Scream has had six films now which means that there's a long list of people who have worn the Ghostface mask and have gone on a killing spree. Some of them were good, some others were less good. Six films in, here's my ranking of every killer who have donned the Ghostface mask in the Scream Franchise.
13. Jason Carvey (Scream 6)
I’m only throwing him in because he did kill someone with the mask on, but I wouldn’t consider him one of the killers of the film. I found it interesting that he killed someone just to find out what it feels like. That’s something that I don’t think they’ve really dug into before. Everyone has a deep motive to their killings, but he just wanted to feel what it was like to take someone’s life. He’s not really a Ghost face killer, but he killed someone with the mask on, so i’ll throw him in.
12. Charlie Walker (Scream 4)
I don’t think I hate any of the killers because it makes sense why all of them kill, but Charlie’s at the bottom of the list because he gets killed of right away. Once he’s revealed, Jill kills him off right away. He doesn’t really have enough time to flesh out his “killer” persona and he’s thrown away right away. I liked the character before the reveal but as a killer, there’s not enough of him.
11. Debbie Salt (Scream 2)
The classic Mrs. Voorhees twist. She does it because Sydney killed her son who turns out to be Billy. I like the vengeful parent motive, but I that has now been done much better with a future entry. Rewatching this film recently, I liked Mickey much more, despite the fact that he doesn’t have as strong of a motive as Debbie. Debbie’s angry mom performance now comes off as a bit over the top. I like the film and her as a killer, but against the others, she’s probably one of my least favourite.
10. Ethan Landry (Scream 6)
While he threw out some good lines during the unmasking scene, he probably has the weakest motive. Even when it comes to Ghostface mannerisms, his sister is much more interesting to watch. I liked him much more when he was being the fake Ethan. His character had me chuckling, but he was the reveal that I felt the least from in the film. It was cool to see a film with three killers and the double knife wipe was sick, but he’s probably the weakest of the three. I really liked how he was killed, that shit was vicious!
9. Roman Bridger (Scream 3)
While I like Roman’s motive and it makes complete sense, he’s just not that menacing to me. Scream 3 is by far my least favourite film of the franchise, even though I don’t hate any of the films and I would consider Scream the most consistent horror franchise. While Roman’s reasons are interesting, he’s not as killer as Ghostface. Roman’s great, but he doesn’t save Scream 3 from itself.
8. Quinn Bailey (Scream 6)
Quinn, as stated, is a much more interesting killer than Ethan was. She oozed an evil energy that Amber also had. She’s completely unhinged and she just wants to kill. The motive for all three are the same, but it seems like the reasons are deeper for Quinn than they are Ethan. Quinn is killed halfway through the film and I would have been interested to see more of her, but the reason she was fake killed makes complete sense. While she is better than her brother, the other killer in Scream 6 is the best of the film.
7. Richie Kirsch (Scream 5)
Richie was an interesting one. He was definitely another Billy as he was the boyfriend with a crazy secret, but Jack Quaid played Richie more goofy while Skeet Ulrich played it like the scary bad boy. The overall motive from the killers in Scream 5 is very much understandable and mimics the online discourse around franchises and series. Richie played both sides of the coin really well and his death was pretty cool, but more for what it shows about Sam as a character. Richie is an interesting killer with an interesting motive, but I like the other killer in this film much more.
6. Mickey Altieri (Scream 2)
While Mickey doesn’t have as strong of a motive as Debbie in this film, he just fucking rocks. Mickey is the clear most likely suspect in the film based on his mannerisms, which normally would make him the least likely, but I love how they played into it and made the obvious one the killer. Mickey was just a person that Debbie found online that so happened to be an active serial killer. He just does it because it’s a hobby for him. I also liked the character outside of the reveal as his scene in the film class is probably one of my more favourite “meta” explaining scenes in the franchise. While Mickey doesn’t have as huge of a stake in the motive, he’s still a great killer.
