Scream | Trivia | HelloSidney.com

Scream | Trivia

So you think you know all about Scream?

Fun facts about the production

Alternate cast

References

Goofs

Did you knew? Scream Fun facts.

The inspiration

“Scream” had its roots in real life murders.

“I got the idea two and a half years ago from watching a Barbara Walters special on the Gainesville murders,” he says. “I was broke, house-sitting for a friend to pay him back for money he’d lent me for groceries, and I was scaring the hell out of myself. I thought I heard a noise. I walked the house with a butcher knife and a phone and called a friend while I searched the place. We got into this huge discussion, testing each other on horror movies. And that’s how Scream was born.”

The case is known as “The Gainesville Murders“. It even had a wrongly man accused plot.

A biding war in Hollywood

Kevin Williamson’s script, originally titled “Scary Movie“, has caused a biding war in Hollywood. At the end of the day it was between a unrevealed studio, and Dimension – Kevin chose to sell at a lower price to the second. The reason is that the other studio in question already had the rights to “Teaching Mrs. Tingle“, which was shelved for years.

The changing title

On the original title, there was little disagreement between the producers and the studio. “When Miramax changed it to Scream, we all thought that was a really stupid title. But now, we all love Scream“, recalls Craven.

In other hand, Jamie Kennedy has always relished the idea of keeping the name of the movie: “(Scary Movie) was a cool title. I still, to this day, think it was a better title than Scream. Because it was like, ‘Hey, do you want to go see Scary Movie?’ And that was like a cool idea, right? It just fit with all that tongue-in-cheek (stuff)”.

Name the killer in Friday the 13th

Kevin Williamson had already made the trivia about the killer in “Friday the 13th” before. Was in a bar, with friends. They all missed the point and Kevin won a round of drinks.

Robert Rodriguez

Wes Craven was not the first director to be tapped to direct SCREAM. Before him, Dimension offered to Robert Rodriguez.

During the pre production of SCREAM 2, he was considered to direct the sequel when Wes and Kevin had a disagreement over the script.

Another fun fact: Rodriguez had a relationship with Rose McGowan.

Wes Craven didn’t wanted to do it

Craven said no to Dimension at the first time. He was disappointed with the genre after the flop of “Vampire in Brooklin”

The white mask

The script said that the mask of the killer was white and ghostly, but nothing was said about the costume. Marianne Maddalena suggested that it was black because that would be more scary.

Dozens of masks have been tested and none pleased the crew (some concepts shown at the photo).

The now legendary Ghost Face mask was found by accident by Wes Craven while he was scouting with Maddalena for filming locations.

To read more about the history of the mask, click here.

The KNB Effects Mask

An agreement between the producers and Fun World, the company that owns Ghost Face, wasn’t reached at the first moment. So, Wes Craven asked to KNB Effects for something similar, that was used in some moments (Casey’s and Principal Himbry’s murder scenes). Luckily, later during the shootings, Fun World agreed on closing a deal.

To read more about the history of the mask, click here.

Idiotic?

After watching the rough cuts, Bob Weinstein thought that the mask was “idiotic”. He demanded a swap. The crew went to war and threatened to close the production. So they decided to enter into agreement and asked Weinstein to let them edit the first scene before he took any decision. The mask stayed.

Torture

To make that Drew Barrymore appeared frightened and continued crying between takes, Wes Craven told her many stories of cruelty to animals. Barrymore is a passionate animal lover.

Wes Cameo #01

When the killer breaks the window to grab the knife in the hand of Casey, who is using the mask is none other than Wes Craven.

The scary voice

Drew Barrymore and Neve Campbell did not meet Roger L. Jackson – the evil voice – until the end of filming. The phone calls were really made from a cell on the set. During the recording of the first scene, the film crew was contacted by the police, who thought they were for real.

Close call

The MPAA wanted to cut out the graphic shot of the killer stabbing Casey Becker at the beginning, but director Wes Craven claimed it was the only take of it they had filmed (which wasn’t true). The shot remained intact.

