Just like in the movies themselves, the iconic big screen slashers keep coming back for more. Even when they appear to have lost the battle once and for all, they return. Or perhaps their series is rebooted or retconned. Or maybe it’s turned into a TV show. Whatever the situation may be, our favorite slashers keep coming back for more.

Personally? I’ll take all the Leatherface, Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Chucky, Pinhead, etc. I can get. But, these seemingly never-ending horror franchises are often called into question; when’s enough enough? I'm a big believer arguments could be made for the continuation of all the aforementioned iconic villains, but right now we’re putting the spotlight on a franchise with a premise that justifies, if not demands it remains an ongoing series — Scream.

In addition to being riveting thrills with stellar set pieces, each Scream movie serves as a commentary on the state of the horror genre. Given the fact that the Ghostface killers’ actions are heavily influenced by current horror trends, there will always be new ideas, themes, techniques, etc. to tap into to keep the Scream movies fresh. So that right there means Scream should continue on and on … forever, right?

While at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival celebrating the world premiere of Sick, I opted to pose that question to Scream writer and producer Kevin Williamson. Here’s what he said:

“Yes. At first I might have thought the opposite of that, but now since I've been proven wrong repeatedly, and this last Scream was such a pleasure — I think one of the wonderful things about Scream is there's a different killer in every film, whereas in most, you know, Halloween and Friday [the 13th], there's Jason, there's Michael, there's Freddy; they don't go away. Ghostface changes with every movie and so we have an opportunity to change the motive and change the story, and we can always twist and turn it. It was meant to be sort of a game changer all along. So the trick is, how do we keep game changing? And I think this new team that I'm working with [is] awesome. They're absolutely amazing. They're wonderful human beings. They're talented, and it's just been a pleasure to be a part of this new regime.”

One way they’re changing the game for the franchise in Scream 6? They’re letting Ghostface loose in a big city for the very first time. Williamson joked, “Ghostface takes Manhattan.” After revealing my soft spot for Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, he teased, “There's a joke in there.”

If you’re in the mood for a Scream series binge, the first four movies are currently available to stream on Paramount+ and the fifth film is available for purchase on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and digital. And if you’d like to hear more about Williamson’s new movie Sick, you can find our full TIFF 2022 conversation below: