Summary
Scream 7has experienced some major challenges in pre-production, with Melissa Barrera’s firing and Jenna Ortega’s departure, but things are looking more positive for the project as it prepares to start shooting later this year. Kevin Williamson is taking on directorial duties, and Neve Campbell is returning as Sidney Prescott.Scream 7must now avoid potential stumbling blocks in the story, especially if it plans to kill off a major character.It needs to learn from the mistakes made inHalloween Kills, if it wants to stick the landing.
David Gordon Green rebootedHalloweenin 2018, withHalloween KillsandHalloween Endsfollowing in 2021 and 2022 respectively. The creative team took a substantial risk inHalloween Killsby killing off Laurie Strode’s daughter, Karen (played by Judy Greer). This decision faced backlash from the fans due to the execution and nature of her death.IfScream 7plans to kill off Sidney Prescott’s family members, it has to be earned and mean something, otherwise it’ll just ruin the movie.
Halloween Kills
Starring
Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Anthony Michael Hall, Kyle Richards, Nancy Stephens and Charles Cyphers
Scott Teems, Danny McBride and David Gordon Green
Directed By
David Gordon Green
David Gordon Green’sHalloweenin 2018 successfully brought Laurie Strode back to fight Michael Myers once again, acting as a direct sequel to the 1978 classic, ignoring all theHalloweensequelsthat came after it. In this new version, Laurie had a daughter called Karen, and a granddaughter, Allyson.
The trio of final girls survived their first bout with The Shape, after burning down Laurie’s house, and supposedly killing Michael Myers. However, he somehow escaped the flames, and returned to hunt down his prey inHalloween Kills, with events taking place on the same night.
At the end ofHalloween Kills, Karen goes to the Myers house where she finds Allyson sitting on the front porch, and they hug, with the belief that the carnage had finally come to an end with Michael Myers supposedly dead. Karen then heads into the house to take in the brutal events. She walks into Judith Myers' old room and has a look around before heading towards the window and looking out.In the final scene ofHalloween Kills, Karen notices Michael Myers' reflection appearing behind her, and she turns around as he begins stabbing her repeatedly to death.
Many fans believed it was a step too far to kill off Laurie Strode’s daughter, after the character had been through so much torment over the years.It was a joyous moment to see Karen survive alongside Allyson and Laurie inHalloween 2018,and this happy ending was ripped apart inHalloween Kills. There was so much more to explore between Laurie and Karen, and it was ahuge mistake to kill off this character inHalloween Kills.
Kevin Williamson
Scream 7’s rumored Sidney storylooks set to shift the focus back onto the original final girl. Sidney’s husband, Mark Kincaid, is likely to return to the franchise, with the introduction of their teenage daughters into the story after a likely five-year time jump. The stakes will be much higher now that Sidney’s husband and offspring are under threat, andthere might be a temptation to emulate Karen’s death inHalloween Kills, and kill off one of the Sidney’s loved ones.
IfScream 7chooses to go down this route of killing one of Sidney’s family members, they must approach it differently toHalloween Kills.If one of Sidney’s family is to die at the hands ofGhostface inScream 7, it has to be earned and feel relevant to Sidney’s arc.The existence ofScream 7has already undone Sidney’s happy ending, so it poses the question: Hasn’t Sidney been through enough trauma already?
Before the events of the first Ghostface attacks inScream, Sidney had already suffered the loss of her mother,Maureen Prescott, after she was murdered. She has also lost close friends, including Tatum and Dewey Riley, and her boyfriend, Derek, inScream 2. There is a suggestion that killing off Mark Kincaid or their children could be one step too far. However, this is a slasher franchise and people die frequently, so it’s more than likely Sidney will lose one of her loved ones inScream 7. Mark Kincaid would probably be the likeliest to die, echoing Dewey’smajor death inScream (2022), leaving Sidney and her teenage daughters to avenge his death.
Scream 7needs to strike a balance betweenScream 6’s penchant for keeping a lot of characters alive, andHalloween Kills' absolute brutality and disregard for killing important characters, like Karen. Sidney’s teenage daughters could be the future of the franchise, and it might be a good idea to keep them alive. It might even make more sense tokill Sidney off inScream 7, as a sacrifice for her children, rather than put the final girl through the torment of losing more of her family to Ghostface’s knife.