Santa Rosa City School District Governing Board

The film should be shot in the high school of Santa Rosa (CA), but after reading the script, a commission would not let them film there, due to the violence of it. In the closing credits, there is a mention to it: No thanks whatsoever to the Santa Rosa City School District Governing Board.
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Classic locations

Tatum’s house is right across the street from the house in Santa Rosa, California used in “Pollyanna” (1960). It is also across the street from the house used in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Shadow of a Doubt” (1943). The house in the opening scene was next door to the house used in “Cujo” (1983). Casey´s house is on Sonoma Mountain Road, Glen Ellen, Route 12, southeast of Santa Rosa.

To read more about the locations used in the movie, click here or check it out an article about our visit to Woodsboro!

Heavy jokes

They tried to replace two lines of the film for new ones, but they never were so effective as the original ones. The jokes about Tori Spelling and the Richard Gere gerbil story made into the final cut, but they really worried Craven. Specially the last one. Some people even said to him that he would never work again after that.

A gift to Bob Weinstein

Williamson recalls how the idea to kill Principal Himbry came up “After he (Bob Weinstein) had bought the script, he felt that there was 30 pages where nothing happened. And he called me up and said, ‘You gotta kill somebody, Kevin. Somebody’s gotta die.’ There is a thirty-minute gap where nobody’s getting offed. He said, ‘I don’t care how you do it; just do it.’”

Weinstein’s idea also helped solve Williamson’s problem in the script: “I didn’t know how to get rid of all the partiers,” says Williamson. “We wanted to isolate our core group and then once when Bob came up with the idea and said you had to kill somebody else – and that shows the principal – there was the answer. And in addition I got to carry on that hard-edge, cynical attitude that children have today”.

Haunted house?

Stu´s house, at the top of the hill, gained a more macabre atmosphere after it found that people died in there in real life. It’s a private house, overlooking Tomales, Hwy1, just east of town, south from the Petaluma Road.

The pet portal

Who came up with the idea of killing Tatum in the pet portal at the garage was Kevin´s assistant. Originally, they had a fight and Tatum had her neck crushed by the garage door.

Behind you!

Skeet Ulrich is the one wearing the Ghostface costume while Randy is watching “Halloween”. The physical scenes were made by a stunt: Dane Farwell.

Fetish for cop cars

The scene where Sidney is trapped in the police car had been written years ago by Williamson, while he still was in high school.

It was so good and intense that he repeated the formula in Sarah Michelle Gellar‘s chase scene in “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (1997) and “Scream 2” (1997).

I survived scene 118

The finale scene took 21 nights of filming. Some of the crew used to refer to it as “the scene from hell” and “the longest night in horror history”.

It was so grueling that they made “I survived Scene 118” t-shirts.

Authenticity

When Sidney comes out of the closet and stabs Billy with an umbrella, the stunt man was supposed to hit a pad on Skeet Ulrich’s chest. The first hit got the pad but the second one slipped and hit him in the chest (you can see it in his reaction). Wes Craven kept it in because of its authenticity.

Dewey survives

At the last minute, Wes Craven decided to not kill Dewey. David Arquette recalls “They threw me in an ambulance just as sort of a loose end“.

The screen-test audience loved the character Dewey so much that Craven decided to add his survival scene in the final cut.

Gale’s final moment

Gale´s final report was written minutes before being filmed. Courteney Cox has done in just two takes.

“Corn syrup. Same stuff they use for pig’s blood in Carrie.”

50 gallons of artificial blood were used in the movie.

In your dreams?

Neve Campbell and Matthew Lillard dated during the filming – and so did David Arquette and Courteney Cox.

Right place, right time

Marco Beltrami landed music scoring duties after Wes Craven’s assistant was on an Internet chat site, asking if anyone knew of any fresh musical talent.

What if?

Drew Barrymore as Sidney Prescott

Have you ever wondered how “Scream” would be with other actors?

Drew Barrymore was originally cast to live Sidney Prescott, but it was her idea to go for the role of Casey. The producer Cary Woods recalls: “She called me up and said, ‘I want to play Girl Number One.’ And I said, ‘Drew, Girl Number One gets gutted on page eighteen.’ I thought, There goes my star; there goes my movie. And that’s when she said, ‘If you kill me at the beginning of the movie, the audience will think anything can happen. And I’m still support the movie as if I’m starring in it’”.

