Summary
For somehorrorfans, a slasher franchise is only as good as its most shocking kills. For others, there has to be a balance between character development and a truly unsettling villain. I’m more invested in well-drawn characters than blood and gore, butmy love of slasher movie tropes keeps me watching this horror subgenre. I appreciate theScreamfranchise because it plays with tropes and has also introduced clever, realistic characters likefinal girl Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell).
Take away Ghostface’s frightening cape and mask and these movies are dramas about a young woman’s grief over losing her mother. But, of course,Screamis so special because the franchise has as many emotional and character-driven moments as it does gory ones. I’ve been thrilled aboutScream 7ever since it was announced, and now thatMason Gooding, who plays Chad Meeks-Martin, has talked about how violent this Ghostface is, I’m even more interested in seeing the next movie.
Mason Gooding Called Scream 7’s Ghostface “Brutal”
In an interview withVariety, Mason Gooding talked about Ghostface and said:
“I think that Ghostface is absolutely the most brutal he’s been. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there’s some stuff that they do to the human body that I feel like Kevin is breaking new ground with.”
Gooding praised theScream 7practical effects teamand continued:
“There was a prosthetic that sat in the makeup trailer that actually turned my stomach over. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it, but it’s incredible stuff. They really have an incredible effects team over there and they’re working overtime.”
I think it makes sense forScream 7to be the goriest entry in the horror franchise. While the other six movies included their fair share of bloody kills, Gooding’s comments suggest that there is at least one truly disgusting scene. It almost sounds likeScream 7is veering intobody horror territory, which would be a first for the slasher franchise. There are only so manytypes of kills that can be featured in a slasher movie, and I think horror fans will be glad to hear that the next film goes further than the others have.
This opens up a whole new world forthe popular meta horror franchise. Whether or notScream 7includes references to beloved body horror movies likeThe Flyremains to be seen. I think that would be a smart move, especially since the franchise has made fun of the way characters behave in slashers, and there aren’t a lot of tropes left to poke fun at. However, even ifScream 7doesn’t go down that road, I think thatScream 8could be a humorous take on the body horror genre. With the success ofDemi Moore’s hit movieThe Substance,I think that could be the right call.
I’m also curious about Gooding’s comments sincethe most memorable kill inScreamis Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) getting crushed by a garage doorin the first movie.Scream 7should have more creative killslike that one. Many fans would likely say that there haven’t been any truly shocking kills in a while. Several characters have been killed by Ghostface in more expected ways. It sounds like that will change in the next movie, and I’m sure horror fans are interested in seeing what that looks like.
Jenna Ortega Said Scream 6’s Ghostface Was The Most Violent Yet
Although it’s interesting to hear Mason Gooding call Ghostface “brutal,” this isn’t the first time that one of the franchise’s cast members has said something similar about the iconic horror villain.Jenna Ortega also calledScream 6’s Ghostface “the most aggressive and violent version.“In a 2022 interview withEntertainment Tonight, the actress said:
“Ghostface gets a lot more intimidating. I just read part of the script, and it just gets more and more gory. I think that this is probably the most aggressive and violent version of Ghostface we’ve ever seen, which I think will really be fun to shoot.”
Even thoughGhostface used a shotgunand was incredibly violent inScream 6, not a lot of characters died in the sixth entry in the slasher franchise.This issue should be solved inScream 7since the next installment should be scary. IfScream 7has some particularly bloody kills, as Gooding described, that’s going to make the sequel even more unforgettable.
