Ghostface (Scream)
Encyclopedia
Scream character
Ghostface
Development Information
First appeared Scream
Scream (film)
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette...

Created by Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...


Kevin Williamson
Portrayed by Skeet Ulrich
Skeet Ulrich
Bryan Ray Trout , best known as Skeet Ulrich, is an American actor best known for starring in the CBS drama Jericho as Jake Green and for portraying Billy Loomis in Scream...


Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...


Laurie Metcalf
Laurie Metcalf
Lauren Elizabeth "Laurie" Metcalf is an American actress. She is widely known for her performance as Jackie Harris on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, Mary Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, the voice of Mrs. Davis in the Toy Story film series and as Debbie Salt in Scream 2...


Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...


Scott Foley
Scott Foley
Scott Kellerman Foley is an American actor. He is known for roles in television shows such as The Unit and Felicity, and in films such as Scream 3...


Emma Roberts
Emma Roberts
Emma Rose Roberts is an American actress, model and singer. She is the daughter of actor Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts. Roberts became known for her role as Addie Singer in the Nickelodeon television series Unfabulous. She released her debut album, which also served as the show's...


Rory Culkin
Rory Culkin
Rory Hugh Culkin is an American actor and is the younger brother of actors Macaulay Culkin and Kieran Culkin.-Personal life:...

Voiced by
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...

Roger L. Jackson
Roger L. Jackson
Roger Labon Jackson is an American voice actor. He is best known for voicing the killer Ghostface in the Scream films, leaving him to keep an unknown identity to withhold the mystery of Ghostface...

In-story information
Classification Serial Killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...

Signature weapon Hunting Knife
Buck Knives
Buck Knives is an American knife manufacturer founded in San Diego, California and now located in Post Falls, Idaho. The company has a long history through five generations of the Buck family from 1902 to the present day...

M.O.
Modus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...

Taunting victims by phone
Stabbing murders
Location Woodsboro, California
Windsor College, Ohio
Hollywood, California
Aliases Father Death

Ghostface is a fictional identity adopted by the main antagonist
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...

s in the Scream series
Scream (film series)
Scream is a series of American horror slasher films created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven. The films star Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. The series has grossed over $600 million in worldwide box-office receipts and consists, to date, of four motion pictures...

 of slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...

s. The character is voiced by Roger L. Jackson
Roger L. Jackson
Roger Labon Jackson is an American voice actor. He is best known for voicing the killer Ghostface in the Scream films, leaving him to keep an unknown identity to withhold the mystery of Ghostface...

 regardless of who is behind the mask. The character first appeared in Scream
Scream (film)
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette...

 (1996) as a disguise used by teenagers Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich
Skeet Ulrich
Bryan Ray Trout , best known as Skeet Ulrich, is an American actor best known for starring in the CBS drama Jericho as Jake Green and for portraying Billy Loomis in Scream...

) and Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lillard
Matthew Lyn Lillard is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his roles as Stu Macher in Scream, Stevo in SLC Punk , and Shaggy Rogers in the Scooby-Doo film series and the Animated reboot series.-Early life:Lillard was born in Lansing, Michigan, and grew up in Tustin, California...

) during their killing spree in the fictional town of Woodsboro. Ghostface was created by Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...

 and Kevin Williamson. The mask is based on The Scream
The Scream
Scream is the title of Expressionist paintings and prints in a series by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, showing an agonized figure against a blood red sky...

 painting by Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...

 and was created and designed by Fun World employee Brigitte Sleiertin as a Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

 costume prior to being discovered by Marianne Maddalena
Marianne Maddalena
Marianne Maddalena is an American film producer. She is part of a joint venture called Craven-Maddalena Films alongside Wes Craven...

 and Craven for the film.

The character is used primarily as a disguise for the antagonists of each film to conceal their identity while conducting serial murders and as such has been portrayed by several actors. In Scream, the identity is temporarily adopted by the killers' target, Sidney Prescott
Sidney Prescott
Sidney Prescott is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Scream series of slasher films. The character was created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven and is portrayed by Canadian actress Neve Campbell. She first appeared in Scream followed by three sequels: Scream 2 , Scream 3 ...

 (Neve Campbell
Neve Campbell
Neve Adrianne Campbell is a Canadian actress. After beginning her career on stage, and on numerous commercials, she starred on the Canadian television series Catwalk. She then rose to international fame on the Golden Globe-winning 1990s television series Party of Five, playing the role of teenager...