Molly Ringwald as Sidney Prescott

Kevin Williamson wrote Scream with Molly Ringwald in mind – she is one of his favorites. So the role of Sidney was first offered to her.

She said no because she could not interpret a high school student at the age of 27.

Alicia Silverstone as Sidney Prescott or Casey Becker

Back in 1995, when the movie was produced, Alicia Silverstone was the it girl. They’ve offered the role of Sidney in two moments: at the beginning and when Drew Barrymore switched roles.

Reese Witherspoon as Sidney Prescott

Reese Witherspoon turned down the lead role.

Melissa Joan Heart as Sidney Prescott

Melissa Joan Heart auditioned for the role of Sidney Prescott.

David Arquette as Billy Loomis

David Arquette was originally cast as Billy Loomis.

Kevin Patrick Walls as Billy Loomis

Kevin Patrick Walls, who Steve Orth, auditioned for Billy.

Justin Whalin as Billy Loomis

Here’s a screen test!

Melinda Clarke as Tatum Riley

She turned down the role.

Rebecca Gayheart as Tatum Riley

She was very close to get the part, but chose to go for the forgettable “Somebody Is Waiting” (1996). After the success of the movie, she tried too hard to get a part in “Scream 2” were she auditioned for Hallie and Cici, but ended up getting only a small role as Lois.

Charlotte Ayanna as Tatum Riley

Charlotte Ayanna was considered for the role of Tatum Riley.

Janeane Garofalo as Gale Weathers

Janeane Garofalo turned down the role of Gale Weathers.

Freddie Prinze Jr. as Stuart Macher

Freddie Prinze Jr. almost landed the role of Stuart.

Brooke Shields as Gale Weathers

The star of “The Blue Lagoon” and “Pretty Baby” was a strong contender to the role of Gale Weathers.

Breckin Meyer as Randy Meeks

Meyer was starting to trend after “Clueless” and he was tied up with Jamie Kennedy over the role of the movie buff.

References

Something that differentiated “Scream” of other films of its genre was its ability to connect all of them. Two were specially honored. Two classics of previous generations: “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th“, by which the writer, Kevin Williamson, has always been an aficionado.

In the introduction to his screenplay into a book, Williamson speaks openly about his passion and the first time that he watched “Halloween” in theaters and how it changed his life in October 1978, when he was only 12 years.

“Halloween was my revelation. I already knew my love of movies was bordering obsessive but had no idea of how fixated I was until the experience of Halloween. The movie frightened me beyond belief. I sat, white-knuckled, between Shelley and her mother. I remember vividly how I kept grabbing Shelley’s mother every time Michael Myers appeared”.

“Halloween was the film that opened my eyes”.

Oh, and we can see that, Mr. Williamson.

In the original script, Williamson didn’t imagined the mask’s shape. But of course it was a reference to “The Shape”. That bleached white mask mimicking the traits of William Shatner.

Tatum says, “I’m going to the video store. I was thinking “All The Right Moves” (1983). You know if you pause it just right, you can see his penis“. Williamson mentioned that people always make jokes about that line to him. You can watch this scene here.

Mathew Lillard ad-libbed “Houston, we have a problem here!”, a reference to “Apollo 13” (1995).

There are two references to Sharon Stone in “Scream” – who worked with Wes Craven in “Deadly Blessing” (1981).

The first one is about the genre of the killer. Tatum says that the killer could easily be a female, like in “Basic Instinct” (1992). The other one is about her famous flashing that is compared to Maureen Prescott´s behavior around man.

Stu mentions “Candyman” (1992) at the school.

Billy states corn syrup was the same stuff they used for pig’s blood in “Carrie” (1976).

“As if”, Stuart replies. It was a famous quote from “Clueless” (1995).

“E.T. – The Extraterrestrial” (1982) is mentioned.

Some footage of “Frankenstein” (1931) is shown.

Name the killer in “Friday the 13th” (1980)?

Raise the hand who yelled with Casey: Jason… I know I did.

And to my surprise – or lack of attention – I had to swallow the answer that he did not appear until the sequel. Jason’s mother, Mrs. Voorhees (Betsy Palmer) is the original killer…

Check this video we did with all the references between those two sagas!

