Scream was without a doubt THE horror movie of my, the millennial, generation. I distinctly remember watching the movie for the first time at a pop-and-chip party in my buddy’s basement and I’ll honestly say that none of us had any idea what we were getting into.
Despite the collective belief that we were badasses, we were absolutely terrified. I’m pretty sure two of us had pissed our sleeping bags before the opening credits.
Over time, the Scream franchise (which was originally titled Scary Movie) has produced four films. Four films that have been credited with reinventing the horror genre for a new, younger generation.
As a result of such critical acclaim and box office dollars (the first film alone earned $173 million worldwide, making it the highest earning slasher film in the U.S.), Scream has joined the ranks of respected horror classics that are often marathoned around Halloween for its inherent spookiness.
In honor of Halloween, the scariest of holidays, I watched all four of the films over the weekend to research this story. So without further adieu, I present to you the 10 most brutal deaths of the 41 confirmed kills in the Scream franchise. And make sure to click on the links to see a clip of each death, you morbid folks.
10. Olivia Morris (Scream 4)
Photo: The Weinstein Company
You don’t really get to know much about Olivia other than she’s a good friend of Sidney’s niece, Jill, and that she lives next door. Oh, and that she’s hot. Very, very hot. Olivia, offering audiences an appreciative glimpse of her bronzed bod tucked into yellow panties before she meets her maker, is on the phone with her pals Jill and Kirby, who are next door, and whose bedrooms face one another.
Ultimately, Olivia discovers the killer was hiding in her closet during the phone call, and is savagely murdered, then gutted on her bed, as her friends watch on helplessly.
9. Sarah Darling (Scream 3)
Photo: Konrad Pictures/Craven-Maddalena Films
An actress in the Stab franchise, Sarah, played by Jenny McCarthy, is called to a meeting with Roman, the film’s director, to go over her part and her meaningless nude scene. As she soon discovers, she’s alone in the office and picks up a ringing phone.
Turns out, it’s Roman, who’s running late. After going through lines, Sarah discovers she’s speaking with the killer and makes a run for it when she hears the door open, finding herself in the set’s costume department.
Hiding amongst the Ghostface costumes, Sarah is confronted by the killer and is pushed into the prop area where she attempts to defend herself with various plastic weaponry. Despite putting up one hell of a fight, Sarah gets her face smashed through a window and is stabbed in the spine.
8. Jennifer Jolie (Scream 3)
Photo: Konrad Pictures/Craven-Maddalena Films
Jennifer is an eccentric actress who plays Gale in the Stab movies. As the third film progresses, you really grow to like her character, despite being the culprit keeping Gale and Dewey apart when they should so obviously be together. After being split up from Gale and Dewey after an altercation with the killer, Jennifer stumbles upon a secret corridor in a bedroom closet.
While navigating this hidden space, Jennifer is confronted by Ghostface and she runs toward Gale and Dewey, who are separated from her through a one-way mirror. As she’s attacked, she desperately bangs on the glass, but it’s too late. She dies before Dewey shoots through the glass and the two discover her corpse.
7. Anthony Perkins (Scream 4)
Photo: The Weinstein Company
Cops are completely useless in all horror movies. This is evidenced quite literally in the Scream movies. After speaking to his partner about all cops dying in horror-type situations, he and his partner do indeed die.
Perkins’ death, however, is far more brutal. Peeking his head out of his cop car, Perkins’ curiosity is met with a stab wound to the forehead. In a daze, he stumbles out of the car, curses Bruce Willis, and dies.
6. Phil Stevens (Scream 2)
Photo: Konrad Pictures/Craven-Maddalena Films
While on a movie date with his girlfriend, Phil excuses himself to take a leak. All of the urinals are in use, so he resolves he’ll just piss in the stall. Hearing strange, possibly sexual noises from a female in the stall next to him, he inquisitively places his ear against the stall to get a better listen. Instead, he gets stabbed in the head through the filthy stall door, then dies on the even more filthy public restroom floor.