), using it against them. In the Scream universe, the costume is not unique and easily obtainable allowing others to wear a similar outfit. Ghostface often calls its targets to taunt or threaten them while using a voice changer
Voice changer
The term voice changer refers to a system of altering a person's voice to either make them sound like someone else or to disguise their voice.Voice changers change the tone or pitch, add distortion to the user's voice, or a combination of all of the above and vary greatly in price and sophistication...

 that hides their true identity. In Scream 3
Scream 3
Scream 3 is a 2000 American slasher film created by Kevin Williamson, directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette, released on February 4, 2000 as the third, and originally, concluding installment in the Scream film series...

, this is taken further by Roman Bridger who uses a device that enables him to sound like several other characters in order to manipulate targets.

The changing identity of the person beneath the mask means that Ghostface has no definite motivation, ranging from revenge and seeking fame to "peer pressure", though each killer shares the common goal of killing Sidney Prescott due to a chain of events
Chain of events
A chain of events is a number of actions and their effects that are contiguous and linked together.-Chain reaction:A chain reaction is a chain of events where one or more events in the chain causes additional reaction in an earlier stage of the chain...

 indirectly caused by her mother Maureen Prescott. Initially, Billy Loomis created the identity with Stu Macher in order to kill Sidney because of her mother's affair with Billy's father which caused Billy's mother to "abandon" him. The Ghostface persona remains the same throughout the Scream series, featuring a black hood and cloak with a jagged base and a white rubber-mask resembling a ghost with a screaming expression. Though each iteration of Ghostface is human, they often exhibit extreme durability
Toughness
In materials science and metallurgy, toughness is the ability of a material to absorb energy and plastically deform without fracturing; Material toughness is defined as the amount of energy per volume that a material can absorb before rupturing...

 against physical harm, high levels of physical strength
Physical strength
Physical strength is the ability of a person or animal to exert force on physical objects using muscles. Increasing physical strength is the goal of strength training.-Overview:...

 and an almost supernatural stealth ability, able to appear and disappear in seemingly impossible situations.

The character has appeared often in popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...

 since its inception, referenced in film and television as well as spawning a series of action figures and merchandise.

Appearances

Ghostface first appears in the opening scene of Scream. The character (voiced by Jackson) calls and taunts teenager Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...

) with horror cliché
Cliché
A cliché or cliche is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or novel. In phraseology, the term has taken on a more technical meaning,...

s and trivia questions, murdering her boyfriend Steve in front of her before she herself is killed. The identity has been adopted by the primary antagonists of each successive film to conceal their identity prior to being revealed in each films' final act.

Films

Ghostface's first cinematic appearance was in Scream
Scream (film)
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette...

 (1996) where the identity was used by a killer stalking the fictional town of Woodsboro. After the killing spree begins, Sidney Prescott
Sidney Prescott
Sidney Prescott is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Scream series of slasher films. The character was created by Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven and is portrayed by Canadian actress Neve Campbell. She first appeared in Scream followed by three sequels: Scream 2 , Scream 3 ...

 (Neve Campbell
Neve Campbell
Neve Adrianne Campbell is a Canadian actress. After beginning her career on stage, and on numerous commercials, she starred on the Canadian television series Catwalk. She then rose to international fame on the Golden Globe-winning 1990s television series Party of Five, playing the role of teenager...

) begins receiving taunting and threatening phone calls from Ghostface who claims knowledge of her mother's brutal rape and murder one year prior to the events of the film, a murder that was blamed on Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber , commonly known as Liev Schreiber, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s, having initially appeared in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywood films, including the Scream trilogy of...

). The Ghostface disguise allows suspicion to fall on many people including Sidney's boyfriend Billy Loomis, her father Neil Prescott, her friend Randy Meeks, Stu Macher and town Deputy, Dewey Riley. Ghostface is revealed in the finale as both Billy Loomis and Stu Macher who reveal that they murdered Sidney's mother and framed Cotton. Billy cites his motivation as abandonment by his mother brought about by his father's affair with her mother Maureen while Stu cites only "peer pressure". Sidney is able to gain an advantage against Billy and Stu, temporarily adopting the Ghostface persona herself to taunt them before killing Stu. Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox
Courteney Cox
Courteney Bass Cox is an American actress, she is best known for her roles as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends, Gale Weathers in the horror series Scream and as Jules Cobb in the ABC sitcom Cougar Town, for which she earned her first Golden Globe nomination....

