Shout Out / Scream

As a postmodern meta series, Scream is absolutely laden with pop culture references, particularly horror ones.

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In general

• There are a lot of references to Halloween. Writer Kevin Williamson is a big fan of the series, and admitted that he created the first film mainly as a love letter to it.
  • Billy Loomis is named after Doctor Loomis (who in turn was named after Sam Loomis from Psycho).
  • The first question posed by Ghostface to Casey is the name of the villain of Halloween. She earlier said that it's her favorite scary movie.
  • When Mr. Becker arrives to the house in the opening of the first film, he tells his wife to call the McKenzies from next door. In Halloween, Laurie Strode tells Lindsey Wallace and Tommy Doyle to go to the McKenzies' while she faces off against Michael.
  • The use of Gus Black’s cover of “Don’t Fear the Reaper” is likely a reference to the use of the song in the 1978 film.
  • The teens watch the 1978 film during the party at Stu Macher's house. Randy is too distracted commenting on Jamie to look around in a gripping moment, not realizing that Ghostface is sneaking up behind him. Later, the film is shown reaching the part where Laurie struggles against Michael in the closet when Sidney throws the TV screen on Stu, killing him.
  • In the climax of Scream 4, Jill mocks Sidney's Plot Armor by comparing her to Michael Myers.
  • Sam and Tara Carpenter's last name references John Carpenter, director of the 1978 film.
  • Sam is revealed to be Billy Loomis' biological daughter. This means that, if she were legitimate, her name would have been Sam Loomis (which, of course, doubles as another reference to Psycho).
  • Liv McKenzie from Scream 5 is named after the aforementioned McKenzies.
  • Chad refers to Vince as "uglier Michael Myers".
• To A Nightmare on Elm Street:
  • Casey guesses that it's Ghostface's favorite scary movie. "Well, the first one was [scary], but the rest sucked."
  • Billy enters Sidney's room through the second floor window, much like Glen does with Nancy's.
  • Wes Craven, the director, cameos as a Woodsboro High janitor, dressed in an unburned version of Freddy Krueger's Iconic Outfit. He is addressed by the principal as "Fred".
  • In the fifth film, as Sam is returning to Woodsboro, an establishing shot prominently displays a street corner sign for Elm St. (which is also mentioned to have been Sidney’s address by Tara).
• To Psycho:
  • Right before The Reveal, Billy quotes a line from the film:
    Billy: We all go a little mad sometimes. [Shoots Randy.] Anthony Perkins, Psycho.
  • In the third film, Sarah Darling complains that a shower kill has been done, though she names the wrong movie (Vertigo instead of Psycho).
  • In the fourth film, the cop played by Anthony Anderson is named Anthony Perkins.
  • In the fifth film, Ghostface menaces Wes while he is taking a shower. Ghostface even directly lampshades the situation to a panicking Judy, who races home to try and save him.
• To When a Stranger Calls:
  • In the DVD Commentary for the first movie, Kevin Williamson credits the opening of When a Stranger Calls as inspiration for the similarly shocking opening of Scream.
  • Like the titular Stranger, Ghostface makes plenty of Harassing Phone Calls to toy with his victims.
  • The fourth movie, which satirizes horror remakes, contains multiple allusions to the 2006 remake of When a Stranger Calls:
    • Jill Roberts is very similar to the remake version of Jill Johnson as noted by their matching first names. Like Johnson, Roberts is a high schooler who just broke up with her boyfriend for cheating on her and receives threatening phone calls from a serial killer.
    • The false ending twist is similar in that the police rescue Jill before transferring her to the hospital where the real ending takes place.

Scream (1996)

