Scream 6’s trailer shows Ghostface using a shotgun, but despite the consternation this has inspired, there is plenty of precedent for it.
The backlash to Ghostface using a shotgun in the trailer for Scream 6 does not make a lot of sense. Since the Scream franchise first began in 1996, many people have donned the mask of Ghostface to terrorize the people of Woodsboro. Following the success of Scream 2022, Ghostface will jump into a metropolitan setting for the first time, with Scream 6 set to take place in New York City.
In Scream 6‘s new trailer, Ghostface is seen making use of a shotgun while pursuing Sam (Melissa Barrera) and Tara (Jenna Ortega) inside a bodega. This has sparked a backlash online, with many contending that Ghostface using a shotgun does not fit in a slasher series like Scream. However, the circumstances of the situation, and the history of the Scream franchise, show the flaws in this reasoning.
Ghostface Has Been Known To Use A Multitude Of Weapons In The Scream Franchise
While every Ghostface obviously defaults to a hunting knife as their weapon of choice, the Scream series shows that Ghostface kills with whatever is immediately available. The very first Scream showed Ghostface kill Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) using a garage door. Scream 3 also saw Tom Prinze (Matt Kesslar) being killed in an elaborate trap with Ghostface leaking gas inside a house, setting off an explosion when Tom strikes his lighter.
Even within the Easter egg-laden trailer for Scream 6, Ghostface does not enter the bodega brandishing a shotgun, but instead takes it from the owner before shooting him, then continues to pursue Sam and Tara with the shotgun in hand. While Ghostface using a shotgun is certainly a new approach, it is clearly a matter of the killer simply adapting to the situation. Moreover, guns themselves are not that unusual in the Scream franchise.
Scream 6 Isn’t The First Time Ghostface Used A Gun
Despite being a slasher movie series, Scream has shown Ghostface indulging in using guns right from the beginning. This first happened in the finale of the first Scream, when Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is cornered at gunpoint by Scream‘s original Ghostfaces, Billy and Stu (Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lilliard). Later, Scream 2 went even further, with Mickey (Timothy Olyphant) and Mrs. Loomis (Laurie Metcalf) using guns extensively in the movie’s finale.
To be sure, guns are compartmentalized in the Scream movies and are never Ghostface’s primary choice for slaying fleeing victims. Nonetheless, there is plenty of precedent for Ghostface wielding ballistic weaponry in the Scream franchise. Scream 6 might be the first time Ghostface has specifically used a shotgun, but as with every other weapon Ghostface has used previously, there’s a first time for everything.
