1996’s Scream opens with the murder of high school student Casey Becker and her boyfriend Steve at
the hands of the mysterious Ghostface killer. Fellow high school student Sidney Prescott is
still struggling with the murder of her mother Maureen one year prior by her young lover Cotton
Weary. As the media descend on the town of Woodsboro to cover the murders, Sidney is
forced to confront her emotional trauma. Part of the media frenzy is reporter Gale Weathers,
a cold and cutthroat reporter who will stop at nothing to get the best story. And trying to
help save the town from a vicious killer is Dewey Riley, a kind-hearted and bumbling Deputy Sheriff.
Sidney’s friend group includes boyfriend Billy Loomis, best friend Tatum Riley who was also the
sister of Deputy Dewey, Tatum’s boyfriend Stu, and Randy Meeks, a nerdy fan of horror movies
who is constantly referencing and acknowledging patterns and motives of famous movie killers.
Sidney soon begins receiving calls from the killer, who stalks and taunts her
throughout the film. Ghostface kills the high school’s Principal Himbry,
then kills Tatum at a house party. Dewey is later stabbed and thought to be dead.
Eventually, Billy Loomis reveals himself to be the killer, with his best friend Stu acting as
his accomplice. They planned to kill Sidney and pin all of the other murders on her father. Billy
also reveals that he had killed Sidney’s mother Maureen the year prior and framed Cotton, as
Maureen was having an affair with Billy’s father, driving his mother away. Just as Billy is about
to kill Sidney, Gale arrives to intervene. Sidney and Gale kill Stu and Billy and its revealed that
Dewey survived his knife wounds, although they did leave him with permanent nerve damage and a limp.
Scream 2 opens with the premiere of Stab,
a film based on the book Gale Weathers wrote about the Woodsboro Massacre. At the premiere,
Windsor College students Maureen and Phil are murdered by a Ghostface copycat killer.
Sidney Prescott was now enrolled at Windsor College and trying to move on with her life,
so these new murders send her life into complete disarray.
Fellow classmates of Sidney at Windsor College include her high school friend Randy Meeks,
new best friend Hallie, her new boyfriend Derek Feldman, and Derek’s best friend Mickey.
Following the arrival of the copycat killer, Dewey Riley goes to Windsor College to ensure
Sidney’s safety. Gale Weathers arrives with a flurry of other reporters to cover
the ongoing case and constantly butts heads with a reporter named Debbie Salt,
who was obsessed with both the original case and Gale Weathers’ coverage of it. Also arriving at
the college was Cotton Weary, who, following his exoneration of Maureen Prescott’s murder,
has become obsessed with the media attention and hopes to convince Sidney
to sit down with him for a nationally televised interview with Diane Sawyer.
Randy tries to help uncover the new killer, utilizing his knowledge of past horror films
and their sequels, but he’s eventually stabbed to death by the new Ghostface.
Also murdered are sorority girl Cici Cooper and Sidney’s best friend Hallie.
As Gale and Dewey team up to try to solve the case, the cold-hearted Gale begins to
soften up and even starts a relationship with Dewey. That love affair is quickly
cut short when the pair are attacked by Ghostface and Dewey is brutally stabbed.
As all of her friends are getting killed off around her, Sidney begins to suspect
that once again it was her boyfriend behind the mask causing the massacre. But eventually
Sidney discovers that her boyfriend Derek was truly innocent, as Mickey has Derek tied up and
reveals himself to be the killer. Mickey kills Derek and confesses to Sidney his master plan,
going on a murder spree and getting caught, only to blame violent movies like Stab for
normalizing murder at his trial. And then Mickey reveals his accomplice, Reporter Debbie Salt,
who was actually Billy Loomis’ mother who wanted revenge on Sidney for her son’s death.
Mrs. Loomis then kills Mickey and attacks Sidney, but just as Mrs. Loomis has the upper hand,
Cotton Weary arrives to save Sidney. Cotton shoots Mrs. Loomis in the neck,
but to ensure she was truly dead, Sidney puts another bullet in Mrs. Loomis’ head.
And so, the new copycat killers were dead and the police and paramedics were on the scene. Dewey
is revealed to have survived his encounter with Ghostface and instead of reporting on the events,
Gale decides to join Dewey in his ambulance. As reporters flood Sidney with questions,
she directs them instead to Cotton, calling him the true hero of the story. And so, Cotton gets
the attention he’d been craving and Sidney is allowed to finally step out of the spotlight.
