Ghostface (Scream) - Appearances

Appearances

Ghostface first appears in the opening scene of Scream. The character, voiced by Roger L. Jackson, calls and taunts teenager Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) with horror clichés and trivia questions, eventually murdering her boyfriend Steve Orth (Kevin Patrick Walls) in front of her before she herself is killed. The identity has been adopted by the primary antagonists of each successive film to conceal their identity, prior to being revealed in each films' final act.

Ghostface's first cinematic appearance was in Scream (1996) where the identity was used by a killer stalking the fictional town of Woodsboro. After the killing spree begins, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) begins receiving taunting and threatening phone calls from Ghostface who claims knowledge of her mother Maureen Prescott (Lynn McRee)'s brutal rape and murder, one year prior to the events of the film; a murder that was blamed on Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber). The Ghostface disguise allows suspicion to fall on many people, including Sidney's boyfriend, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich); her father, Neil Prescott (Lawrence Hecht); her friend, Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy); and her schoolmate, Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard). Ghostface is revealed in the finale as both Billy and Stu, who reveal that they murdered Sidney's mother and framed Cotton. Billy cites his motivation as abandonment by his mother (Laurie Metcalf), brought about by his father Hank's affair with Maureen, while Stu cites "peer pressure". Sidney is able to gain an advantage against Billy and Stu, temporarily adopting the Ghostface persona herself to taunt them before killing Stu. Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) shoots Billy to stop him from killing Sidney, who then finishes Billy off with a bullet to the head.

Ghostface's second appearance was in Scream 2 (1997) where it was again used as a disguise by the main antagonists. A series of murders occur at Windsor College, Sidney's current location, with the initial victims sharing names with Billy and Stu's victims from Scream. The killers again taunt Sidney and attempt to kill her and later kill Randy. The Ghostface disguise allows suspicion to fall on several characters, including Cotton, again, and Sidney's boyfriend Derek (Jerry O'Connell). However, Mickey (Timothy Olyphant), a friend of Derek, reveals himself as the killer, seeking fame for his prolific exploits. Mickey's accomplice is revealed to be Billy's mother, under the alias Debbie Salt, who is seeking revenge against Sidney for her son's death. Mrs. Loomis shoots Mickey, claiming to have indulged his desire for fame and carnage only to enlist his help in enacting her revenge, and tries to kill Sidney. With help from the exonerated Cotton, Sidney survives and Mrs. Loomis is killed. Seconds later, Mickey springs to his feet screaming, but is quickly shot to death by Gale and Sidney.

The story continues in Scream 3 (2000) where the identity of Ghostface is used to murder Cotton and his girlfriend Christine, in an attempt to discover the now-hidden Sidney's location. The killer leaves images of Maureen at the crime scenes to draw Sidney out of seclusion while murdering the cast of "Stab 3", the film within a film based on Sidney and her experiences with Ghostface. Ghostface is revealed as Sidney's half-brother Roman Bridger (Scott Foley), born to their mother Maureen during a two-year period when she moved to Hollywood to become an actress under the name Rina Reynolds. After being gang-raped and impregnated at a party, she gave Roman up for adoption who, as an adult, sought her out, only to be rejected, denying she had ever been Rina. Roman began stalking Maureen and filming her adulterous liaisons with other men including Hank. He used this footage to reveal to Billy why his mother had "abandoned" him before convincing him to kill Maureen, sparking the chain of events in Scream and Scream 2. With Sidney's help, her friend Dewey Riley (David Arquette) manages to kill Roman, ending the series of murders based on his revenge against Maureen.

In Scream 4 (2011), another Ghostface killer emerges in Woodsboro on the fifteen-year anniversary of the massacre conducted by Billy and Stu; the new killer recreating events from the incident but also filming the murders. Ghostface kills several teenagers and police officers before being unmasked as Sidney's cousin Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) and her friend Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin) who intend to kill Sidney, frame Jill's ex-boyfriend Trevor Shelton (Nico Tortorella) and become the current generation's "Sidney" and "Randy Meeks", with the accompanying fame of being the "survivors" of the massacre. Jill betrays Charlie and stabs him through the heart and stomach and then seemingly kills Sidney, before purposely injuring and stabbing herself to make herself appear a victim of Ghostface. After being taken to hospital, Dewey informs her that Sidney has survived. Jill attempts to end her life but is stalled by Dewey, Gale and Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton) long enough for Sidney to shoot her through the heart, killing her.