Call Back / Scream (2022)

• Scream (1996):
  • Many of the new characters are related to characters from the original. Chad and Mindy are the nephew and niece of Randy, Vince is the nephew of Stu, and Sam is Billy's illegitimate daughter.
    • Liv has the same last name as Casey Becker's neighbors and may be a child or grandchild of that family.
  • Sam and Tara's mother is away on a business trip, just like Neil Prescott was (supposed to be).
  • Ghostface plays a game of slasher trivia with Tara, mimicking the one with Casey. Like Casey, Tara gets tripped up by the question asking for the slasher villain's identity, and only gets it half-right.
  • The opening attack is a clear call-back to the original film, as invoked in both the official trailer and the film itself. It begins with Ghostface calling Tara under the pretense of asking for someone else, and it initially starts off awkward and harmless until it gets threatening. Ghostface even tells Tara that this scene is reminiscent of the first Stab movie, itself a shot-by-shot remake of the first Scream film. The core difference here is that, while Casey Becker dies in that scene, Tara herself survives. There is also no second victim à la Steve Orth.
  • Tori Spelling and David Schwimmer are listed on IMDB as the actors who played Sidney and Dewey, respectively, in Stab.
  • Gale mentions that her book about Maureen Prescott's murder was the catalyst for every murder in the series.
  • When Vince is being killed, "Red Right Hand" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds is played. This song was used in all of the first three films.
  • During the hospital sequence, Tara hits Richie in the head with the corded phone, to which he says "You hit me with the phone!" This is a direct callback to Stu’s infamous line "You hit me with the phone, dick!" It also foreshadows that Richie is one of the killers.
  • Speaking of foreshadowing, Richie catches himself having said "I'll be right back" after deciding to go for beer in the basement. Randy's recitation of the rules in the first film culminated with never, ever, saying "I'll be right back," at which point Stu declared his intent to get a beer, asking Randy if he wanted one, and when Randy agreed, ominously stating, "I'll be right back!" For bonus points, Randy's retort was "I'll see you in the kitchen with a knife," and while Randy wasn't present, Stu later was, indeed, in the kitchen with a knife. In both cases, the person saying "I'll be right back" was justifiably confident that they would be back, because they were on the killer team.
  • Mindy is watching a scene in Stab where the Randy character is almost knifed by Ghostface while he is shouting instructions to Jamie Lee Curtis to turn around. The killer comes into the room as Mindy does the same thing, though unlike her uncle, she realizes that the killer is there moments before they strike.
  • The guns that Sidney and Gale use at the climax are updated variants of the Beretta 92FS, the same type of gun that was used at the climax of the original movie.
  • The fact that the Understanding Boyfriend of the protagonist is one of the killers, like Billy Loomis. Dewey and Richie himself lampshade how the love interest is always a suspect.
  • After being revealed as Ghostface, Richie pulls out a voice changer and speaks through it just like Billy and Stu did.
  • Tara is tied up in a closet like Neil Prescott was, and the killers intend to frame someone just like Billy and Stu.
  • The finale takes place in the (former) Macher home, specifically the kitchen, after a large party. Indeed, the new Ghostface invoked this trope as part of his requel plan.
  • Richie acts much like Billy did in the kitchen scene. He yells "Why!" at Sidney when explaining his motive. Similarly, when Sam screams "Fuck you!" at him, he points out that Sam is just quoting Sidney from the original movie.
  • The killer Amber reveals themself as Ghostface by shooting Liv, similar to how Billy revealed himself by shooting Randy.
  • Sam falls down the steps of the Macher house the same way that Billy did.
  • Amber panics upon realizing that Tara is gone in a manner nearly identical to how Stu panicked when he realized that Sidney was gone.
  • Sam reaches for an umbrella when Richie is about to kill her, like how Sidney stabbed Billy with an umbrella when she popped out of the closet.
  • Sidney reminds Sam that the killer always comes back, the same rule that Randy told her when Billy was Not Quite Dead.
  • After stabbing Richie, Sam cleans the blood off the hunting knife the same way Stu did after “stabbing” Billy. The closeup on the knife in Sam's hand as she prepares to stab Richie also evokes the closeup on the knife in Ghostface's hand as he stabs Casey in the opening scene.
  • Mindy and Chad being wheeled out on stretchers to reveal that they're Not Quite Dead, with Chad even giving a thumbs-up, recalls Dewey's similar survival.
  • The film ends like how the first one ends: a news report of the previous night’s events as the survivors are taken to the hospital.