) shoots Billy to stop him from killing Sidney who then finishes Billy off with a bullet to the head.

Ghostface's second appearance was in Scream 2
Scream 2
Scream 2 is a 1997 American slasher film created and written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy and Liev Schreiber, released on December 12, 1997 as the second installment in the Scream film series...

(1997) where it was again used as a disguise by the main antagonists. A series of murders occur at Windsor College, Sidney's current location, with the initial victims sharing names with Billy and Stu's victims from Scream. The killers again taunt Sidney and attempt to kill her and later kill her friend Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy
Jamie Kennedy
James Harvey "Jamie" Kennedy is an American comedian, rapper, and actor.-Early life:Kennedy, the youngest of six children, was born in Upper Darby Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His family is of Irish descent and he was raised Roman Catholic. He attended and graduated from...

). The Ghostface disguise allows suspicion to fall on several characters, including Weary again and Sidney's boyfriend (Jerry O'Connell
Jerry O'Connell
Jeremiah "Jerry" O'Connell is an American actor, best known for his roles in the TV series Sliders, Andrew Clements in My Secret Identity, Vern Tessio in the film Stand by Me, Charlie Carbone in Kangaroo Jack, and Detective Woody Hoyt on the drama Crossing Jordan...

) before Mickey (Timothy Olyphant
Timothy Olyphant
Timothy David Olyphant is an American actor whose notable roles in television drama series include Deadwood as Seth Bullock, Justified as Raylan Givens, The Office as Danny Cordray, and Damages as Wes Krulik...

), a friend of Sidney's boyfriend Derek, reveals himself as the killer, seeking fame for his prolific exploits. Mickey's accomplice is revealed to be Mrs. Loomis (Laurie Metcalf
Laurie Metcalf
Lauren Elizabeth "Laurie" Metcalf is an American actress. She is widely known for her performance as Jackie Harris on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, Mary Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, the voice of Mrs. Davis in the Toy Story film series and as Debbie Salt in Scream 2...

), Billy Loomis' mother, who is seeking revenge against Sidney for her son's death. Mrs. Loomis kills Mickey, claiming to have indulged his desire for fame and carnage only to enlist his help in enacting her revenge and tries to kill Sidney. With help from the exonerated Cotton Weary, Sidney survives and Mrs. Loomis is killed.

The story continued in Scream 3
Scream 3
Scream 3 is a 2000 American slasher film created by Kevin Williamson, directed by Wes Craven and written by Ehren Kruger, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette, released on February 4, 2000 as the third, and originally, concluding installment in the Scream film series...

(2000) where the identity of Ghostface was used to murder Cotton Weary and his girlfriend in an attempt to discover the now-hidden Sidney's location. The killer leaves images of Maureen Prescott at his crime scenes to draw Sidney out of seclusion as he begins murdering the cast of "Stab 3", the film within a film based on Sidney and her experiences with Ghostface. Ghostface is revealed as Sidney's half-brother Roman Bridger (Scott Foley
Scott Foley
Scott Kellerman Foley is an American actor. He is known for roles in television shows such as The Unit and Felicity, and in films such as Scream 3...

), born to their mother Maureen during a two-year period when she moved to Hollywood to become an actress under the name Rina Reynolds. After being gang-raped and impregnated at a party, she gave Roman up for adoption who, as an adult, sought her out, only to be rejected, denying she had ever been Rina. Roman began stalking Maureen and filming her adulterous liaisons with other men including Billy Loomis' father Hank. He used this footage to reveal to Billy why his mother had "abandoned" him before convincing him to kill Maureen, sparking the chain of events in Scream and Scream 2. Sidney manages to kill Roman, ending the series of murders based on his revenge against Maureen.

In Scream 4
Scream 4
Scream 4 is a 2011 American slasher horror film and the fourth installment in the Scream film series. Directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream and Scream 2, the film stars an ensemble cast which includes David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts,...

(2011), another Ghostface killer emerges in Woodsboro on the fifteen-year anniversary of the massacre conducted by Billy Loomis and Stu Macher, the new killer recreating events from the incident but also filming the murders. Ghostface kills several teenagers and police officers before being unmasked as Sidney's cousin Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts
Emma Roberts
Emma Rose Roberts is an American actress, model and singer. She is the daughter of actor Eric Roberts and niece of Julia Roberts. Roberts became known for her role as Addie Singer in the Nickelodeon television series Unfabulous. She released her debut album, which also served as the show's...

