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17 iconic Scream easter eggs and references we bet you missed in Scream 5
18 January 2022, 11:41
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The new Scream is filled with nods to the first four Scream films. How many did you spot?
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The wait is over. 11 years after Scream 4 came out, Scream is back and the new movie is already the must-see film of 2022.
Scream, aka Scream 5, is giving Scream fans everything they want. Not only does the movie bring back horror icons Sidney (Neve Campbell), Gale (Courteney Cox) and Dewey (David Arquette) but it also introduces us to a brand new cast of Scream worthy characters. The film focuses on a new group of Woodsboro teens who are terrorised by a new Ghostface killer.
READ MORE: Will there be a Scream 6? Here’s what Neve Campbell has said
This wouldn't be Scream without easter eggs though. With that in mind, here are 17 iconic references in the new movie.
WARNING: SCREAM 5 SPOILERS BELOW
1) Tara plays with knives just like Casey in Scream.
The opening scene in Scream 5 mirrors the opening scene in the original Scream. Not only does Tara answer the phone to a stranger, just like Casey, but that stranger is Ghostface. Ghostface then begins to quiz Tara on scary movies and threatens to kill someone close to her, just like with Casey in the 1996 film.
The biggest nod, however, has to be Tara playing with knives during the call just like Drew Barrymore's iconic character did.
2) We find out who else was in the Stab cast.
The main difference between the opening Scream scenes is that there's now a whole new set of horror movies to reference. For example, Casey's favourite scary movie was Halloween and Tara's is The Babadook. On top of that, there are also the fictional Stab films that exist within the Scream universe and Ghostface quizzes Tara on all things Stab.
To answer one of Ghostface's questions, Tara opens Stab's IMDb page and we see the full Stab cast list. We already find out in Scream 2 that Sidney is played by Tori Spelling and Billy Loomis is played by Luke Wilson but we now know that Craig Bierko played Cotton, Vince Vaughn played Stu and Clueless legend Alicia Silverstone played Tatum.
Meanwhile, we learn that Randy is played by an unknown actor, just as he said right back in Scream 2: "They get Tori Spelling to play Sid, and they cast Joe Blow Nobody to play me. At least [Dewey] gets David Schwimmer."
3) Sam Carpenter's name is a nod to Halloween and Psycho.
Sam Carpenter's name is no coincidence. Her surname is a reference to John Carpenter who directed Halloween. Given that Sam's real dad is Billy Loomis, her name could also be Sam Loomis. Sam Loomis happens to be the name of a main character in Halloween, which Scream is inspired by, and Psycho, which Halloween is inspired by.
4) Sam's visions reference one of Billy's quotes.
Throughout Scream 5, Sam has visions of her dead father. This harks back to something which Billy Loomis says in the first film. Sidney says she is haunted by the murder of her mother and Billy adds: "It’s like Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs when she keeps having flashbacks of her dead father."
Now, Sam is like Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs and Billy is her dead father.
5) The Dawson's Creek cameo has some familiar faces.
When Tara is in hospital, she can be seen watching Dawson's Creek. This is a nod to the fact that the writer behind the first Scream, Kevin Williamson, created Dawson's Creek. On top of that, Scream 3 icon Scott Foley and Scream 2 star Joshua Jackson appear in the Dawson's Creek clip included in the film.
6) 'Red Right Hand' is back.
'Red Right Hand' by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds plays an important role in the first three Scream films but fans were sad to see it missing from the fourth. The song makes a triumphant return in Scream 5 though. Vince hears it playing on a car stereo before he is stabbed to death by Ghostface.
8) Dewey's photos are David Arquette's actual photos.
David Arquette (Dewey) used to be married to Courteney Cox (Gale) in real-life. When we see old photos of Dewey and Gale together in Dewey's trailer, the pictures are actual photos that David and Courteney took together before they got divorced. David provided the photos himself.
9) Tatum makes an appearance.
Tatum is one of the original Scream's most beloved characters and Scream 5 keeps her memory alive. In Dewey's home, you can see that he's kept his sister's ashes.
10) Gale references her iconic bangs.
In the scene in Dewey's trailer, he is watching Gale's morning show and she actually introduces a segment on bangs. Of course, this is a reference to her essay-worthy short bangs from Scream 3 that fans still talk about to this day.
Courteney Cox explains why her Scream 3 bangs were so short
11) Sidney's husband is a familiar face.
We never see Sidney's husband in Scream 5 but we do learn that he's called Mark. Given that the only other Mark in the Scream franchise is Detective Mark Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey) from Scream 3, it seems likely that Sidney and Mark are together now. Our hearts!
Neve has actually confirmed that it's Kincaid in an interview with Screen Rant. She said: "Yeah. Someone just told me that yesterday. I didn't realise it when I was saying it. You know what's so funny is I played Patrick's sister in Grey's Anatomy after, so kind of weird."
12) Wes is named after Wes Craven.
This one is obvious. Wes Craven directed the original four Scream films before he passed away so naming a character after him is a touching tribute. But what you might have missed is that the characters literally hold a Wes Memorial Party at the end of the movie and it acts as a metaphor for the film. There's also a "For Wes" banner at the party.
Essentially, Scream 5 is literally a Wes Craven Memorial Party. The entire film is a celebration of his life and career.
13) Judy's lemon squares are back.
Any Scream 4 fan knows that Judy's lemon squares are iconic. She repeatedly bakes them for Dewey and Gale, who tell her that they "taste like ass". Fast forward to Scream 5 and you can spot that Judy leaves a note for Wes in the kitchen that says "lemon squares in the fridge", shortly before both characters are brutally stabbed to death.
14) Kirby is alive.
Fans have long wondered if Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) made it out of Scream 4 alive and we now know that she actually did. In one Scream 5 scene, Richie can be seen watching a video about the new Stab film and the next recommended video is "Interview with survivor Kirby Reed".
Eagle-eyed fans have also spotted that Kirby is saved as a contact in Dewey's phone.
15) Rian Johnson is the director of Stab.
Rian Johnson being the director of Stab 8 is no coincidence. Throughout Scream 5, we learn that Stab 8 is widely ridiculed and hated by fans for not staying true to the original Stab films. In real-life, Rian was accused by fans of 'ruining' the Star Wars films with his direction of Stars Wars: The Last Jedi.
16) Sam wipes her knife just like Ghostface.
At the end of the film, Sam stabs Richie to death with a vision of her father Billy looking on with pride. She then wipes the blood off of her knife to finish and fans have spotted that it's eerily similar to how Ghostface finishes their kills.
17) The final shot is the same as the original.
Just like Scream, Scream 5 ends with the camera panning out on Stu's house after the chaos and bloodshed of what just happened inside it.
READ MORE: Is Scream on Netflix? Where to watch all of the movies online
