Ghostface is on the loose — again and again and AGAIN!
The “Scream” franchise began in 1996 with the late great Wes Craven at the helm, chronicling notorious killer Ghostface as they terrorized high school students and murdered classmates in the small town of Woodsboro.
The man (or woman) donning the mask reminiscent of artist Edvard Munch’s 1893 painting “The Scream,” is often someone connected to their victims.
With six “Scream” flicks and counting, the horror franchise has been in theaters for over 25 years and its legacy has forever become a staple of the spooky season.
Main character Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has been at the center of Ghostface’s murder spree for much of the series, but every time, she almost always comes out unscathed as the ultimate Final Girl.
While there are a lot of killers in the series to keep track of, this handy guide will keep you straight.
Keep reading to learn about every murderer in the franchise.
Warning: Spoilers ahead for the “Scream” series. Read at your own risk …
Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) was Sidney’s boyfriend for the first flick, and is the OG Ghostface. But by the third act of “Scream,” he reveals himself and pal Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) to be the homicidal maniacs.
They first murdered Sidney’s mother Maureen Prescott a year before their killing spree, as retaliation for Billy’s father having an affair with Maureen and causing his parents’ divorce.
Billy and Stu’s kill count is six, as they also slashed friends Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore), Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) and more.
But of course by the end, the men are killed themselves by Sydney.
Mickey Altieri (Timothy Olyphant) and Nancy Loomis (Laurie Metcalf) were revealed as the murderers in the series’ second installment.
In the sequel, Sidney goes off to university at Windsor College with her friends and hopes for a fresh start after her trauma.
Nancy — who is the mother of slain slayer Billy Loomis — recruits Sidney’s classmate Mickey to kill her once again.
Nancy moonlights as a journalist and goes under the pseudonym Debbie Salt who is out for revenge after her son’s death. She also wants to frame Mickey as the only murderer. However, he wanted to actually get caught so he can become a world-famous serial killer.
In the final battle, Nancy shoots Mickey, and is then shot by Sidney.
Film director Roman Bridger (Scott Foley) was unmasked as the murderer in the third film.
Roman is actually revealed to be Sidney’s older half-brother and Maureen’s secret first child. He is directing a movie titled “Stab 3,” based on the Woodsboro murders from the previous two movies (so meta).
He decides to go on a rampage and slash members of his cast because he wanted to hurt Sidney due to their mother rejecting him.
Roman wanted to blame his sis for the murders, however, Sydney got the better of him and stabbed him in his chest, ending his life.
The fourth flick came 11 years later and sees Sidney making a grand return to Woodsboro. She is now a successful memoirist and seemingly has evaded Ghostface for good.
But not so fast, Miss. Prescott.
Once she makes a comeback to her hometown, the killings start back up again and she is the main target once more.
The psychopaths turn out to be Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) and Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin).
Jill is Sidney’s cousin and Charlie is just a friend brought along for the ride. Jill was jealous of her older cousin’s fame as the 1996 murders’ survivor.
Charlie was just a simple horror movie fanatic and was Jill’s secret boyfriend. While she wanted to frame him for the whole homicide and make herself look like the only survivor, she impales him before stabbing herself intentionally.
She is then taken to the hospital to garner sympathy from others and to pretend that Charlie tried to kill her. But alas, Sidney quells Jill by shooting her heart.
Jump forward to another 11 years and new murderers have terrorized the town. However, reboots always go back to their original material and connect them in some way.
While Sidney still makes an appearance, she is not the central character this time around.
The focus is now shifted to a 20-something girl named Samantha Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) and her teenage sister Tara (Jenna Ortega).
Samantha is actually Billy’s daughter, as he had another relationship before dating Sidney over 20 years prior.
And so the villain’s spawn becomes the hero, and Sam successfully dodges slaughterers Amber Freeman (Mikey Madison) and Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid).
Amber is Tara’s best friend and Richie was Sam’s boyfriend. The killers tell Sam that they are fans of the “Stab” film series who met online and just wanted to murder people for fun.
Richie’s throat is slashed by Sam, and Amber is shot by Tara by the finale.
Sam, Tara and their surviving pals head to New York City for college and they are trailed and attacked by new Ghostface copies.
The most current film seems to pay homage to the other movies in the franchise, as this Ghostface has a lair that is a shrine dedicated to past killers. The room is like a museum that is filled with momentos, costumes and masks from preceding murderers.
Family trio Wayne Bailey (Dermot Mulroney), Quinn Bailey (Liana Liberato) and Ethan Landry (Jack Champion) are unveiled to be the architects of the New York killings.
In fact, they are actually the family of dead man Richie, out for revenge from Sam and Tara for killing him.
Quinn hid in plain sight as Tara’s roommate, while Ethan portrayed a school chum of Tara.
Wayne stayed on as a detective who helped Sam, Tara and their friends escape the new slayers (well, before revealing them to be himself and his children).
By the end, the three meet their deaths by the hands of Sam, and she walks off into the sunset, drenched in blood with her sister.