“Halloween” (1978) and “Halloween II” (1981), as mentioned before, holds the largest number of references in “Scream”. Just in the beginning, the film is told by Casey Becker as her favorite movie. Later, Ghost Face makes a movie trivia, and the question is the name of the killer – something that she responds with the same tone of voice of Rachel (Ellie Cornell) from “Halloween IV” (1988): “It’s Michael… Michael Myers. “

• Before Ghost face reveals his malevolence, Casey also makes popcorn in a very similar way to Annie Bracket (Nancy Kyes).

• Casey cries for help from her parents, but the voice just not comes out, and so does Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) in “Halloween II”.

• When Mr. Becker realizes that something is very wrong in his house, he says to his wife to “Drive down to the Mackenzie’s” and that is the same advice that Laurie gives to Tommy and Lindsey.

• The name of Billy, Loomis, is a tribute to the tireless hunter of Michael Myers – Dr. Sam Loomis, played by Donald Pleasence. In turn, this name is another homage – to “Psycho”.

• The music that plays after the climbing of Billy to Sidney’s window is “Don’t Fear The Reaper“, which was featured in “Halloween” soundtrack. But in 1978 it was interpreted by the group Blue Oyster Cult.

• When Sidney comes back into the house after being scared by the killer, Ghost Face arises from within the closet – as Michael does with Bob Simms (John Michael Graham).

• Tatum tells Sidney that the situation is beginning to appear like a flick by Wes Carpenter – a mixed name of Wes Craven and John Carpenter, the director of “Halloween.”

• One of the movies that Randy brings to Stu’s party is “Halloween” – that is the movie they decide to watch. “Scream” features some scenes and there are clear context and hypertext at various times.

• The theme from John Carpenter is playing in the scene where Dewey enters Stu’s house the second time.

• Sidney hides in closet, just as Laurie Strode – but Sidney fights back her nemesis.

• A picture of Laurie Strode is the last thing that Stuart sees in his life.

• When Randy warns “Careful this is the part where the supposably dead killer come’s back to life for one last scare” – it is a clear allusion to the immortal killers such as Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees.

Henry Winkler (Principal Himbry) stops to slick his hair back which was a trademark of his character Fonzie on the TV-show “Happy Days” (1974).

Tatum refers to “I Spit On Your Grave” (1978) when she says “What is this? I Spit On Your Garage?”

The funny self-references of “Scream” started here. Casey thinks that Ghostface’s favorite scary movie is “Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984) – created, written and directed by Wes Craven. She says that the first was good but the rest sucked, including “New Nightmare” (1994), also by Craven.

Casey pulls of the killer’s mask before her last breath, and so does Tina (Amanda Wyss) to Freddie’s face.

Billy, who looks a lot like Johnny Deep in “Nightmare…”, also climbs his girlfriend’s window.

Sidney lives on 34 Elm Street – but this reference was cut out from the movie.

Joseph Whipp who lives Sheriff Burke in “Scream” also lives a man of the law in “Nightmare…” – Sgt. Parker.

The boyfriend is always acused of being the killer. Tina´s boyfriend, Rod Lane (Jsu Garcia), is an example.

Tatum wears a shirt with a #10, just like Deep´s jearsey.

To close with a golden key the references around this film, Craven makes a small cameo using the costume of Freddie Krueger (Robert Englund), as Fred, the janitor.

The plot of “Scream” have some similarities to “Prom Night” (1980), this movie is mentioned by Randy sometimes during the movie.

One of the movies rented at Stu’s party.

If “Scream” is a tribute to “Halloween”, this one turns out to be a homage to “Psycho” (1960). At the time of the release of “Halloween”, people said that this was the scariest movie since the classic from Hitchcock. Besides the surname Loomis – present in all three movies – they share other similarities:

• The biggest one is the death of Drew Barrymore’s character – one that we thought would be the damsel in distress of the movie. The same happened in “Psycho”, when Janet Leigh – the mother of Jamie Lee Curtis – is torn apart in the shower.

• Billy Loomis quotes Norman Bates: “We all go a little mad sometimes…”

“I always had a thing for you Sid” was a Lillard contribution for the movie, a reference to “Serpico” (1973).

