This article contains spoilers for Scream VI.
Audiences are flocking to theaters to be spooked by Ghostface in the latest slasher installment Scream VI, and one of the most anticipated moments in the experience as a whole is anticipating the epic opening scene. Who will be on the receiving end of the masked slasher’s first attack, and what will the backdrop of it be?
Each film opens with something unique, sans Scream (2022), which paid homage to the original movie, and Scream VI was no different. In an already nerve-wracking situation — are blind dates ever comfortable? — we see our first victim, Laura, trying to connect with her would-be beau. When he can’t find the restaurant, she goes into helper mode while laughing about her job — a film professor with a particular interest in horror.
There’s something ironic happening, and the audience sees it before Laura does — she’s walking right into a horror trope; the worst part is that, as she should realize, she’s writing it off in the name of love.
Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the opening scene and how not just the kill but what happens next is a shocking moment for the franchise and its fans.
“Obviously, it was the first thing we read when we read the script. There is a standard that’s been set by these movies that the opening, as its own little contained short film, has to achieve something really specific, and set the tone for the rest of the movie, and also has to live up to what exists as the openings in the lineage of this franchise. This one for us was the most surprising and shocking.”
The opening scene in each installment of the Scream franchise is, as we said above, something fans look forward to; trying to figure out if they’ll be able to discover the plot before sitting down in theaters, wondering what character will go down in slasher history and how. In Scream VI, the first kill was something out of the ordinary and very well played.
“It just felt like, oh, we are going to take some chances with this, and if the audience is onboard, then they are going to be on board for the rest of the movie. At the end of the day, I think that’s the goal of the opening. How far can you push it? How far can you push the guard rails and hopefully set up a wild set of expectations for the audience with the movie moving forwards.”
Of course, losing Weaving so early was a bummer for fans who adore her in horror roles, but her impact on the franchise can’t be understated. She was the first kill — she was the embodiment of the scene we all look forward to the most. Gillett says working with her was something they’d been looking forward to and that she’d be incredible in the role of Laura.
Another iconic moment in the opening scene? Ghostface unmasks himself — that’s right, it’s not a mask pulled off by the victim in a moment of desperation or a big reveal at the end; it’s not even 10 minutes into the film that the killer reveals himself, but there’s another twist right around the corner.
Bettinelli-Olpin says it was a nostalgic feeling, as well, having her join the film, and it was something special for Weaving, too. Not just because she was partnering with old friends but because of the way she got to breathe life into the character.
“We love her so much, it was so lovely to have her come and hang out; it was like old times. One of my favorite things is that she asked, “Do you guys mind if I use the Australian accent?” We’re like, no, that would be great. We were talking to her at some point while we were shooting, and she said that this character is the closest she’s ever played to herself, where it’s kind of dorky and nerdy. She brought so much because she’s only in the movie for five minutes, and she has to do so much in those five minutes; you have to fall in love with her. You have to get scared when she goes into the alley. It takes like a real f—ing pro like Samara to be able to do that.”
We did get scared as she walked into the alley, and we’d be doing a disservice if we didn’t tell you that people in our theater were talking out loud, urging her not to walk down that dark place. Of course, Laura couldn’t hear us, but if she could have, she’d have been well warned.
You can see Scream VI (again) in theaters now, and we don’t have to tell you all that it’s a can’t-miss.