The oversimplified concept of a whodunit slasher flick like SCREAM is people live, people die – just like some call sheets from the first movie describe its third act. This was also a line from the fourth movie. But what happens when one of those characters, that really grew on us, is brutally extinguished from that cinematic universe?
Some fans refuse to let it go. For decades. And on the verge of a fifth movie, they riot on Twitter, demanding a comeback.
But Kevin Williamson, the screenwriter of chapters one, two, four & producer of the new entry was always adamant and consistent on what he thinks on that matter:
“People are like, ‘Well, are they really dead? Do they have to be dead?’ I think after the sequel, after SCREAM 2, I remember people took [Randy’s death] very hard because, at the time, that was a beloved character, which, to me, is what keeps the franchise moving, is that it’s real. If you kill someone you really love, it makes it personal for people. I remember people going, ‘He’s not really dead, is he? He’s not really dead. He’s survived, didn’t he?‘”
That, however, doesn’t sit with some tweets from the late director Wes Craven about the fate of another fan favorite… SCREAM 4‘s Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere). He sometimes teased a possibility of her return, back in 2011, what would have made any sense if the movie had been a financial success and quickly generated another sequel.
Today, we must appeal to reasonability and ask ourselves certain hard questions:
Is it really necessary to dedicate an arc to explain to new audiences the survival of a character that apparently died, just because of a nice hairdo and the most stylish outfit?
If so, what that character REALLY has to add to the story that new ones can’t?
What elevates those characters to the same level of Sidney, Gale and Dewey – whose destinies are truly clear?
Considering critical answers for those inquiries and the declaration from who penned her demise, she now lives in fictional heaven… Or hell. And everything else is fan theory “..That, really, I get the most“, he says.
Do you want to ask Kevin Williamson himself?
On October 28, Airbnb is promoting some Halloween events. One includes to spend the night on the house where the first SCREAM was filmed and an online conversation with Williamson. Both events go on sale on October 12th, 1pm EDT.
“Secrets of SCREAM with Kevin Williamson” will take you behind the camera to dive deep on the genesis of SCREAM, and share little-known stories from the set of the original movie and the next installment, SCREAM (2022), that releases on January 14th, 2022.
Read also: Memoirs from the set of SCREAM.