5. Amber Freeman (Scream 5)
Some people might think I’m crazy but I really like Amber in Scream 5. She plays the crazy girlfriend who Richie met on the Stab Subreddit. She decided to go along for the ride because she wanted to be apart of something. She represents the idea of toxic fans really well. She’s killing because she wants to be apart of something bigger and she thinks it would be cool to be immortalized in Stab history. She’s definitely the Stu of this film and she takes the mantle that they tried to give to Charlie much better. She’s just the crazy bitch who would love to be apart of the franchise that she loves so much.
4. Jill Roberts (Scream 4)
This is another one that some people might be surprised with. Scream 4 is one that many are not fans of, but I definitely like it a bit more than some. Jill is such an interesting killer. She’s the next generation who is jealous of the fact that she doesn’t get the love that Sydney got. It’s no accident that they gave her that motive because this film came out at the same time as many other films that were “rebooting” horror franchises. Jill represents the actors in those films who had to play a character that people already loved like Rooney Mara in A Nightmare On Elm Street. She dealt with the fact that she would never be as loved as the original and that’s why Jill’s motive is so compelling to me. She is almost the embodiment of these remakes, that sometimes were great, but were never gonna get the love that the original did. Emma Roberts also kicks ass in the role, I love when she gets to play evil or bitchy characters.
3. Detective Bailey (Scream 6)
This one is probably gonna be the most surprising as the film just came out, but he was just so good. Some people are not fans of the ending of this one, but I loved it. It updated the ending of Scream 2 and gave it some new life. Bailey was also a much more convincing grieving parent than Debbie was in Scream 2. I found the scene where he explains the idea of first borns and how they are different so compelling. How he loved his son so much that he kinda looked past his “obsession with the Stab films” despite the fact that there were some red flags. The fifth film was very much about those who love the fanbase, while the motive in this was very much the concept of parents who have kids who love things. The idea of parents who’s kids see these things as part of their identity. I’ve always loved horror, but that love came from my parents showing me these films, so I kinda relate a bit to where this film was going with the motive. I also liked him outside of the ghost face reveal. He had some interesting line reads and he was a very good character. Bailey also has probably the best death in the franchise when it comes to the killers. When he takes the knife in the eye, my audience had a mix of gasps and claps. It was a fitting kill for a great killer with a great motive.
2. Billy Loomis (Scream)
This one is probably not a surprise as there’s nothing that will beat the originals. Billy and Stu set the bar for what is to come after and only a few have reached that bar. Billy has a very understandable motive when it comes to killing Sydney and his performance is fantastic. Skeet Ulrich took this character and ran with it. He’s great as Billy before the reveal and Billy after the reveal. He’s menacing but you don’t fully suspect that it’s him because of the fact that it’s too obvious. The impression that Billy left on the franchise is immeasurable and it has led to half of the killers after him to try to emulate him in terms of performance. Billy is such a big part of the franchise that they brought him back for the last two. Making him Sam’s dad strengthens the performance and gives him much more complexity. You can’t beat the originals.
1.Stu Macher (Scream)
This one is probably the least surprising, like come on, it’s Stu. Stu is the best Ghost face that we’ve gotten from this franchise. Matthew Lillard was asked to give 100% and he gave it 1000%. Stu doesn’t really even have a motive, he just wanted to have some fun with his best friend. Stu is an absolute madman. He kills his own girlfriend because it’s “apart of the plan”. He’s the craziest killer in the franchise but I would argue that he’s also the most endearing as the scenes where he’s not the killer are so much fun. Stu’s impression on the franchise is as strong as Billy’s, I would even argue that it’s stronger as people are still asking for the franchise to bring him back. Stu is the ultimate example of fan favourite character, and I have to agree with the masses. With a fantastic performance from Lillard that includes some truly iconic lines and moments, I don’t think we’ll ever get a killer as awesome as Stu Macher. “It’s a Scream Baby!”
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