) and her friend Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin
Rory Culkin
Rory Hugh Culkin is an American actor and is the younger brother of actors Macaulay Culkin and Kieran Culkin.-Personal life:...

) who intend to kill Sidney, frame Jill's ex-boyfriend Trevor Shelton and become the current generation's "Sidney" and "Randy Meeks", with the accompanying fame of being the "survivors" of the massacre. Charlie also did it because of his love for Jill. Jill betrays Charlie and stabs him through the heart and stomach and then seemingly kills Sidney before purposely injuring and stabbing herself to make herself appear a victim of Ghostface. After being taken to hospital, Sheriff Dewey Riley informs her that Sidney has survived and Jill attempts to end her life but is stopped by Dewey, Gale and Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton
Marley Shelton
Marley Eve Shelton is an American film and television actress.Shelton began her acting career in her late teens, and appeared in several 1990s' television movies and shows. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed drama Grand Canyon , and was cast in the films The Sandlot , Nixon , and...

) long enough for Sidney to shoot her through the heart, killing her.

Design

The Ghostface costume is the outfit worn by the main antagonists of the Scream franchise, consisting of a rubber white mask with black eyes, nose and mouth and a black, cloth-like material, hooded-robe with faux-tatters draping from the arms and a spiked-trim to the base of the outfit. In the movie, the costume is considered common and easily purchasable making identifying the buyers difficult and creating the possibility for anyone to be the killer. Despite its appearance as a solid piece of material, the robe is put on like a jacket, fastening with velcro-attachments down the front of the torso.

The Ghostface mask was first developed for novelty stores during the Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

 season between 1991 and 1992 by Fun World employee Brigitte Sleiertin as part of a series entitled "Fantastic Faces" the mask itself known as "The Peanut-Eyed Ghost". The final design was approved by Fun World vice-president Allan Geller. Craven claimed to have originally found the mask but later clarified that he had misremembered the event and that it was producer Marianne Maddalena
Marianne Maddalena
Marianne Maddalena is an American film producer. She is part of a joint venture called Craven-Maddalena Films alongside Wes Craven...

 who actually discovered it. She found it while inside a house during location scouting for the film and brought it to the attention of Craven who set about trying to obtain the rights to use it. Fun World Licensing Director R.J. Torbert joined Fun World in 1996 and was given the task of naming the mask prior to its film debut, deciding on "GhostFace" with the blessing of Fun World owners Stanley and Allan Geller. Torbert felt it looked like a "ghost in pain", believing it to be a unique design. The Ghostface design and title are owned by Fun World.

The design of the mask bears reference to Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...

's painting The Scream
The Scream
Scream is the title of Expressionist paintings and prints in a series by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, showing an agonized figure against a blood red sky...

, the cover of the Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...

 album The Wall
The Wall
The Wall is the eleventh studio album by English progressive rock group Pink Floyd. Released as a double album on 30 November 1979, it was subsequently performed live with elaborate theatrical effects, and adapted into a feature film, Pink Floyd—The Wall.As with the band's previous three...

 and the ghostly characters that appeared in the 1930s Betty Boop
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...

 cartoon. The mask is stark white and depicts a caracature of someone screaming and crying at the same time. Designer Sleiertin stated that the mask displayed different emotions, "It's a horrible look, it's a sorry look, it's a frantic look". Since the appearance of Ghostface in Scream, the costume has become the most worn and sold costume for Halloween in the United States.

The initial script labelled the main antagonist as "masked killer" with no specifications to their appearance, forcing Craven and his staff to produce the costume eventually worn by Ghostface as they were shooting. Craven asked Greg Nicotero and Howard Berger of design company KNB Effects to produce a mask specifically for the film based on the Fun World design but did not like the final result. After Fun World and Dimension Films were able to complete an agreement for the use of the Ghostface mask, Craven was able to use the original design as he wanted. The custom mask made by KNB Effects still appears in the scenes involving the murder of Casey Becker and Principal Himbry as filming of these scenes completed prior to the finalization of the deal between Fun World and Dimension Films.
"We came with an assortment of masks that had the ghostface look. Of the entire assortment, that face was the strongest one. The design definitely had something that made it outstanding from the others."
— Brigitte Sleiertin on choosing the final design for what became Ghostface.

