Ghostface (Scream)

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Scream character
Ghostface
Location	Woodsboro
Weapon of Choice:	Hunting Knife
Enemies	Sidney Prescott and her friends and family.

Ghostface is the name of a fictional character and the main antagonist in the Scream trilogy. There have been five people to assume his mantle so far (from Scream, Scream 2 and Scream 3). A serial killer, he (or she) often dresses up as a variation of a ghost, or the Grim Reaper (The name given to his costume in the film is 'Father Death'). He is voiced by Roger L. Jackson.

Ghostface, also known as the Woodsboro killer, named after the town where he commits his killings, is named after the rubber mask under which he hides his face, a mask inspired by the Edward Munch painting (The Scream).

Ghostface often calls his victims on the phone, taunting or threatening them before stabbing them to death with an 8 inch hunting knife. Even though he is usually known for asking his victims horror film trivia while stalking them he only had done this four times in the Scream Series. (Casey in Scream, Call to Sidney in Scream, Randy's call in Scream 2 and Sarah's call in Scream 3)

In the first film, the killer was in fact two people; Billy Loomis and Stu Macher. Billy had raped and murdered Sidney Prescott's mother prior to the film because she had slept with his father, prompting Billy's parents to divorce. They then proceeded to try to murder Sidney and most of her friends as revenge.

In the second film, the person behind the killing turned out to be Billy's mother, Mrs. Loomis, who wanted revenge for the death of her son. She recruited a psychopath named Mickey to do the actual killing while he posed as Sidney's friend.

In the final film, the killer was Sidney's half-brother, Roman Bridger. Upon being reunited with his mother, he was promptly rejected. Enraged, he manipulated Billy Loomis into becoming Ghostface and told him that she was having an affair with Loomis' father. Thus, he orchestrated the events from all three films.

[edit] Parody

Ghostface from 'Scary Movie.

In the films Scary Movie and Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth, there is a killer based on the Ghostface character. In Scary Movie, a gimmick is that his mask can change facial expressions. In a direct parody of his inspiration, he calls his victims on the phone, but often with nonsensical phrases. One particular encounter leads to a variation of the "Whassup?" commercials from Budweiser. He also likes to rap and get stoned. In the climax of the film, the killer was revealed to be both Bobby Prinze and Ray Wilkins. However, it turns out they wanted to be copycat killers of a killer that already existed. The real killer was Doofy Gilmore, a policeman who had been faking mental retardation.

In Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth, the killer's mask is not originally that of Ghostface, but begins as a hockey mask. After being set on fire, it melted to resemble Ghostface. In this film, unlike the Scream version of Ghostface, he constantly fails to kill anyone; the various kills are accidental. In the climax of the film, the killer turns out to be Doughy's long lost twin cousin. He is shot by Hagatha. He later attempts to escape, after waking up in a mockery of the usual horror shock endings, only to be shot many times by Doughy and beaten up by a mob. At the end of the film, it turns out that another has taken up the guise of Ghostface (and is apparently more improved).

The Ghostface character appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "That Hurts Me." as one of the contestants in a show that parodies "Big Brother". He portrays the token black character so often seen in reality shows.