, when she shoots Amber into a burning stove, and her face melts into a Freddy K boiled face, for one last scare.
Thanks to IMDb and the Zack Cherry YouTube channel for picking up a couple this writer had missed for this comprehensive guide.
‘Scream’ (2022)
In this day and age, the word “troll” is often used to describe various online nuisances. Yet as abundant and irksome as the modern troll can be, they aren’t usually as fearsome as their mythological counterparts. I’m not talking about the small and gentler versions that have become more common to see in media. No, there are much bigger and scarier trolls out there—and André Øvredal’s movie Troll Hunter is one of the best places to find them.
It doesn’t take long for Troll Hunter (or Trolljegeren) to dump the Blair Witch Project-esque setup and aim for something a lot fresher. The trajectory of the story is augmented by Otto Jespersen’s character Hans, the titular Troll Hunter. The second he comes barreling out of the deep, dark woods and shouts “troll” at the camera, this movie takes a turn into what feels like uncharted territory. Not only subject-wise, but also conceptually.
For fantastical and made-up subject matter in cinema, found footage is a fast way to add a guise of believability. After all, what we accept to be the most crucial aspect of documentaries—the truth—rubs off on pseudo-documentaries, despite our understanding of the pretense involved. That is what Øvredal delivered with Troll Hunter: a movie so convincing that some viewers wondered if trolls really do exist. So, had this been straightforwardly made, it likely wouldn’t have been as effective. Conventional narratives would be more inclined to treat something like trolls as flat out unreal, and never try to convince the audience to think otherwise.
Hans petrifies the three-headed Tusseladd troll.
The viewers, like the characters trailing Hans, are quickly thrown into the deeper end of that extraordinary story. They have to process all this new information while staying on the go. So, although there is no significant amount of meandering, narratively or physically, there is still a good amount of atmosphere, not to mention tension building. It’s never anything frightful, but then again, Troll Hunter isn’t your standard offering of horror; it’s more on the low end of the dark fantasy spectrum. We aren’t ever spirited away to a faraway world—we stay in rather familiar surroundings, as well as dip into those less so. The outcome is a movie where you’re constantly more in awe than in terror.
As fantasy fiction might do, Troll Hunter prefers not to deal with incredulity. There is no time to waste on doubt, as interviewer Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), soundperson Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) all follow Hans around, recording whatever this character is willing to reveal about his bizarre job. Of course, the Troll Hunter himself is not an open book; in that respect, the diegetic documentary fails to fully capture and unpack the more interesting of its two subjects. Yes, all those giant, monstrous trolls are indeed incredible, but understandably, your mind wanders to their pursuer. What kind of person signs up for this gig and then chooses to stick with it for so long?
Reviews have called out Troll Hunter for its lack of character development. In regard to Thomas and his fellow documentarians, that criticism is valid, but bear in mind, they aren’t the focus of the story, either. Meanwhile, Hans is a well-crafted character. At least better than first realized. Before he was introduced, Hans had already grown tired of the troll grind. Fed up with that low compensation for his services, resentful of the bureaucracy, and wanting to expose his employer on a large scale, Hans’ discontent is glaring.
Then there are those finer details about the Troll Hunter, such as that indifference to both the natural splendor of his everyday surroundings and the affections of an obviously smitten colleague, that also suggest some level of despondency. So it is fair to say this movie doesn’t feature any sizable growth for its characters; however, the namesake isn’t underwritten. No doubt, putting a real-life character like Otto Jespersen in that role is partly why Hans is so fascinating—maybe even relatable.
Otto Jespersen as Hans the Troll Hunter.
There is always a small risk whenever using the term “mockumentary” to describe a found-footage movie, as the word could imply humor where there is none. In the case of Troll Hunter, the term’s usage is appropriate. Some folks have claimed the English-dubbed version has the more comedic tone, however, the Norwegian cut isn’t exactly humorless. Apart from the trolls’ absurd appearances, this is a movie where the characters nearly choke on the monsters’ farts, and Christians are like walking targets. Hans’ complete apathy towards everything is another cause of laughter. Overall, the comedy is intentionally dry and inconsistent. Unfunny, though? Absolutely not.
In a movie where endemic creatures are maltreated, as well as disavowed from living freely and peacefully, it’s hard not to notice the ecological message buried beneath the story. In addition to that is the unmistakable political satire. There is this whole business about intrusive and unsightly power lines—like trolls, they’re big blemishes on the land—that leads to what is perhaps the movie’s funniest moment. The scene in question is that one where certain electric lines, the ones secretly being used to keep the trolls at bay, go in a loop and don’t actually send power to any residents. Yet the monitors of said lines don’t find this at all weird. So it stands to reason that Øvredal was having a go at those who accept the government’s doings without question.
Looking past the fact that trolls aren’t actually real, this movie is an enlightening source of information. And not just for international audiences; Norwegians, too, get schooled about their homeland’s own mythology. It’s also evident from everything on screen that Øvredal and his crew were enthusiastic about the topic. The creature designs are the most indicative of that zeal; those imaginative yet myth-accurate manifestations are equally amusing and grotesque. One second you’re laughing at their phallic noses, the next you’re white-knuckling during a hairy sequence. Most surprisingly is how well the trolls’ visual effects hold up after fifteen years. It’s not all spotless, but on the whole, they remain impressive.
Vouching for a mockumentary about trolls isn’t easy, but those who do come around and give it a shot will more than likely be grateful for the recommendation. For Troll Hunter is a real find in that vast and varied genre we call “found footage“.
A bridge troll reaches up for food and finds Hans decked out in armor.
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