Billy thinks that Sid has similar problems to Jodie Foster in “Silence of the Lambs” (1991).

Casey´s body in a tree reminds me a lot of the girl hanged in the begining of “Suspiria” (1977).

Sidney replies “I´m scared I´m gonna end up like my mom. You know, like The Bad Seed or something” – this is a mention to the classic of 1956.

“The Exorcist” (1973) is the movie that Billy says that he was watching before go to Sid’s house. Linda Blair does a cameo as a reporter. Blair and Craven worked together in “Summer of Fear” (1978).

Mentioned at the videostore.

When Sidney is banging in the attic window, it looks like a scene from “The Spiral Staircase” (1941).

Randy quotes, “What’s Leatherface doing here?”. A reference to “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974).

Sidney compares Woodsboro with “The Town That Dreaded Sundown” (1976).

The opening scene has a strong connection with “When a Stranger Calls” (1979), which, in turn, relates to an urban legend. In it, a baby-sitter is terrorized by phone calls from a psychopath who is closer than she thinks – inside the house.

Randy imitates Jerry Lewis voice when he says “Did you really put her liver in the mailbox…”.

Other Jamie Lee Curtis´ movies are mentioned: “Trading Places” (1983), “The Fog” (1980), “Terror Train” (1980) and “Prom Night” (1980). The “Mother’s Boys” (1993) poster appears at the video store.

The movies rented to Stu´s party are: “Hellraiser“ (1987), “The Fog” (1980), “Terror Train“ (1980), “Prom Night“ (1980), and “The Evil Dead“ (1982).

Goofs

When the police arrest Billy after Sid’s first attack, they place him in the car and close the car door, in which the windows are closed. After they’ve driven off, Sheriff and Dewey go to check on Sid and in the background we can still hear Billy calling out for Sid crying out “SID!”

Gale Weathers leaves the cameraman in the back of the truck she is heard to say “I’ll be right back”, but her lips say something like “keep watching”.

When Gale discovers Kenny on the roof, she starts to drive in a circle and says “Oh God. Kenny I’m sorry, but get off my fucking windshield!” but her lips aren’t moving.

SPOILER: When Dewey gets stabbed in the back, Sidney mouths “No!” but says “Dewey!”

SPOILER: At the end of the movie when Gale Weathers is holding the gun in the kitchen, you can clearly hear the sound of the hammer being pulled before the camera goes to her. However, when the camera shows a view from behind, you can see the hammer on the gun is still up and not in a firing position. Also, on the standard Beretta 92FS handgun, the hammer is unable to cocked back with the safety on, as Billy stated it was. Furthermore, when the safety is on, the trigger will pull freely. When Gale tried pulling the trigger, she encountered resistance.

When Casey is making popcorn, she puts the salt shaker next to the stove, and leaves the kitchen. When she comes back the shaker isn’t there.

When Casey is making the popcorn, she starts pulling the cover off with her left hand near the handle. In the next shot she is seen using her right hand pulling the paper cover from the other side.

When Casey sees Steve on the patio, the killer tells her to turn off the light. You see the shadow fall across his face. Yet when the camera flashes to Steve just before he’s killed, we see the already turned-off light go off again.

SPOILER: When the killer is chasing Casey outside her house, the part of the mask that hides his neck is grey. But when the killer is strangling Casey on the grass, the neck part is jet-black and the face of the mask is also wider.

After Casey is stabbed the first time she knocks the knife out of the killer’s hands, causing him to start strangling her with both hands. When she fights him off, the knife is suddenly back in his hand again.

When Sidney looks out from her window and says, “Well I call your bluff.” She then opens the door, and apparently opens the door to where it’s facing towards the outside. But when she steps out, the door is facing inwards, into the house.

Sidney’s police jacket at police station.

No open handicap stall when Sidney enters school bathroom.

When Sidney is at the school bathroom sink her bracelet continually moves from one wrist to the other in between cuts.

The amount of paper on the floor, around the trash can, in the school bathroom.

The placement of hanging clothes in the principal’s closet.

When the principal goes to open the door the first time. The door opens left to right (the hinges are on the right side.) When he closes it he closes it left to right (the hinges are on the left side).