The 1991-92 "Fantastic Faces" edition of the mask used in Scream is made of thin, white rubber with blackened eyes, nose and mouth. Despite being portrayed by Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard, the costume is mostly worn by stuntman
Stuntman
A stuntman or stunt performer is someone who performs dangerous stunts.Stuntman may also refer to:*The Stunt Man, a 1980 film starring Peter O'Toole*Stuntman , a 2002 video game**Stuntman: Ignition, its sequel...

 Dane Farwell who gave the character many of its mannerisms including the ritualistic
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....

 cleaning of the knife blade following a kill. Craven wore the costume during the opening murder scene where the character is struck by a phone and by Skeet Ulrich only once during a finale scene where the character prepares to murder the character Randy Meeks. Despite the character Stu Macher wearing the costume in the film, actor Lillard never actually wore the outfit. Scream 2 features a slightly redesigned version of the mask from the "Fearsome Faces" line, possessing slightly-altered eyes and an indented chin. Following Scream 2, the Ghostface mask became part of the "Ghostface" line of masks featuring several variations of the design including glow-in-the-dark models. The plain, white version of the Ghostface line mask is used in Scream 3 by the character Roman Bridger. Another edition of the mask was developed dubbed "The Deluxe Edition Mask" for use by Ghostface in Scream 4
Scream 4
Scream 4 is a 2011 American slasher horror film and the fourth installment in the Scream film series. Directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream and Scream 2, the film stars an ensemble cast which includes David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts,...

, again similar to the original Ghostface design but constructed of thicker rubber with a pearlescent finish.

Following the description in Williamson's script of a "ghost mask", Craven and designers had originally intended to use a white-motif, creating a white cloak and hood for the killer's costume. It was the intervention of Maddalena who felt that the cloak would be scarier if it was black, that resulted in the dark costume shown on screen. The cloak itself had to be custom-made for the film as the "Father Death" outfit identified in Scream as that of the killers did not really exist, the Fun World mask being sold as a stand-alone item. The cloak entered into retail markets only following the release of Scream. Each cloak was estimated to cost $700 to hand-produce by a seamstress and was made of a heavy, thick, black material with reflective threads woven throughout, creating a subtle glimmer. The cloak was created to help conceal the identity of the killers by covering most of their visible body as it was believed that otherwise audiences would be able to guess which character was involved by their clothing and body-shape.

The knife used by Ghostface in the films is a custom prop
Theatrical property
A theatrical property, commonly referred to as a prop, is an object used on stage by actors to further the plot or story line of a theatrical production. Smaller props are referred to as "hand props". Larger props may also be set decoration, such as a chair or table. The difference between a set...

 knife based on the Buck 120 Hunting Knife
Buck Knives
Buck Knives is an American knife manufacturer founded in San Diego, California and now located in Post Falls, Idaho. The company has a long history through five generations of the Buck family from 1902 to the present day...

 that has since been discontinued by Buck. The knife blades are made of aluminium or chrome-paint-coated plastic with a rubber handle depending on the scenario for which they are needed. The handle is black with a silver, metal-appearance for the tip. The Buck 120 knife was chosen as the model for the Ghostface weapon because of the large blade it features, though the Buck 120 itself was discontinued due to customer complaints that the blade length was deemed "too big" for gutting animals.

Characterization

Ghostface is rarely depicted as speaking while physically on screen to aid in concealing the identity of the character behind the mask, except for grunts and groans when injured which are dubbed
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...

 into the film during the editing
Film editing
Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of filmmaking. It involves the selection and combining of shots into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. It is an art of storytelling...

 phase by Jackson. The voice given to the character, provided by Jackson, is used when talking to another character over the phone or to display the use of the voice changer when the killer reveals himself. Despite being portrayed by different characters in each film, Ghostface displays similar personality and physical attributes regardless of who is wearing the costume or speaking to a target.
"I can't imagine Scream without Ghostface...Roger Jackson's voice is very remarkable, it's got an evil sophistication."
— Wes Craven on returning to Scream 4.