5. Billy Loomis (Scream)
Photo: Woods Entertainment
While clumsily planting his own murders on Sidney’s father at the end of the first film, Billy and Stu stab each other to appear as victims who narrowly escaped Ghostface, instructing they “Stay to the side, we don’t go in too deep.”
As they foolishly reveal their motive to Sidney while in Stu’s kitchen, Billy (who is Sidney’s boyfriend, I should add) is eventually stabbed multiple times by an umbrella (via Sidney) and is shot in the shoulder (via Gale), but still survives. That is until Sidney shoots him in the forehead. That, he did not survive. Not even close.
4. Stu Macher (Scream)
Stu is a strange dude, but he’s charming and is dating Sidney’s best friend, so people like him I guess. As mentioned earlier, Stu and Billy clumsily stab each other multiple times to fit their manufactured motive, but Stu seems to have gotten stabbed in a few vital organs. He starts to bleed out and begins acting more bizarre than usual.
As a result of their injuries and mutual stupidity, Sidney turns the game around on the boys and begins terrorizing them. In one last ditch effort to murder the film’s protagonist, Sidney throws a large television on his head instead.
3. Maureen Evans (Scream 2)
Photo: YouTube
Maureen’s sassiness knows no limits. While at a screening of the movie Stab (a film based on the Woodsboro murders) with her boyfriend Phil, she skeptically watches on, shouting things like: “Bitch, get off the phone and star 69 his ass,” and instructs the actress on screen to run as if it’s an interactive experience.
After leaving for the restroom, her boyfriend, Phil, (or who she believes to be her boyfriend) returns with Stab’s iconic mask and outfit on, which were being handed out at the theatre for some reason. While seeking solace in his embrace, she finds blood on the man she’s hugging and her confusion is met with a stab wound. She is then continually stabbed on her way to the front of the theatre.
Believing it’s an act, the audience roars with cheers and laughter until she dramatically dies with a bloodcurdling scream. It’s all very meta.
2. Tatum Riley (Scream)
Photo: Woods Entertainment
Tatum Riley, played by Rose McGowan, was one of Sidney’s closest friends and a character who pretty much personified sex. She was also Dewey’s sister. These characteristics alone solidified her fate as one of Ghostface’s victims. We all knew she was going to die.
And boy did she get it. While fishing beer out of the garage as per her boyfriend’s (Stu) request, Tatum, who at this point has VERY hard nipples, is confronted by Ghostface, where she coyly asks “Can I be the helpless victim?”
She soon discovers this is no joke and wastes a party’s entire beer supply by both dropping them and hurling them at her killer. After a valiant defensive effort, Tatum takes a run for her only available exit: a doggy door in the garage, but gets stuck halfway, totally hopeless.
Her choice of exit is what ultimately kills her. The death was terrible, but mighty creative. She was one of the few victims in Woodsboro to not die of a stab wound.
1. Casey Becker (Scream)
Photo: Woods Entertainment
The first death in the entire franchise is without a doubt the best and most iconic. Casey, a perfectly innocent teen played by Drew Barrymore, is preparing for a night to herself, cooking Jiffy Pop in her parents massive kitchen, which she figures she’ll nosh on while watching a movie.
Casey soon receives the first of many fatal calls from Ghostface, assuming it to be a prank, until the killer jarringly says, “I want to know who I’m looking at.” Casey then clumsily locks all her doors, then witnesses her boyfriend’s death on the patio. For some reason, her lipstick disappears. A continuity error.
After she’s sufficiently made her escape outdoors, she sees in the distance that her parents are pulling in the driveway. Thank God, she’s safe.
While sprinting to her parent’s car, she’s tackled and stabbed several times while mere meters from her parents, who, after searching for her throughout the house, find her hanging from their tree, discovering her discarded guts in the mailbox.
