A big part of what makes 2022’s Scream relaunch so satisfying is that it embraces the ways the horror genre and its fandom have changed since the franchise began in the 1990s. The movie itself skewers the tropes of “requels” (aka legacy sequels) as well as shining a light on toxic fandom, with it ultimately revealed that the new Ghostface killers are a pair of rabid Redditors.
It turns out that one of the film’s killers created an anonymous Reddit account while making the film in order to get into their character’s headspace. Directors Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin recently took part in a Reddit AMA in which a user called StabHead asked them: “Did any of the actors go above and beyond to prepare for their roles?” Here’s what the filmmakers replied:
“We were meeting with Jack to talk about his character and he told us that he had created a Reddit account under the name StabHead to… wait a minute… WE LOVE YOU JACK QUAID!!!”
Yes, the question itself comes from Jack Quaid, who it seems decided to jump back on to his Reddit account to mess with the directors during their AMA. In Scream, Quaid plays Richie, who it turns out is an obsessive fanboy of the Stab film series (the in-universe movies based on the Woodsboro killings) and has orchestrated this new murder spree in the hopes of inspiring the perfect new entry in the franchise.
If you take a look at StabHead’s previous activity, which dates back to over a year ago, back when Scream was filming, you can see that his posts echo Richie’s opinions. He’s shared threads about horror movie dos-and-don’ts, for one, and he once posted about how “The Last Jedi RUINED Star Wars,” referencing the nods to the divisive sci-fi flick in the new Scream.
Given all the fervor from horror fans to find out as much as they could about the film before it came out, it’s ironic that the “real” Ghostface killer was hiding among them, basically telling them everything they needed to know. Quaid’s Reddit antics are the perfect meta gag to accompany Scream 2022.