The Scream series differentiates itself from other slasher series in many ways, beginning with its meta approach, but one other notable aspect is its lack of an ongoing villain. In 2022’s Scream (AKA Scream 5), Amber Freeman, discussing the movie-within-a-movie franchise used for much of the self-referential comedy, Stab, directly brings this up. Says Amber, “You know what the biggest problem with the Stab movies is? There's no Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. No bad guy to keep coming back!”
Of course, that’s never really been a problem for Scream as the concept is part of its baked-in formula. Rather than an ongoing killer, Scream has mostly stuck to the same ongoing heroine, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), along with other key characters like Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). Each movie is a whodunnit, with a new killer donning the familiar Ghostface persona, complete with mask and robe, until their identity is revealed in the final act. Almost all of these movies have multiple killers too, working in tandem together, meaning as we go into the new Scream 7, there’s already been plenty of Ghostfaces to go around.
But which of them has stood out the most and ranks as the best? We’re here to help!
13. Jason Carvey (Scream VI)
Scream VI’s Jason kind of has to go last, if you include him at all, simply for accomplishing so little. Well, unless we also gave a ranking to his would-be partner, Greg, who never actually managed to fully become Ghostface, despite intending to.
Blackmore University student Jason (played by Tony Revolori) wanted to follow in the footsteps of previous Ghostface Richie Kirsch, with a new murder spree alongside his intended partner Greg that would “finish Richie’s movie” - as in commit new murders to inspire a crowd-pleasing new Stab movie. But on the very night Jason killed his first victim, both Jason and Greg found out the hard way that there were others with their own Ghostface plans who saw these two as an inconvenience to be quickly disposed of.
We didn’t learn much more about the full extent of Jason and Greg’s plans because they become the kind of pre-title fodder that any good Scream (and Stab) fan knows is usually there just to set the scene, not be the focus.
12. Ethan Landry (Scream VI)
You’re about to notice a logjam of Scream VI killers here at the bottom, which is funny, because Scream VI is a really good movie. And on top of that, the final showdown between that film’s heroines, Samantha (Melissa Barrera) and Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), and these particular killers is awesome, with the Carpenter sisters taking out each of the Scream franchise’s first-ever Ghostface trio in satisfying and suitably intense ways.
But that makes it all the more glaring that the actual killer reveal is kind of a dud. Yes, it’s a fun idea to have it be the family of the previous film’s killer, Richie, but the characters chosen aren’t exactly the most exciting, particularly Ethan, played by Jack Champion. Though sorta-kinda part of the central friend group in the film, by virtue of being “Core Four” character Chad’s roommate, Ethan is kept at arm’s length, not interacting with the others as much except in a jokey manner. He’s the nerdy virgin and that’s about it. Though it is amusing how Chad’s sister Mindy continually suspects he’s Ghostface before it turns out she’s right, there’s not much more to him than that.
But man is it great when Tara literally twists the knife after she stabs him in the mouth…
11. Quinn Bailey (Scream VI)
Liana Liberato’s Quinn rates just above her brother for a handful of reasons, including her simultaneous moxie and restraint. First off, she’s just a likeable character. Introduced as the roommate to Sam and Tara Carpenter, she’s funny and quirky and the idea that she has a, ahem, healthy amount of sexual partners is treated in an amusing manner. As Quinn describes it, she’s not “the slutty roommate” - she’s just sex positive.
Also, kudos on her stellar dead-body acting when she needed to fake her own death. But most of all, she stands out for feeling like the only one of the family who has a more grounded (by Ghostface standards) attitude when she, her brother, and her dad are revealed as the killers. She genuinely seems angry and menacing and vengeance-minded the whole time, while her brother and father are going just a wee bit – okay a lot – bigger.
Quinn’s kill count is probably low, most likely limited only to franchise perennial Gale Weathers’ boyfriend, but her showdown with Gale is memorable, as she comes closer than anyone ever has to finally taking out the intrepid reporter. And on top of that, she’s the first-ever Ghostface to actually get Gale on the phone for a classic Ghostface phone call scene, and that’s something, dang it!
10. Wayne Bailey (Scream VI)
Take it down a notch, Wayne!
Dermot Mulroney is a good actor, but the decision to have him go so very big, performance-wise, when his character Wayne is revealed as the patriarch of a very twisted, homicidal family, briefly knocks the wind out of the sails in Scream VI. It doesn’t mesh with how Wayne had behaved up until that point and it also feels contradictory because Wayne doesn’t personally care about the Stab movies - he just wants revenge for Samantha Carpenter killing his son Richie. But he’s behaving like the wackiest Stab superfan we’ve ever seen.