Ghostface is often shown to taunt his targets, initially representing himself as charming and even flirtatious when speaking, his conversations turn confrontational and intimidating, using his knowledge of other characters or graphically describing his intentions before appearing to the target physically. Craven considers Jackson's voice performance as Ghostface to have "evil sophistication". When confronting his intended victim, Ghostface is portrayed in varying ways, sometimes quick and efficient and other times clumsy, falling or colliding with objects that hinder his pursuit, a characteristic that varies based upon who is wearing the costume. All of the characters that use the Ghostface disguise share the trait of taunting their victims and prolonging a kill when they appear to have an advantage. The Billy Loomis/Stu Macher Ghostface would gut their victims after killing them; this was not performed on Tatum Riley who was killed in a mechanical garage door. This Ghostface in particular would ask their victim questions about horror films and employ the trope
Trope (literature)
A literary trope is the usage of figurative language in literature, or a figure of speech in which words are used in a sense different from their literal meaning...

s of the genre in their attacks, displaying a detachment from their reality and aligned with the same self awareness of the film itself which toys with the expectations of the horror genre. The second Ghostface, created by Mickey and Mrs. Loomis would simply stab their victim to death but often in a public place or with witnesses. The third Ghostface, created by Roman Bridger used theatricality and movie props to attack his victims, using a voice changer that allowed him to sound like many other people, casting suspicion and doubt on other characters. In addition, he would use images and the synthesized voice of Maureen Prescott to specifically taunt Sidney, even shrouding himself in a bloodied, crime scene
Crime scene
A crime scene is a location where an illegal act took place, and comprises the area from which most of the physical evidence is retrieved by trained law enforcement personnel, crime scene investigators or in rare circumstances, forensic scientists....

 cover, alluding to the murder of Maureen, to fool Sidney into believing that she was losing her sanity. The fourth Ghostface, created by Jill Roberts and Charlie Walker filmed each murder on web cameras hidden around the environment and spy cameras in their masks. They mostly stabbed their victims to death but would go further and gut them if they wanted. They also made some of the murders public to gain the attention of the world press.

The motivations for Ghostface's killing vary in each film and are respective to each killer wearing the costume. Billy Loomis claimed to have been driven to insanity by his mother's abandonment, an incident he blamed on Maureen Prescott, and after taking his revenge on her chose to continue his spree, leading towards her daughter Sidney while Stu Macher lists peer pressure as his motivation. In Scream 2, Billy's mother cites her motivation as simple revenge against the person she holds responsible for her son's death, while Mickey desires the fame that his involvement in the killings will garner when he is caught. Scream 3 antagonist Roman seeks revenge for what he sees as his mother's rejection and abandonment by engineering Maureen's death and trying to kill Sidney, seeing her as having the family-life he was denied. In Scream 4, Jill claimed she did it for fame. She wanted to become the new Sidney and get the fame of being the sole survivor of the new massacre, while Charlie did it for those reasons and his love for Jill.

In costume, the Ghostfaces share a ritualistic mannerism of gripping the blade of their knife between thumb and forefinger and wiping it clean of any blood following a murder by drawing their hand from handle to the tip of the knife. This characteristic was given to the character by stuntman Dane Farwell who wore the costume for many of its scenes in Scream.

Each killer is depicted as possessing effective physical abilities
Skill
A skill is the learned capacity to carry out pre-determined results often with the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills...

, such as the capabilities of nearly flawless stealth, prowling without being detected, moving silently and efficiently vanishing from their targets' defense. Additionally, the killer tends to display sufficient strength that allows them to overpower victims, such as in Scream 2, in regards to defeating two trained detectives single-handedly. Ghostface is shown to be able to sustain and even ignore severe levels of physical damage, surviving blunt trauma
Blunt trauma
In medical terminology, blunt trauma, blunt injury, non-penetrating trauma or blunt force trauma refers to a type of physical trauma caused to a body part, either by impact, injury or physical attack; the latter usually being referred to as blunt force trauma...

, stabbing
Stabbing
A stabbing is penetration with a sharp or pointed object at close range. Stab connotes purposeful action, as by an assassin or murderer, but it is also possible to accidentally stab oneself or others.Stabbing differs from slashing or cutting in that the motion of the object used in a stabbing...

 wounds and gunshots. Billy Loomis, Mickey and Roman Bridger all had to be shot through the head to kill them despite having been shot and/or sustained severe injuries prior.

In popular culture

McFarlane Toys
McFarlane Toys
McFarlane Toys, a subsidiary of Todd McFarlane Productions, Inc., is a company started by Todd McFarlane that makes highly detailed models of characters from movies, comics, musicians, video games, and sport figures...

 produced a 6-inch figurine of Ghostface in 1999 for the "Movie Maniacs II" series of horror and science fiction inspired line of character models. A series of figures are to be produced by NECA
National Entertainment Collectibles Association
The National Entertainment Collectibles Association or NECA is an American manufacturer of collectibles typically licensed from films, video-games, sports, music, and television based in New Jersey...

 for Scream 4 featuring the standard mask and black cowl plus variations such as "Zombie Ghostface" with a decayed appearance on the mask and "Scarecrow Ghostface" with brown, burlap
Burlap
Hessian , or burlap in the US, is a woven fabric usually made from skin of the jute plant or sisal fibres, or may be combined with other vegetable fibres to make rope, nets, and similar products...

 material used for the mask and clothing.

