The ‘Movie within a Movie’Stabseries has become a massive part ofScream, as they are vital to the meta commentary that exists in the franchise.EightStab movies in totalhave been released during theScreamtimeline. The first one premiered in theaters during the events ofScream 2, and depicts the ‘real life’ events in Woodsboro, California during the first movie. TheStabmovieswill likely be mentioned in the upcomingScream 7,but it remains unclear how much the sequel will lean on them for its horror commentary.
A mixture of real life actors and fictional characters play the characters fromScreamin theStabmovies. The first movie was directed by Robert Rodriguez (with footage actually shot by the real director, Wes Craven). Tori Spelling playsSidney Prescott, Luke Wilson stars as Billy Loomis, and Heather Graham appears as Casey Becker in the opening sequence that plays in theaters during the opening scenes ofScream 2.
What Is the Stab Franchise?
In theScreamuniverse,the horror movie franchise known asStabis based on the Ghostface killings.It originated fromGale Weathers’ book,The Woodsboro Murders, which tells the story of the events in Woodsboro, California in 1996. Gale’s book was adapted into the firstStabmovie,and it spawned seven sequels. As the series progressed, the lines between fiction and reality blurred.
What Role Do the Stab Movies Play in the Scream Sequels?
Scream 2
Theopening killsofScream 2take place at the premiere ofStabin theaters. Audiences see a showing attended by Windsor College students Maureen Evans (Jada Pinkett) and Phil Stevens (Omar Epps).A copycat Ghostface killer is using the release of theStabmovie, based on the tragic events in Woodsboro, California, to re-traumatize Sidney Prescott.This new villain intends target her and her friends in a new killing spree.
During Maureen Evans' death,Casey Becker’s murder from the opening ofScreamplays out onscreen inStab,with Casey played by Heather Graham. It is later revealed during an interview on the television that Dewey and Randy are watching, that Tori Spelling plays Sidney Prescott inStab, in a follow-up to a premonition the final girl had in the originalScreammovie.
With my luck, they’d cast Tori Spelling.
Scream 3
Stab 3: Return to Woodsborois in production during the events ofScream 3.The director, Roman Bridger, is revealed to be the Ghostface killer andMaureen Prescott’s long-lost son, and Sidney’s half brother. Dewey Riley works as a consultant onStab 3, and coaches Tom Prinze (who is playing Dewey in the movie) and Jennifer Jolie (playing Gale Weathers) before they are brutally killed. Ghostface kills the cast of the sequel in the order they die in the movie, until Sidney, Dewey, and Gale bring him down at the end.
Scream 3is the mostStab-oriented entry in the series, with much of the movie taking place on the set of the fictional sequel.The movie ends up being shut down, but it is revealed at a later date thatStab 3: Hollywood Horrorrose in its place, based on the killings inScream 3.
Scream 4
Eleven years have passed since the cursed production ofStab 3: Return To Woodsboro, butfour more sequels have been made in the intervening years.Sidney Prescott’s story is no longer the focus, with no ‘real life’ murders to draw inspiration from. The opening kill victims ofScream 4, Jenny and Marnie, discuss theStabsequels, and reveal that one sequel even focused on time travel.
The murders do start up again inScream 4.The teenagers of Woodsboro are less than sensitive towards the murderous events, as they still attend the annual ‘Stab-a-thon’ at a deserted barn. There, they watch all theStabmovies in order, and play drinking games.
Scream (2022)
TheStabfranchise, (not unlike theScreamfranchise itself), has slowed down its output since the events ofScream 4.There has only been one more movie released, whenScream(2022) starts up. It’s simply calledStab, (instead ofStab 8).Ghostface returns in a requel movie, to reboot the franchise for the next generation of fans.(This was a meta joke, as that was exactly whatScream 2022was doing as well.)
Rian Johnson directedStabin the Scream universe. He moved away from what the legacy fans enjoyed about the series, (just like fans claim the real Rian Johnson did withStar Wars: The Last Jedi) and opted for a true crime vibe as he told the story of the 2011 Woodsboro murders. But the requel movie took major creative license with the true story, and even featured a flame throwing Ghostface killer. This irked many in-universe fans, including the Ghostface killers in 2022, Richie Kirsch and Amber Freeman. They are hell-bent on creating their own murder spree to inspire a brand-newStabmovie that doesn’t, in Richie’s words, ‘suck balls,’ as he challenges the toxic fandom he is branded as being part of.
Scream 6
Scream 6has the fewest references to theStabfranchise out of all the sequels, as the series appears to move away from the fictional horror franchise. When the killings start up again in New York City, there hasn’t been anotherStabmovie based on the events of the Woodsboro requel murders in 2022. However,Gale Weathers has written another book about the latest killing spree (despite saying she wouldn’t).But as Tara points out, they were unable to sell the movie rights, which possibly spells the end of the Stab franchise.