• Legendarily, the twist about the Big Bad of the original Friday the 13th is a plot point in the opening.
• Billy Loomis shares his first name with Billy, the antagonist of Black Christmas. Like the Billy from Black Christmas, Loomis torments his victims with threatening phone calls before attacking.
• Billy mentions that The Exorcist was on TV when he left home to see Sidney.
• Tatum mentions Basic Instinct when she insinuates that the killer could have been female.
• Before Sidney is attacked by Ghostface, she calls Tatum, who is about to borrow a video of All the Right Moves because of its Freeze-Frame Bonus of Tom Cruise's penis.
• The murdered school principal is played by Henry Winkler, better known as Fonzie in Happy Days. As he goes into his office, the Fonz's leather jacket can be seen hanging up on the back of the door.
• Sidney asks Stu whether he's seen Billy after he is released from the investigation. For bonus points, Stu is looking into the mirror while replying to Sidney.
  Stu: Oh, you mean after you branded him the Candyman? No, his heart's broken.
• One of the customers at the video store asks Randy about the werewolf movie with E.T.'s mom in it.
• Randy criticizes the cops for letting Billy go free by saying that it's the Prom Night situation revisited, and if they watched it, they would find the suspect more quickly.
• Sidney compares Woodsboro's situation after the murders to The Town That Dreaded Sundown.
• Billy uses corn syrup to fake his death, and mentions that it was also used for Carrie.
• Evil Dead, Hellraiser, The Fog, Terror Train, and Prom Night are all mentioned at the party as options for movies to watch.
• The teens watch Halloween to see Jamie Lee Curtis topless, but they are reminded that she didn't do it until Trading Places.
• When Sidney hesitates before her first time with Billy, they namedrop The Bad Seed and The Silence of the Lambs. Earlier, Billy calls Sidney "Jodie Foster," presumably from her role in Lambs.
• Billy's Motive Rant includes additional references to Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, and Basic Instinct.
• Stu's "What do we have behind door number three, Sidney?" is a classic reference to Let's Make a Deal.
• Stu says "Houston, we have a problem" when he realizes his gun has been taken by Gale.
• When Sidney fights Stu at the end, he quips "I always had a thing for you, Sid."
• Randy calls Billy "Leatherface" after he spots Billy arriving to the party.
• During Tatum's death scene, she says to the killer, "What movie is this from? I Spit on Your Garage?" Additionally, the film Casper is referenced seconds later.
• “As if” is Stu’s response to Randy’s disappointment at Billy and Sidney’s reconciliation.
• Aside from Jodie Foster and Jamie Lee Curtis, actresses Alicia Silverstone, Tori Spelling, Meg Ryan, Sharon Stone, Dee Wallace, and Ricki Lake are also referenced at different points.

Scream 2

• At the film studies class scene where they discuss sequels that surpass the originals, Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, House II: The Second Story, and The Godfather Part II are mentioned. Mickey later adds The Empire Strikes Back.
• Joel complains that he was brought to Windsor College to do an interview, not Faces of Death 14.
• While distracting Ghostface, Randy mentions Showgirls, The House on Sorority Row, The Dorm That Dripped Blood, Splatter University, Graduation Day, and Final Exam.
• Sidney turned down interviews with Primetime Live, 20/20, and Dateline.
• While discussing the rules of the sequels, Randy mentions the possibilities of women being the killers, as Mrs. Voorhees is a terrific serial killer, and there's always room for Candyman's daughter. He also states that the guy is probably not the type to watch Nick at Nite reruns.
• In Stab (directed in-universe by Robert Rodriguez), Randy is played by a bit actor "who drove Jane Seymour stagecoach for one episode of Dr. Quinn." Meanwhile, Dewey is portrayed by David Schwimmer, Sidney is played by Tori Spelling (a Brick Joke from the first film), Billy is played by Luke Wilson, and Casey is portrayed by Heather Graham (both confirmed to be their actors in the fifth film).
• Randy refers to Mickey as a “freaky Tarantino film student,” while Cici thinks he has a hard-on for James Cameron.
• Apparently, nude photos of Jennifer Aniston leaked online with Gale’s head superimposed onto them.
• Randy being quickly dragged inside and killed in Joel’s van which goes unnoticed by passersby (even when pressed against the window) echoes a similar van kill in The Slumber Party Massacre.
• When trying to kill Sidney, Mickey mentions that she has a “Linda Hamilton thing” going on.

Scream 3

• Gale's gig at 60 Minutes II didn't go so well.
• The set for Stab 3 is apparently close to Seinfeld's.
• Sarah complains that her scene in the shower had been done before in Vertigo (while clearly trying to refer to Psycho).
• Detective Kincaid opines that the new Ghostface MO is very Hannibal Lecter and Se7en.
• Randy mentions Star Wars and The Godfather as film series that had an unexpected third installment. He also predicts that the film with an "Everybody Dies" Ending that might look like Reservoir Dogs.
• Bianca auditioned for Princess Leia, but she refused to sleep with George Lucas. Also doubles as a Casting Gag, since she is played by Carrie Fisher.
• When Roman plans to frame Sidney for the deaths, he says that she went mad ever since Milton killed her "Mommie Dearest."

Scream 4

• The two girls in Stab 6 discuss Saw IV.
• Olivia snarks that Sidney should have been in Final Destination instead of Stab.
• Kirby's "favorite horror movie" is Bambi.
• Trevor compares Jill being in the same house with Sidney to being in Top Chef with Jeffrey Dahmer.
• Kirby and Jill watch Shaun of the Dead just before Olivia gets killed.
• Rebecca books Sidney to appear in Today, The View, Nancy Grace, and MTV News.
• The Cinema Club has posters of The Hills Have Eyes, Feast, Wolf Creek, Dawn of the Dead, Halloween II, and The Thing (1982).
• The Cinema Club is "one rung below the Glee Club and two above Nintendo Wii Fit."
• Officer Hoss laments that it sucks to be a cop in horror movies, "unless you're Bruce Willis." Becomes a Brick Joke when he and Perkins are killed by Ghostface, as Perkins, while dying, says this:
  Perkins: Fuck Bruce Willis.
• Ghostface's game with Kirby has a lot of these:
  • Kirby is questioned about the weapons used by Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Leatherface, and Freddy Krueger.
  • She fails to answer the second question about the film that started the slasher craze. She answers Psycho amid films like Halloween, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Last House on the Left. The correct answer is Peeping Tom.
  • Among the remakes of classic horror films, Kirby mentions Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Dawn of the Dead, The Hills Have Eyes, The Amityville Horror, The Last House on the Left, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, My Bloody Valentine 3D, When a Stranger Calls, Prom Night, Black Christmas, House of Wax, The Fog, and Piranha 3D.
• There are a couple of shout-outs to Alfred Hitchcock:
  • The film's first (real) victim is named Marnie.
  • Olivia's death is a reference to a similar murder in Rear Window. Like Jefferies, Jill and Kirby witness a murder taking place in another house from their own house.
• The scenes with Jenny and Marnie are given a Color Wash to become saturated with blue and red, rather like Suspiria, which is name-dropped later as one of the movies Kirby owns.