Length of the sheriff’s cigarette during the conversation with the deputy.

When Dewey walks into the party, he takes a beer bottle from a teenager, he then gives it back but in the next shot he still has it.

SPOILER: When Gale and Dewey go in to the party, Gale secretly places a video camera on top of the VCR facing the couch. The camera is placed at waist-level directly behind her. However, the height of both devices change. When Randy picks up the phone to receive the news of Principal Himbry’s death, he is standing upright and the camera is directly in front of his mouth.

When Tatum is getting beers from the refrigerator in the garage, she is seen grabbing beers and holding them in her right arm. When she’s done, she is originally seen from behind holding a beer in her left hand, and closing the door with her forearm, but then it switches shots, and her left and is holding two beers with her hand tucked into her arm, and closing the refrigerator door with her foot.

When Tatum throws the beer bottles at the killer in the garage, they break and wet his costume, but when the killer runs and falls over her, his costume is suddenly dry.

When Tatum is locked in the garage she reaches up to hit the garage door button to get out with her left hand because the beer bottles are in her right. On the close-up of her hand pushing the button it’s her right that hits it.

SPOILER: The amount of blood on the knife in garage after cutting Tatum.

At Stu’s party, everyone watches Halloween (1978). However, the scenes shown from that movie do not correlate with the time passing in this movie. For example, the time between Laurie finding her friends murdered and the “closet scene” is ten to twelve minutes in Halloween; in this movie, closer to 30 minutes elapse.

Randy says “Here comes the obligatory tit shot” while watching Halloween (1978) and everyone cheers, supposedly at the sight of breasts, but the scene they are watching at that precise moment doesn’t show nudity. The girl’s breasts in Halloween aren’t revealed until a later scene (and, some claim, not at all in the video version).

The number of standing beers on table during the “rules” speech.

When Randy and friends are watching horror movies, Randy says, “She always outsmarted the killer during the big chase seen. Virgins always do that.” However, when Kenny and Gale watch the footage on their hidden camera, the sentences have been shortened to, “The virgin always outsmarts the killer in the big chase scene.”

The white car disappears when running Dewey and Gale off the road.

SPOILER: When Tatum dies her head is seen being squished completely but later when Sidney finds her body, her head is still there and her neck is being squished.

SPOILER: When Tatum is killed in the garage, both of her arms hang in mid air, but when Sidney finds her dead, only one of her arms his hanging down.

SPOILER: The bloodstain after Billy gets stabbed.

SPOILER: In the end, there are no cuts or stab marks on Stu after Billy stabs him many times.

SPOILER: When Stu is setting up Sidney’s dad to be framed, you can see him put the cell phone in front of the voice changer box in his pocket. But when it cuts back and her dad is pushed to the floor, you see the cell phone is now behind the voice changer box.

Reflection in window of the opening sequence.

When Casey is running to lock her front door, you can see the shadow of some equipment on the wall as she is running around the corner.

As Sidney is walking up the side porch, after getting off the bus, a boom mic shadow is visible near her hand.

When Billy is being put into the cop car.

The camera crew is briefly visible in the reflection of the television after Dewey turns it off at breakfast, the morning after Sydney stayed at Tatum and Dewey’s house.

Shadow in the school bathroom.

When Billy says, “…and if you get it right, you die,” Stu bumps into the camera making it shake.

SPOILER: Near the end, when Sidney’s dad crashes through the door tied up, you can see a crew member pushing mops/brooms etc out after he falls (better spotted when paused and pressing frame advance button).

The police station is supposedly on a one-way street, but a sign reading “Slow School X-ing” indicates traffic travels in both directions.

Obvious stunt double when Sidney is attacked for the first time and knocked to the floor.

When a guy walks out of the shop that closes its door because of the curfew, the reflection in the shop door shows him walk past the camera and stop.

SPOILER: The shadow of the dummy’s feet used when Tatum gets stuck in the garage is visible before the scene takes place.

When watching Ghost face sneak up on Randy, Neve Campbell accidentally breaks character and calls him “Jaime!”.

SPOILER: When Billy gets “stabbed” by the killer it shows the killer wiping off the knife but right after it shows blood still on the knife. Then he wipes it off again.

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