From the moment that first Scream 6 trailer dropped, fans homed in especially to the subway clip. There, our heroes are surrounded by dozens of Halloween revelers. There are not just several Ghostfaces in the crowd, but people dressed as Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, Chucky, The Babadook, and more. It was a fun sign of things to come, for much of Scream 6 is filled with Easter eggs. Some are obvious, some will only be spotted by an eagle-eyed viewer, and a few had to be revealed by the film's directors themselves, Tyler Gillett and Matt Bettinelli-Olpin. The film itself is partially about Easter eggs that link to the past, with Ghostface leaving various masks from past killers at his new crime scenes, so what better way to show that than to give the audience a taste of Easter eggs too.
Scream 6 Pays Tribute To Everything From Friday the 13th to Wes Craven
When it was announced that the latest Scream film would take place in New York City, many compared it to the time Jason Voorhees went sightseeing in the Big Apple as well for Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. Scream 6 acknowledges this similarity rather quickly by naming one of their characters, played by Tony Revolori, Jason Carvey. Not only that, but during a few scenes you can see Jason Takes Manhattan playing in the background. Then there's Ghostface attacking the subway later, a reference to a subway chase scene with Jason Voorhees from that film.
Another Easter egg that almost everyone will miss is the name of the bodega where Ghostface attacks. It's called Abe's Snake. Abe Snake was the pseudonym used by the director of the first four Scream films, Wes Craven, back when he made more adult fare in the 1970s. In addition to this, the address of a dorm is located on Elm Court, a nod to Craven's other big horror masterpiece, A Nightmare on Elm Street.
There are also a few references to Jenna Ortega herself, whose fame reached the next level last year with Netflix's Wednesday series. In one scene, Sam (Melissa Barrera) is at the office of her therapist, Dr. Christopher Stone (Henry Czerny). On a shelf behind him sits several different figurines, including ones from The Addams Family. Later, at a frat party, one of the attendees is dressed as Wednesday Addams.
Callbacks to Past Scream Movies
There are also several Easter eggs to past Scream movies. When Tara (Ortega) punches Gale (Courteney Cox) in the face, it's an obvious shout-out to the first Scream, where Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) clocks Gale. In the film, Mindy (Jasmin Savoy Brown) and Anika (Devyn Nekoda) are eating Jiffy Pop popcorn from an aluminum tin, a callback to Casey Becker's (Drew Barrymore) death scene in the first film, which starts with her cooking popcorn when the phone rings. There is also talk of Tara rushing Omega Beta Zeta during the frat party scene. This is also the same name as the sorority at Windsor College from Scream 2. At the frat party is also someone wearing a jersey with a '10' on it, the same number Tatum (Rose McGowan) wears in the first film.
There are other more obvious callbacks too, such as the return of the song "Red Right Hand" or Dewey's theme playing when Gale talks about him. Among the easy-to-spot Easter eggs, however, is one that you would never know about had the directors of Scream 6 not revealed it. In one scene, new character Quinn Bailey (Liana Liberato) comes out of her bedroom, where she was being intimate with a man. We hear a man's voice behind the door, but we never see him. That vocal cameo belonged to actor Tim Robinson.
The Costumes in the Subway Scene
The most fun Easter eggs are reserved for spotting all the pop culture and Scream references found in costumes on the subway, along with the many callbacks seen in Ghostface's lair. Scream 6 costume designer Avery Plewes told Variety of the costumes at the subway, “We started with Wes then went through A-list horror villains, new and old, then the stuff that feels really relevant to people today that is a part of the zeitgeist. Scream is all about being meta and referencing the zeitgeist, and so you look at Ari Aster, Jordan Peele, we had Handmaid’s Tale zombies on the subway. We wanted Mindy to feel terrorized, not just by horror elements, but also patriarchal tropes that would really freak her out.”
There are costume references to many of Craven's movies beyond Freddy Krueger. There are also Easter eggs for The Last House on the Left, Deadly Blessing, Deadly Friend, Shocker, The People Under the Stairs, and Vampire in Brooklyn. Appearing in the scene are yes, Freddy, Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Chucky, and The Badadook, but also Pinhead, the girl from The Ring, Andy Warhol, The Grady twins from The Shining, Pennywise, The Creep wolf, and a woman dressed as Grace, a salute to Samara Weaving's character from Ready or Not. Weaving not only appears in Scream 6 but its directors are the men responsible for Ready or Not. Speaking of those directors, they also appear in blink-and-you-'ll-miss-it moments, with Bettinelli-Olpin dressed up as Kurt Cobain and Gillett with a fake butcher knife through his skull.
Plenty of Easter Eggs Are Found In Ghostface's Shrine To Past 'Scream' Events
The most fitting tribute to the past Scream films comes when Ghostface's theater shrine is discovered, where our killer has set up an almost museum to past killings. The centerpiece on stage is a semicircle of costumes worn by the past nine Ghostface killers. There's also Billy Loomis' bloody shirt from the first film, along with Tatum's outfit, the rope Casey Becker was hung with, her boyfriend Steve's varsity jacket, cameraman Kenny's hat, Randy's video store work uniform, and Stu's robe. Plus, there's the TV that was dropped on his head, which, in the perfect callback, is then dropped on the head of another Ghostface.
There are also tributes to other films, such as the props used in the play that was being put on at Windsor College in Scream 2. The clothing of Billy Loomis' killer mom, Debbie Salt, makes an appearance as well, along with Gale Weathers' books, and pictures of Dewey. A fax machine that belonged to Jennifer Jolie in Scream 3 is shown, as well as clothing from Deputy Hoss, Olivia Morris, and Jill Roberts from Scream 4. There are also bloody knives, including the one that was used to stab Kirby (Hayden Panettiere), which she immediately notices.
Easter eggs can be distracting in a horror film, especially with so many relaunched horror franchises that seemingly spend so much time winking at the past that they forget about the present. For the Scream franchise, it's fitting. The franchise has been about the past since the beginning, from Billy and Stu's motive, to all the meta talk about past horror films. Scream peels back our pop culture fascination and takes a look inside. What better way to show that than with Easter eggs that don't take away from the film, but only add to it.