We Watched the Most Ridiculous Horror Sequels to Predict Scream 6’s Twists

What you’re about to read has no factual reveals about the plot of Scream 6 (review). There isn’t some hidden exclusive in these mockups. If there is, it’s purely by chance (and expert prediction skills). I have the same knowledge as everyone who’s seen Scream 6 trailers and read subsequent news articles. These are the thoughts of a horror fan who loves the Scream franchise, has seen too many horror sequels, and thought it’d be fun to run an experiment using other sixth entries from the longest-running horror franchises.

I thought I’d clarify before the hardcore Scream stans start dissecting anything beyond conversational intrigue. My intentions here are simple: rewatch the sixth entries in horror franchises and see what they could mean to Scream 6. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin — two-thirds of the American filmmaker trio Radio Silence responsible for last year’s Scream and other chillers like Ready or Not — along with writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick proved in 2022’s Scream (the fifth film in the franchise) that they understand Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s approach to genre satirization, which we hope will continue in Scream 6. At this point in most franchises, producers are willing to let anything fly so fans will spend their money on the next Jason Voorhees killing spree or Pinhead pleasure cruise.

How crazy will Scream 6 get? If you’re willing to shoot hypotheticals for a few minutes, I’ve got a few ideas.

Hellraiser: Hellseeker or Scream: Truthseeker 

The sixth Hellraiser entry marks the return of Ashley Laurence’s Kirsty Cotton since a mere footage cameo in Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, who’s promptly killed off in the opening minutes. Imagine treating a legacy character that awfully for the advancement of a worse plot [stares at 2022’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre literally tossing Sally Hardesty in the trash]. Trevor Gordon (played by Dean Winters aka Allstate’s Mayhem) is introduced as the sorrowful widower trying to deal with grief and zero memories; Kirsty is a tragic car accident victim. Although the more we learn, the more Trevor becomes a suspect, and the more Kirsty’s fate comes into question. That’s Pinhead’s way of messing with the audience, getting them to believe lies and facades before the grand reveal.

The question becomes, how does a Scream film recreate a purgatorial prison when Pinhead is a Cenobite and Ghostface is a position filled by mortals?

If Radio Silence showed no respect to Scream’s O.G. final girls, either Sidney Prescott or Gale Weathers would be the opening kill to Scream 6. This is just by Hellseeker logic. Gale or Sidney aren’t gutted by Ghostface, but presumably killed, like Kirby Reed’s supposed execution in Scream 4 that now has turned out to be a fake. The whole idea of Hellseeker is that what we see isn’t what we get by the credits, and it all starts with a fan favorite deceptively eating Ghostface’s knife right out of the gate.

Imagine a Scream 6 that’s all about a Ghostface that exposes a character for being nothing like the person Scream writers have shown us thus far.

For the Trevor element, that’s trickier. Slashers have attempted depicting a character’s psychotic breakdown allowing the killer to watch themself kill victims out of body without acknowledging fault — in many instances, not very well. So how do you pull off Memento except the final reveal is that someone doesn’t know they’re Ghostface? Without delving into ideas like split personalities or worse, the easiest achievable comparison would be introducing a new character who poses as a college student or professor, who’s actually someone’s blood relative out for revenge, swapping between personas to conceal both the truth and their identity. Not entirely unique to Scream, but it’s not like you can have a selective amnesia Ghostface (or can you).

In the zaniest swing that goes full Hellseeker, Gale dies as the honored cold-open kill only to reappear at the end as a mastermind who stages her own death and outsmarts the newest Ghostface duo. That’s the closest we get to the whiplash of Kirsty going from discarded corpse to “Good For Her” icon when she reappears for her vengeance. Ghostface killers are prone to oopsie moments, and maybe they assume the other got to Gale only to realize they’ve been  playing into Gale’s trap from the start. Deaths occur because Gale can’t save everyone, but you’re here for the new final four, who Gale keeps alive. We won’t believe our eyes when Gale rises from the dead, vanquishing the evildoers who’ve been preaching innocence the entire time just like Trevor.

Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives or Scream Part VI: Stu Lives

Tom McLoughlin’s sixth Friday the 13th entry introduces everything that’s become iconic about the Jason Voorhees brand. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning bombed after vengeful father Roy Burns dons the hockey mask as a less successful imitator, so producers demanded Jason return. Thus the supernatural, more brutish, unkillable Jason Voorhees rises from the dead with scores to settle. A prior killer returns to his rightful mantle as a slasher villain — and I’ve got an idea about how Scream 6 could honor such a swing.

Some believe Stu’s return would be an embarrassment to the Scream franchise, but it’s the exact kind of horror franchise commentary that would suit a fifth Scream sequel. We’re at the point where other franchises have experimented with substantially wilder ideas. Stu’s emergence as this Jigsaw entity in hiding would be a delicious treat loaded with commentary as Radio Silence digs at other franchises that attempt the same absurd revivals. Not to mention, Scream (2022) finally puts a knife in Dewey after he survives multiple close calls with Ghostface. The trope of the invincible hero has been thwarted. Why not buck the trend that killers in the Scream franchise stay “dead.”

Stu Macher isn’t dead, and he’s back after laying low for all these years.

Here’s the thing though, is Stu dead? Sure, he’s got a nasty concussion after the television falls on his head in the first film, coupled with a fainting spell due to blood loss. But isn’t it one of Randy’s rules that you must see a body to know someone’s gone forever? You heard it here — that’s Stu’s memorabilia collection we see in the trailer. He’s been studying every Ghostface since, maybe even pulling strings behind shadows. Now it’s finally his turn to rewrite his and Billy Loomis’ history by becoming Ghostface killers who’ll be remembered forever.

I point toward this 40-ish-second TV spot as further evidence. Talking to Ghostface on the phone, Gale says, “It never works out for the dipshit in the mask.” After Ghostface snatches and probably murders someone right behind her, Ghostface retorts, “There’s never been one like me, Gale.” Ghostface’s dialogue continues. “I’m something…different.” The only way I’ve read this exchange is that an old face is back to try and kill Gale again because that’d be wildly different from all prior outcomes where Ghostface killers seem to meet their fate.

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers or Scream: The Curse of Ghostface

If John Carpenter had his way, the sixth Halloween film would have taken place on a space station. Instead, Miramax won the rights to Halloween, and thus the Curse of Thorn was introduced. You know, the storyline about how a covert cult curses Michael Myers via the Runic symbol of Thorn, explaining his desire to kill and presumed superhuman abilities. It makes sense in horror sequel universes where villains won’t stay dead — looking at you, exploded body in Child’s Play 3. When you’re six movies in, the temptation to introduce a shocking new twist is sometimes too juicy to overlook. The Curse of Thorn diversion was panned by critics and audiences alike, making Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers a low franchise point by consensus. That said? I’d be thrilled to see Scream 6 try something similar, supernatural or not.

The trailer shot of the Scream 6 trophy room has multiple cloaks and presents like a shrine. The 2022 Scream introduced the idea that lunatics could meet on a subReddit for Stab fans and commit murders for the betterment of fandom, so who’s to say there aren’t more out there? My money is on a “Cult of Ghostface” in Scream 6 as the most viable later-franchise twist, which seems right in line after Scream roasted contemporary “arthouse” horror and the rebootquel effect.

Maybe it’s not supernatural, and the cult themselves are doing the killings to keep more Stab movies flowing based on real-life Ghostface slaughter sprees. Or maybe it is supernatural, and the cult reveals some Necronomicon variation filled with pages that could complete a blasphemous ritual.

Two Ghostface killers running loose has been done before, but what about a whole group?

The wildest Scream adaptation of Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers could embrace the lunacy of satanic rituals to take the Scream franchise somewhere otherworldly. Maybe the shrine room is more than a treasure trove — it’s a tether to atrocities that power a Ghostface cult’s sadistic ritual. We’ve seen Ghostface culprits die over and over, but maybe this cult’s newest plan is to immortalize themselves as killers who cannot be stopped, and do so with black magic that harnesses power from each victim’s unrested soul. The dawning of a new age of immortal Ghostfaces. Dewey’s badge, Steve’s jacket, Olivia’s shirt? Perhaps this Cult of Ghostface is only a few dead bodies and red-stained artifacts away from completing their blood ritual that will allow their mask-wearing spree to reign forever. Eternal serial killer fame without the electric chair’s curtain call.