Wayne rates above his kids though for being the mastermind of the New York City Ghostface killings and for how he used his position as a police detective to further all sorts of Ghostface shenanigans. This goes back even before the family began killing people to when he helped Richie buy artifacts connected to the previous Ghostface murders for his first born’s macabre shrine. He then was able to successfully fake his daughter’s death and cast doubt on Kirby Reed, implicating her as Ghostface (though we’re still not sure if the stuff about Kirby no longer being FBI was true or not?).
On the kill-count front, it seems likely he was the Ghostface who stalked Sam and Tara in that bodega, taking out three different victims back-to-back-to-back in an intense and uncharacteristic group-kill scene unlike any in the series. This included him using a gun, in what’s become a debated fan topic, since that makes him the only Ghostface to use a firearm while in their full masked persona.
So yeah, Wayne did a lot during his Ghostface stint, but did he need to be so Crazy with a capital C about it?!
9. Charlie Walker (Scream 4)
Among Scream’s many murderous partners, there’s pretty much always a Ghostface hierarchy where you can tell who’s the one who’s coming up with most of the plans and calling the shots. And in a couple of cases, that hierarchy gets underlined in a big way by an outright betrayal as it turns out one Ghostface was just the pawn of another. Such is the case with Scream 4’s Charlie, who found out the hard way that his partner Jill had no intention of sharing the falsified “We’re the only survivors!” spotlight with him when she stabbed and killed him.
Up until then, Rory Culkin’s Charlie had been a decent Ghostface. With Jill needing to play her pre-determined role as the seeming main target of this killing spree, it was up to Charlie to carry out most of the actual murders, which he embraced wholeheartedly. And there was a clever hiding-in-plain-sight aspect to making him part of a nerdy movie-loving duo alongside his pal (until he murdered him) Robbie, which gave him more cover than he might have otherwise.
Oh, and though it’s delivered through the ol’ Ghostface voice changer (as said by the ever-great Roger L. Jackson, who’s been the Ghostface alter-ego voice from the start), it’s technically Charlie who has one of the funniest Ghostface lines in the franchise’s history as he gets outright pissed off about being misidentified on the phone as Jill’s ex-boyfriend and yells “This isn’t fucking Trevor!” in exasperation.
8. Mickey Altieri (Scream 2)
Obviously Timothy Olyphant rules, and kudos to Scream 2 for giving one of Hollywood’s greatest modern cowboy types his first high-profile role. But as a Ghostface, Olyphant’s Mickey isn’t exactly a standout.
First and foremost is that he just isn’t in enough of the movie. He’s established early on as one of Sidney’s college friends, but his appearances are rather scattershot, and he rarely gets a moment to stand out - except for voicing his false (in retrospect, of course) suspicions about Sid’s boyfriend, Derek. When he takes off the Ghostface mask, there really isn’t much excitement behind it because of how the movie has sidelined him so much.
That being said, once he is revealed as Ghostface, he gets a couple of strong moments, including his diabolical treatment of Derek, who he pretends is his partner in front of Sid, only to then shoot and kill him. The fact that he made Derek’s last moments extra emotionally agonizing is pretty dang cruel, which gets him some points, because remember, Ghostfaces are bad people!
Also, he’s interesting as the only Ghostface in Scream movie history who wants to be caught as part of his endgame, excited by the prospect of a big televised trial where he’s going to blame the movies for corrupting him. It’s a nice change-up from the norm of wanting to frame someone, which helps him briefly stand out… Except that he was always a pawn in someone else’s game, as proven when he’s oh-so-casually betrayed by fellow Ghostface Nancy Loomis, who guns him down.
7. Roman Bridger (Scream 3)
Played by Scott Foley, Roman’s a tricky one because he’s got some clear trouble spots, starting with the fact that he’s Ghostface in the weakest Scream movie, Scream 3. Also, the big reveal about his identity and his role in past events is a massive retcon that is not always embraced by the fanbase. And on top of that, that reveal is predicated on him telling Sidney who he really is in a movie that never had these two characters meet a single time before he takes off his mask, so from her point of view, he’s just some random guy suddenly showing up to take the spotlight.
Of course, that random guy then quickly explains he’s the brother she never knew she had, the most recent Ghostface who’s been killing his way through Los Angeles, and the guy behind everything in this series, given he’s the one who first pushed Billy Loomis to kill Roman and Sidney’s mother prior to the events of the first film. That last point may be divisive, but it positions him as a key player in the entire series, like it or not.
And then there’s the fact that you have to give Roman some extra credit because he’s the only solo Ghostface in the entire series. He had no partner to rely on or to help cover for him, and was doing it on his own with even greater danger of being caught. That takes initiative!
And jeez, he killed the entire main cast of Stab 3, the movie he was the director of! Think about how crazy that is and how much that would be talked about for the rest of time among infamous Hollywood scandals.