Scream (2022)

• Tara cites The Babadook, It Follows, Hereditary, and The VVitch as examples of “elevated horror”. Jordan Peele is later referenced as an innovator in this Sub-Genre.
• A Freeze-Frame Bonus reveals the rest of the cast of the first Stab: Vince Vaughn as Stu Macher, Craig Bierko as Cotton Weary, Alicia Silverstone as Tatum Riley, and Ron Howard as Principal Himbry (a Casting Gag, as Howard was Winkler's Happy Days co-star).
• Examples of remakes/reboots referenced by Mindy include Black Christmas (2019), Flatliners, and Child's Play (2019).
• The eighth Stab movie is referred to as the one done by "the Knives Out guy", and changed up the typical Stab formula to include many new and unwelcome changes, a very obvious nod to Rian Johnson's controversial Star Wars film The Last Jedi.
• Mindy name-drops various franchises that have had “re-quels” in the past, such as Jurassic Park, Terminator, Halloween, Ghostbusters, and Star Wars.
• Sam has a dead parent talking in her head, just like Norman and Jason.
• Sam is surprised that Richie has never seen the Stab movies, to which he replies that he hasn't seen Gone with the Wind, but he doesn't consider it a huge hole in his cinematic knowledge.
• Chad calls his muscles “Hobbs & Shaw”.
• Richie refers to Dewey as “shitty Sam Elliott” when the latter accuses him of being a suspect.
• Tara at one point watches Dawson's Creek (created by Kevin Williamson, of course), more specifically the episode that parodies Scream and features Joshua Jackson and Scott Foley.
• Amber running towards Sidney, Gale, Sam and Tara armed with a knife and after being burned recalls her actress Mikey Madison's scene at the climax of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
• Chromeface from Stab 8 has similarities to Chromeskull from Laid to Rest.

Scream VI

• One of the movie's taglines ("in a city of millions, no one can hear you scream") is a reference to Alien.
• Many of the Halloween costumes of the people seen throughout the film are of various famous horror characters, including Grace from Ready or Not (also directed by Radio Silence and starring Samara Weaving, who plays the opening victim here), Jason Voorhees (appropriately enough), The Artist from Dead by Daylight, Freddy Krueger, Pinhead, The Babadook (previously referenced in V as Tara's favorite horror movie), the Creepy Twins from The Shining, and the Tethered.
• Non-horror costume shout-outs include Ziggy Stardust, Wednesday Addams (a nod to Jenna Ortega's portrayal in Wednesday), and Mojo Jojo, Roger L. Jackson's most well-known role outside of Ghostface.
• Ghostface's aged and worn mask bears no small resemblance to Michael Myers' mask in his own requel (and its subsequent sequels).
• Two characters are named Jason Carvey and Laura Crane. Given their respective statuses as a killer and his victim, it’s appropriate.
• An Ice Nine Kills poster is displayed prominently on the fridge in Jason's and Greg's apartment, as well as posters for the podcasts We Hate Movies and The Last Podcast on the Left.
• Jason watches Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan in his apartment. He also wants to take Manhattan in a similar way to Jason in that movie (as a killer) — but he's brutally murdered before he can. Jason's actual killing spree in Manhattan is short-lived and pretty much exclusively restricted to the alleyways, which just so happens to match the biggest complaint most people had against said Friday movie.
• Dr. Stone is watching Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) (specifically the "You're next!" ending) right before he is killed by Ghostface.
  • His TV also has a Dead Meat VHS next to it.
• Mindy, in her rules for franchises, starts listing main characters whose deaths didn't stop the franchise from continuing, including Tony Stark, James Bond, "and even Luke Skywalker!"
• While discussing their shared love of horror movies, Mindy and Kirby mutually state that the best Nightmare on Elm Street is the original, Psycho II is underrated, and between the original and "requel" versions of Candyman, the correct answer for which is better is "both". They only disagree on which Friday the 13th film is better: Mindy prefers Part 2, while Kirby prefers Final Chapter. When Kirby gives her reason as "crush on Corey Feldman," Mindy accepts this as valid.

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