In Scream 3, Cotton Weary has achieved the fame he’s longed desired, hosting his own
television series called 100% Cotton. When a new Ghostface killers demands information from
him on the whereabouts of Sidney Prescott, Cotton refuses and is murdered alongside his girlfriend.
Sidney Prescott is living a quieter life, changing her name and working as an
on-call crisis counselor. As Sidney lives in seclusion,
the new killer begins their murder spree, trying to draw her out of hiding.
In Hollywood, Stab 3, the newest film in the franchise based on Sidney’s life,
is currently in production. Detective Mark Kincaid calls on Gale Weathers to help him
catch the new Ghostface killer, who starts to pick off the Stab 3 cast, starting with actress
Sarah Darling. The main cast of Stab 3 includes Angelina Tyler as Sidney Prescott, Jennifer Jolie
as Gale Weathers, Tom Prinze as Dewey Riley, and Tyson Fox as the film’s equivalent of Randy Meeks.
Also working on the set of Stab 3 is Dewey Riley, serving as a technical advisor. He and Gale have
broken up following Gale’s successful career, but the two still have feelings for each other.
As Dewey, Gale and the Stab 3 cast convene at Jennifer’s house to discuss their predicament,
the killer strikes, blowing up the house with Tom still in it.
When Sidney arrives in Hollywood to help stop the new Ghostface killer, the team are visited
by Randy Meeks’ sister Martha. She plays them a video that Randy had made before his death,
warning them of how dangerous the killer in the final film of a trilogy could be.
At a birthday party for Stab 3 director Roman Bridger’s birthday, the Ghostface killer strikes
again, killing Angelina, Tyson, and Jennifer. The killer knocks out Detective Kincaid and ties up
Dewey and Gale before revealing his true identity to Sidney. The killer was in fact Roman Bridger,
who also happened to be the long lost half-brother of Sidney Prescott. Roman
was born out of an affair Maureen had had when attempting to start a career as an actress.
When Roman tried to reunite with Maureen four years ago, she rejected him. And so,
a bitter Roman secretly filmed all of Maureen’s extramarital affairs, including the ones
she had with Cotton Weary and Billy Loomis’ father. Roman then showed Billy those tapes
and manipulated him into becoming the original Ghostface killer. And now Roman planned on pinning
all of the Stab 3 cast murders on Sidney. The brother and sister engage in a fight,
which Sidney ultimately wins, stabbing Roman three times before Dewey shoots him in the head.
As the movie comes to a close, Dewey and Gale get engaged while
Sidney finally feels at peace and that all of the murdering was over.
And that brings us to Scream 4. It’s been 15 years since the original Woodsboro massacre,
and a new Ghostface killer has arrived in town killing students at the high school.
Sidney Prescott, back in her hometown on a press tour for her new book, is framed for the murders
and is forced to stay in Woodsboro for the duration of the investigation. Meanwhile,
Dewey Riley, now the sheriff of Woodsboro, and his team of deputies, including Judy Hicks,
begin investigating the new murderer. Dewey’s wife Gale, against his objections,
goes back into reporter mode to conduct her own investigation.
The students at the high school being targeted by Ghostface include Sidney’s cousin Jill Roberts,
Jill’s cheating ex-boyfriend Trevor Sheldon, her neighbor Olivia Morris,
best friend Kirby Reed, and horror movie enthusiasts Charlie Walker and Robbie Mercer.
Ghostface kills Olivia, and the high schoolers retreat to Kirby’s house to figure out their best
options. Ghostface then kills Jill’s mother Kate before setting its sights on the other
high schoolers. A drunken Robbie is killed first, and then Charlie reveals himself to
be the killer before stabbing Kirby to death. As Sidney arrives at the house to save her cousin,
Jill reveals herself to also be one of the Ghostface killers, with Charlie serving as
her accomplice. Jill explains her jealousy about the fame Sidney received for being a survivor
of the original Woodsboro massacre and wanted the same attention. She then kills Trevor to pin
all of the murders on him, and betrays Charlie, stabbing him to death to leave herself as the
sole survivor. Jill then stabs Sidney and cuts herself to look like she was attacked.
Dewey and Hicks arrive to rescue Sidney and Jill, unaware that Jill was actually the killer.
At the hospital, Jill discovers that Sidney survived the attack and goes
to kill her. Dewey, Hicks, and Gale intervene just in time,
and Sidney is forced to shoot her cousin in the head. And so, once again, Sidney,
Dewey, and Gale defeat the Ghostface killer and attempt to move on with their lives.