6. Nancy Loomis (Scream 2)
There’s nothing like the love of a mother, which was proven once more when original Ghostface Billy Loomis’ mom Nancy took up her baby boy’s mantle and set out to get revenge on Sidney for killing her son.
As it turned out, Billy must have gotten all of his own natural diabolical serial killer prowess from Momma, because Nancy took to her new mission like a pro. She gave herself a makeover and a new identity as seemingly awkward, small-town reporter Debbie Salt, while simultaneously recruiting her accomplice Mickey on the internet and getting him inserted at Windsor College alongside Sidney. And Mickey was the perfect dupe for her, not realizing she never intended to let him get arrested and have the showy trial he dreamed of.
It seems likely Nancy let Mickey take on most of the actual killings at Windsor, but look, as much as it hurts when fan favorite characters are taken out, Nancy was the one who managed to get the drop on Scream’s first movie geek extraordinaire, Randy Meeks, after he dared disparage her Billy. And when you’re accomplishing that, and bringing the audience that much pain, it’s a notch on your bloody belt.
Plus, Nancy gave us Laurie Metcalf as a Ghostface, and who doesn’t enjoy seeing Roseanne’s Aunt Jackie get homicidal?
5. Amber Freeman (Scream 2022)
There’s an argument to be made for putting Amber above her partner, given that she committed most of the murders in the fifth Scream movie, one of which was an incredibly notable character, and that Scream 5 filmmakers Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett have speculated she was likely the one really “leading from behind,” despite how it might have appeared. However, that latter bit of pondering was never made canon, and she does suffer a bit from just feeling like part of the friend group for much of the film without a lot of moments of her own (an excised plot point about her and Tara Carpenter actually being ex-girlfriends might have both alleviated that but also made her too obvious a suspect).
Still, by the end of the film, we realize Amber is a particularly passionate and cruel Ghostface. And this includes the revelation that she’s the one who pulled off the fan-agonizing move of finally taking out the beloved Dewey Riley after he managed to survive so many other near-fatal attacks before. “It’s an honor” she declared while slicing Dewey open, underlining the significance of what she’s doing.
When she’s revealed as Ghostface, she also stands out for how much future Academy Award-winner Mikey Madison absolutely goes for it as this demented teenager, who mocks Gale and Sidney – though she’ll come to regret that – to their faces with how she killed Dewey, while prematurely declaring “Your story’s over!”
4. Richie Kirsch (Scream 2022)
In a film series that’s always been oh-so meta and self-aware both about the movie tropes it’s trafficking in and how the audience perceives them, along with how that changes through the years, Scream 5’s Richie got to be the avatar for the ugly side of modern fandom in a notably witty and wicked way.
Richie’s motivation for going on a murder spree, along with tricking a woman into thinking he loved her when he really intended to frame her for his crimes? Well, there was a sequel to a movie he loved that he really hated! Who could blame him after that!?
Richie’s plan is to orchestrate a new Ghostface murder spree built around a “story” he thinks will make for a great Stab movie. Then the producers of the franchise will base the next Stab movie on these murders, course-correcting after the loathed Stab 8 dared to stray too far from the formula.
We’re all familiar with how nasty things can quickly get these days when fans feel “betrayed” by a new installment of a franchise they love failing to meet expectations, with some of the most intense folks sounding particularly… heated. From earnestly asking how fandom can possibly be perceived as toxic to the fact that the fictional movie that set him and Amber off was a sequel to a long-running franchise directed by freaking Rian Johnson, the commentary Richie embodies regarding where things can go with overly “enthusiastic” fans in the modern era is very on the nose, and also very funny and perfect for a Scream movie. Richie plotted an intricate murder spree because he's the biggest, most loyal Stab fan ever, and this is how he’ll fix the movies he loves so very much.
Another reason Richie works so well as a Ghostface is that Jack Quaid makes for the perfect seemingly sweet, dorky boyfriend type you hope truly has his girlfriend Sam’s best interests at heart, making it all the worse when he stabs her and reveals the truth. “I know, it’s a bummer it’s me!” he tells her. Which it is, which is also why it’s great.
3. Stu Macher (Scream)
Stu’s just the best! He’s so fun and goofy and likeable in that manner we’ve come to expect from the man portraying him, Matthew Lillard. Well, okay, he is an awful murderer too, but nobody’s perfect.
