‘Scream’: Ranking every Ghostface reveal from worst to best
The horror genre was in desperate need of revitalising during the 1990s, and luckily, Wes Craven, who had previously directed A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Hills Have Eyes, knew how to save it. By teaming up with writer Kevin Williamson, Scream was born, a comedic slasher with a meta edge that poked fun at horror movies of the past and referenced the rules of surviving scary movies.
Scream was so successful that it spawned a franchise. Evidently, the series is incredibly popular, and out of every horror franchise, it remains one of the most innovative and beloved. Instead of using the same killer each time, the genius of Scream lies behind the fact that each movie reveals new faces under the Ghostface mask.
There have been 12 killers in the franchise (not including Greg and Jason from the opening of Scream VI), all of whom are linked to the original characters in some way. Whether they are boyfriends, relatives, or crazed acquaintances, final girl Sidney Prescott, reporter Gale Weathers, local cop Dewey Riley, and their family and friends have all become targets for the masked killers.
Ghostface typically utilises a level of slapstick humour, falling over furniture and waving his knife through cracks in the door, which has made him such an iconic slasher villain. But which are the best Ghostface reveals? This list isn’t a ranking of the best movies in the franchise; instead, we’ll be looking at the greatest motives and reveals based on shock factor, strong performances, and originality.
Every Ghostface reveals ranked:
6. Roman Bridger (Scream 3)
Out of all of the movies in the series, Scream 3 is the one that gets better the more you watch it. Like Scream 4, it was actually somewhat ahead of its time, exploring abuses of power in the film industry before #MeToo was a widespread movement. In Hollywood, the killings primarily revolve around the shooting of a new Stab movie, and unfortunately for the actors playing the main Scream characters, they get killed one by one. There are some intense murders in this one, and in the end, we discover that this has all been achieved by just one Ghostface: director Roman Bridger.
He is the secret son of Maureen, who was raped by a Hollywood producer. She abandoned him, leaving him jealous of Sidney for being raised by their mother. It is also revealed that he filmed Maureen’s affairs and persuaded Billy and Stu to kill her, something that had never previously been mentioned. Thus, Roman, who Sidney doesn’t even know exists, proves to be a less shocking Ghostface. We hardly get to know him over the course of the movie, so the reveal subsequently packs less intensity.
5. Detective Bailey, Quinn, and Ethan (Scream VI)
Scream VI is easily the weakest movie in the franchise, mainly due to the fact it doesn’t contain some of the best legacy characters – Sidney and Dewey. While the movie works fine on its own with some pretty gruesome kills, it strays away from Ghostface’s penchant for slapstick, making him a strictly terrifying and domineering figure instead. The reveal is genuinely unexpected for the most part, however, introducing three Ghostfaces (the first time this has happened in the series). Sadly, the characters picked to be the killers are hardly as interesting as the ones in the other films.
It turns out that Detective Bailey, the cop who sets out to help the group catch the killer after Ghostface murders his daughter, Quinn, is responsible all along. Not only that, he is actually Richie’s dad looking for revenge on the others for murdering his son in Scream (2022), hoping to finish the movie that Richie was never able to complete. Additionally, Quinn turns out to be alive (a genuinely shocking reveal), and the group’s rather irrelevant friend, Ethan, is revealed to be her brother. The family unit had the potential to be strong Ghostface killers, but they simply don’t have enough screen time – or charisma – for us to really be bothered by the reveal.
4. Richie and Amber (Scream)
In 2022, following the death of Wes Craven, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett took over, rebooting the franchise with a new main cast. Still, Scream starred legacy characters like Sidney, Gale, Dewey, Judy, and even the ghost of Billy, tying the old and new characters together with another series of Ghostface murders. There are some pretty brutal deaths, including the murder of Dewey – arguably the saddest moment of the series. As far as rebooted franchises go, the fifth Scream movie is a pretty solid entry, bringing in many elements from the first film, much to the delight of fans.
This proves to make the Ghostface reveal rather unexpected. We discover that one of the friendship group, Amber, actually lives in Stu’s old house, where the climax of the first movie takes place. Then, Sam’s boyfriend, Richie, is revealed to be the other killer, Amber’s secret boyfriend whom she bonded with over the Stab series and set out to make a ‘requel’ with. This reveal loses points for taking influence from Charlie’s motives in the previous film, but it’s still a thrilling sequence, with Amber ultimately getting burned and shot to death, while Richie is stabbed and shot.
3. Mrs Loomis and Mickey (Scream 2)
Scream 2 is arguably the greatest movie in the series after the original, with many red herrings cropping up and leaving us guessing who the killer is. Could it be Sidney’s boyfriend, Derek, Cotton Weary out for revenge, or maybe even the sorority sisters Lois and Murphy? Mickey seems like too obvious a choice at times, tricking us into disregarding him as a potential murderer, but, of course, the sequel-loving film student really is one of two Ghostface killers. Timothy Olyphant plays him with a scary charm, and when he is revealed to be Ghostface in a dramatic sequence on the school stage, you wonder how many bullets it’ll take to actually kill him.
The more shocking reveal, though, is that the annoying reporter who constantly hounds Gale is actually Billy Loomis’ mother, Nancy, out for revenge against Sidney for killing her son. She teamed up with Mickey on a forum for killers, with the latter hoping to blame movie violence for his crimes. While they’re not the strongest duo, learning that Debbie Salt is actually Nancy Loomis – and murder clearly runs in the family – is one of the franchise’s most thrilling moments.
2. Jill and Charlie (Scream 4)
Scream 4 is a severely underrated entry to the franchise, with the movie providing timely commentary on the rise of technology and social media, as well as the desire for fame. In the film, Sidney is shown to be a successful author, although her book tour is quickly halted when evidence of a murder is found inside her car. From there, a series of murders play out, and as a Stab-a-thon commences, chaos ensues, inevitably revealing Jill and Charlie to be the evil killers.
Emma Roberts is excellent as Jill, soon switching from her seemingly innocent and kind nature and revealing herself to be incredibly angry and ambitious. Who would’ve suspected that Sidney’s cousin would have enough reason to set out to kill her? Jealousy proves to be the reason, with Jill hoping to emerge as the sole survivor of the massacre. It is unexpected, and her scenes before she is finally killed by Sidney are pure Scream gold. While Charlie, Jill’s Stab-obsessed secret boyfriend, has a weaker motive, his Ghostface reveal is unforgettable.
1. Billy and Stu (Scream)
In the first place, it could only be Billy Loomis and Stu Macher, the original Ghostface killers and easily the best. The first Scream movie played with our loyalties, presenting us with enough evidence towards Billy, Sidney’s boyfriend, being both the killer and totally innocent. There are many moments where it seems like only he could be the murderer, but how could he possibly be Ghostface after we then see him getting stabbed? The movie provides us with many red herrings, from Randy to Cotton to Gale, but when Ghostface is revealed to be not one but two people, Billy and Stu, everything makes so much sense.
They’re both fantastic villains, with Billy fully tuning into his most cold-hearted and ruthless state when he is revealed to be the main mastermind behind the murders, while Stu, played terrifically by Matthew Lillard, quickly buckles when he realises he is not going to get away with his crimes. The pair soon find themselves in over their heads when Sidney and Gale confront and kill them, but there is never a moment when they’re not comedic, pathetic, or purely terrifying.