• Scream 2:
  • Liv is accused of being the killer after she comes back into the house with Chad's blood on her hands after trying to help him. This is similar to when Cotton was assumed by Gale to be the killer when Cotton tried to help Dewey and got Dewey’s blood on his hands. In both cases, they were innocent.
  • The first phone call Sam receives from the killer is similar to the first call Sidney gets from the killer in this film: both goad the killer into attacking them to prove they aren’t cowards, and they do so by revealing they were behind a door the entire time. Ghostface even says "with pleasure!" in person when Sam tells them to "come and get me", just as they did to Sidney.
  • Sidney's outfit in the finale, a black shirt and leather jacket, resembles her outfit in this film.
  • Gale and Sidney point out that the killer "always come back". Sam shoots (the probably already dead) Richie three times to make sure he is dead. Then Amber comes back to life to kill them, only for Tara to shoot her dead. Essentially, it is a slight variation of that film’s climax, with Richie filling the role of Mrs. Loomis and Amber playing the role of Mickey.
  • Sam and Tara decide to leave town after the death of a major character (Dewey), just like Joel left town after the death of a major character from this film (Randy). Unlike Joel, however, Sam and Tara never do make it out of town.
  • When Amber begs for mercy, Sidney sarcastically asks if the movies made her do it, which was Mickey's proposed defense for his trial.

• Scream 3:
  • One of the promotional videos for the film is titled "Scream: Return to Woodsboro". Return to Woodsboro was the subtitle of the in-universe Stab 3 in Scream 3.
  • On her talk show, Gale jokes about never wanting to have bangs in her hair again, referring to her famously polarizing hairstyle from this film.
  • Jennifer Jolie is listed on IMDB as the actress for Gale Weathers in Stab.
  • Martha Meeks returns, and Mark Kincaid gets a name mention as being Sidney's husband.
  • Sam being the long-lost relative of a major character (in this case, Billy Loomis' daughter) is similar to the reveal that Roman Bridger was Sidney's half-brother. This revelation also makes Sam and Tara half-siblings, just like Sidney and Roman.
  • Just like Roman, the killer wears a Bulletproof Vest.
  • Judy races home to save Wes from Ghostface when he's in the shower, just like Cotton did trying to save his wife Christine.
  • Chad grabs a candlestick for protection before stepping outside to find Liv, the same weapon Sidney used against Roman in the finale of this film.

• Scream 4:
  • In the opening, Tara gets stabbed directly through the hand in a manner identical to how Olivia was stabbed here.
  • Sam states that the last Ghostface murder spree took place a decade ago in 2011 and that said copycat killer was looking to become famous.
  • When calling Tara the first time, Ghostface goes by "Charlie", the name of one of the killers from this film.
  • Judy's note on her fridge says that her "lemon squares" are in there for Wes—which she also tried to give to Dewey in the film before.
  • Judy is stabbed in the stomach by Ghostface as she runs towards the front door of her house, just like what happened to Sidney in this film’s killer reveal, at Kirby’s house. Sidney survived, but Judy does not.
  • Richie comments on Stab 5 as being the installment where the franchise went off the rails. Jenny from the previous film derides Stab 5 as being the “worst” because of its use of time travel.
  • Tara is attacked while recovering from her injuries at the hospital, similar to Sidney in the fourth film’s finale.
  • Chad is stabbed several times and left to bleed out, like Kirby. Both survived.
  • Charlie and Robbie mention in this film that the surefire way to survive a horror film is to be gay. Sure enough, the openly queer Mindy survives this time around.
  • Amber’s Wham Line "Welcome to act three" is reminiscent of Jill's line "Ready for act three?"
  • Charlie says "it’s an honor" when introducing Sidney to Woodsboro High’s film club. Similarly, Amber says "it’s an honor" when killing Dewey.
  • One of the contacts on Dewey's phone is Mr. Morris, who could possibly be a relative of Olivia Morris.
  • Sam tells Ghostface "this isn't a fucking movie", to which Ghostface replies "it will be." Sidney and Ghostface had the same conversation after Olivia's death.
  • Sam makes a new rule to "never fuck with the daughter of a serial killer" which is similar to Sidney's quote "Don't fuck with the original".

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