Hey, crazier things have happened in horror franchise sequels.

Curse of Chucky or Scream: You Can’t Keep A Good Ghostface Down

After Seed of Chucky, the Child’s Play franchise sat in a brief limbo while deciding the next film’s approach. Early trailers hinted that Curse of Chucky would be a hard reboot returning to more gothic horror roots. However, creator Dan Mancini surprised everyone when the newest Good Guy doll revealed himself to be the same ol’ Chucky, continuing the filmmaker’s continuity without retconning Tiff, Glen/Glenda, or anything that’d come before. Chucky was hiding under our noses for a good chunk of Curse of Chucky, which is the shocking realization that a sixth Child’s Play movie drops like a bombshell.

Sidney Prescott’s been warped by trauma and is sick of being a victim. Not to mention Neve Campbell publicly confirmed that she won’t be participating in Scream 6 — a rational decision should Radio Silence want to focus on a newer cast. Sidney’s been through hell and back for five sequels. She deserves a break! Unless the Sidney Prescott erasure news is all a public ruse to throw Scream fans off the scent of a bombshell redirection. People are changed by tragedies, morphed by pain, and consumed by inescapable dread — what if Sidney gave in long ago and is finally ready to out herself as a Ghostface puppet master?

What if Sidney Prescott reveals herself as the newest Ghostface killer, hiding in plain sight all these years?

Or, better yet, what about Randy Meeks? The video store clerk with a horror movie obsession who writes the in-world rules for all Scream movies? The dorky creepo who doesn’t get the girl, carries himself as an obvious red herring, and is everyone’s easiest culprit until Billy and Stu confess.

This one is way harder because we see Randy’s body covered in blood after he’s stabbed in the news van in Scream 2. That said, we’re at the sixth film in a horror franchise, and the Meeks-Martin connection would give a generational tie-in for Randy to reappear. Imagine Mindy and Chad’s faces when Uncle Randy reveals himself as the mastermind behind every Scream massacre, using his patented rules as a killer’s guidebook instead of as survival tips. The trophy room stinks of superfan over-commitment, which is Randy’s entire persona. Kevin Williamson even admits he regrets killing Randy in Scream 2 — what if Scream 6 is Radio Silence’s chance to correct Williamson’s mistake? How better than to reveal Randy as the killer we all presumed he could become, thick with irony as Scream subverts itself by doing what we all thought entire decades ago.

Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood or Scream: Out of the Woodsboro

Leprechaun went to space in only his third sequel, so accepting the Leprechaun series as a standard horror franchise template is lunacy. By movie six, Leprechaun’s on his second stint in the “hood” — the early 2000s were wild times. It’s essentially a sequel to Leprechaun in the Hood without care taken to honor past entries, playing outside older franchise lines with low-riders and bongwater gags. It’s a (second) Leprechaun movie beyond the original’s demographic, once planned as a tropical spring break slasher until Lions Gate told writer and director Steven Ayromlooi to swap the location and match Leprechaun in the Hood.

So what would the Scream 6 equivalent reflect? Well, with 2000s effects that barely match early ’90s sheens, a lot worse than Radio Silence are about to deliver.

On a real note, Scream 6 already mimics the venture from more suburban environments (Woodsboro, Windsor College, California hills) to bustling New York City streets — but would have to scrap continuity in a way that’s starting over. That’s not Ghostface because everything always ties back to Woodsboro and the survivors. Ghostface would have to select a brand new group of victims and start indulging his New York City surroundings, like how Leprechaun smokes party weed and goofily locks himself in a refrigerator trying to satiate his munchies cravings. 

Let’s inject the Scream franchise with some inane comedy… in the big city.

That said? Should Ghostface take a few pages from Leprechaun’s sixth foray into violent gold coin collections, Scream 6 would depict college raves where Ghostface gets hammered alongside dimwit co-eds, commits themed New York City slasher deaths, and maybe a cop gets his leg ripped off for good measure. It’s the more horror-comedy version of Scream that favors comedy way more than horror — something like how Bride of Chucky forever swung the Child’s Play franchise.

But what do you guys think Scream 6 should pull from other horror franchises? Let’s discuss in the comments!