Ultimately, Stu is clearly the follower in his Ghostface partnership with Billy, who’s calling the shots and personally motivated when it comes to why the first-ever Woodsboro murder spree happens. But you can’t deny Stu didn’t embrace his role with gusto. He was all in, serving as both a perfect sidekick and partner, fully immersed in all of the murder, manipulation, and movie trivia phone calls that came with the territory. Lillard makes Stu a funny, quirky presence throughout the film, but it's his performance in the film’s big reveal sequence and ensuing showdown with Sid where he really gets to shine, as we see just how gleefully deranged and nearly Joker-esque he can be. It’s the kind of Big Crazy Killer vibe that other Ghostfaces are often living in the shadow of.
Oh, and he allowed himself to get grievously injured by Billy as part of their plan to look like the survivors at the end. Of course, Stu didn’t end up reacting so well after Billy stabbed him, which is where that whole likeable/disarmingly funny thing takes center stage again (including some healthy improv-ing from the intrepid Mr. Lillard). Because yes, Stu has other memorable lines like “It’s a scream baby!” and “It was fun!” but his most relatable moment is probably yelling “You hit me with the phone, you dick!” at Billy, along with becoming a blubbering mess and crying “My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me!” when he believes Sidney is going to be able to successfully get them arrested. That might not make for a scary Ghostface moment, but it sure is an entertaining one.
2. Jill Roberts (Scream 4)
We know, we know, how can Stu not be number two when he’s so funny and Matthew Lillard is so great!? All of which is absolutely true, but we’re ranking Ghostfaces here and in the Ghostface realm, Stu wasn’t a mastermind. And when it comes to those who took the reins in the Ghostface dynamic, Emma Roberts’ Jill stands tall, despite her short stature.
Jill is as demented a Ghostface as you’ll find, coldly willing to kill all of her high school friends, her cousin Sidney Prescott, and even her own mother in order to achieve her ultimate goal. And that particular goal, to be famous for the sake of being famous, is another time Scream has stood out for shrewdly parodying a particularly online mindset. In fact, Scream 4 feels somewhat ahead of its time in this regard, because Jill’s motivations already worked in 2011, but eerily feel even more part of our zeitgeist these days as we’ve seen so many more people attract huge followings for the most random or inexplicable of reasons.
Jill has one of the best Ghostface reveal sequences ever, both because of her proclamation of why she’s doing what she’s doing – “I don’t need friends, I need fans!” standing out as her most iconic and oft-quoted line – and for how she goes about setting the scene to look like the only survivor of another massacre. Jill may be “remaking” what Billy and Stu did, but she’d doing it in her own impressive manner, from how coldly she kills both her ex-boyfriend Trevor and her partner and secret lover Charlie in order to frame them, to brutally stabbing Sidney. Frankly, she was so close to getting away with it too if she’d just made sure Sid was dead.
But the biggest feat of all is seeing her on her own go about causing all the brutal damage she needs to sell her lone-survivor scenario. From using Trevor’s dead hand to scratch her face and yank out her hair, to bracing a knife against a wall to deeply stab herself, to throwing her entire body through a glass table, Jill is fully committed, just not in the way she should have been if she’d gotten proper psychological testing.
1. Billy Loomis (Scream)
Let’s face it: Billy’s got to be number one. He was the first! Sure, Roman was the one who pushed him into killing Maureen Prescott, but Billy kept going after that with a much larger murder spree thanks to his own psychotic initiative. And presumably he was the one who came up with the whole “let’s wear this cool mask and call people with horror movie trivia questions” thing when the Ghostface murders really kicked in, though perhaps Stu helped with some brainstorming.
In so many ways, Billy really set the template for a Ghostface, which included his cruelly close relationship to Sidney prior to the murders and how diabolical it was that he was pretending to be a loving boyfriend while also the one killing her mother, her friends, and ultimately planning to kill her. And he took it to the next level of manipulation, leaning into and using that he knew he’d be seen as an obvious suspect before getting Stu to fake it so it seemed he himself was attacked, stabbed (and, for a moment it appeared, even killed) right in front of Sidney, both briefly making it seem like there was no way he could be the killer – and make her feel terrible for ever suspecting him – and then making it all the worse when he revealed he actually was the killer moments later.
His impact on the series has been profound, with later killers like Nancy and Roman turning out to be either related to him or directly connected to him. And then things went even further when the fifth and sixth movie introduced a new heroine, Samantha, who was his secret daughter, setting the stage for Skeet Ulrich’s Billy to become the first Ghostface to ever return onscreen in later installments of this supernatural-free series, albeit through Sam’s visions of him.
In Scream VI, when the shrine to all of the Ghostfaces is revealed, it’s Billy’s robe and mask that stands at the center, given an extra bit of reverence above the others. Which is fitting for the guy who first reminded us that we all go a little mad sometimes.
But who do you think is the greatest Ghostface of all time? Vote in our poll, and let’s discuss in the comments!
source https://www.ign.com/articles/scream-ranking-every-ghostface-so-far-best-worst