Ghostface has been parodied and referenced numerous times in media following his appearance in the Scream series of slasher films, most prominently in the parody film Scary Movie
Scary Movie
Scary Movie is a 2000 comedy-parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, as part of Warner Bros. Entertainment. It is an American dark comedy which heavily parodies the horror, slasher, and mystery genres...

(2000) where a killer dressed as Ghostface commits a series of murders and is later revealed to be several people as in Scream. In the parody film Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth
Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth is a 2000 American direct-to-video parody film directed by John Blanchard. Several mid and late '90s teen horror films are parodied, as are the slasher films of the '70s and '80s, including the Scream films , Friday the 13th , Halloween , A...

(2000), a killer wearing a Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees is a fictional character from the Friday the 13th series of slasher films. He first appeared in Friday the 13th , as the son of camp cook-turned-murderer, Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Miller, with contributions by Ron Kurz, Sean S...

-style hockey mask is set on fire, his mask melting to resemble that of Ghostface. The film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a 2001 American action adventure comedy film written, directed by, and starring Kevin Smith as Silent Bob, the fifth to be set in his View Askewniverse, a growing collection of characters and settings that developed out of his cult favorite Clerks...

(2001) features Ghostface as Shannen Doherty
Shannen Doherty
Shannen Maria Doherty is an American actress, producer, author and television director, known for her work as Heather Duke in Heathers , as Brenda Walsh in Beverly Hills, 90210 and its spinoff series 90210, and as Prue Halliwell in Charmed .-Early life and career:Doherty was born in Memphis,...

 and Wes Craven
Wes Craven
Wesley Earl "Wes" Craven is an American actor, film director, writer, producer, perhaps best known as the director of many horror films, particularly slasher films, including the famed A Nightmare on Elm Street and Wes Craven's New Nightmare, featuring the iconic Freddy Krueger character, the...

 provide cameos as themselves making the then non-existent Scream 4
Scream 4
Scream 4 is a 2011 American slasher horror film and the fourth installment in the Scream film series. Directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream and Scream 2, the film stars an ensemble cast which includes David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts,...

, but Doherty objects when Ghostface turns out to be played by the orangutan
Orangutan
Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...

, Suzann.

As in film, Ghostface has been referenced repeatedly in various television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 programs and commercials. In the same year as the release of Scream 3, the mask made an appearance on Beverly Hills 90210 and the Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...

 series Cousin Skeeter
Cousin Skeeter
Cousin Skeeter is a television show which ran on Nickelodeon from 1998 to 2003. It starred Robert Ri'chard as Bobby, a young boy, whose life changed when his strange cousin Skeeter comes to live with his family. With Skeeter's help, Bobby learns life lessons and tackles the general ups and downs of...

. It was also used as an ornament in the bedroom of the character Dawson in Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...

, a show created by Scream writer, Kevin Williamson.

The character appears in a 1999 episode of Celebrity Deathmatch
Celebrity Deathmatch
Celebrity Deathmatch is a claymation television show that depicts celebrities against each other in a wrestling ring, almost always ending in the loser's gruesome death. It was known for its excessive amount of blood used in every match and exaggerated physical injuries...

entitled "The Unknown Murderer", where he threatens to kill a scream queen
Scream queen
A scream queen is an actress who has become associated with horror films, either through an appearance in a notable entry in the genre as a frequent victim or through constant appearances as the female protagonist...

 every round, murdering Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...

, Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...

 and Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt
Jennifer Love Hewitt is an American actress, producer, television director and former singer-songwriter. Hewitt began her acting career as a child by appearing in television commercials and the Disney Channel series Kids Incorporated...

 before planting his cell phone on a Platypus
Platypus
The platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young...

 to frame him, causing Neve Campbell
Neve Campbell
Neve Adrianne Campbell is a Canadian actress. After beginning her career on stage, and on numerous commercials, she starred on the Canadian television series Catwalk. She then rose to international fame on the Golden Globe-winning 1990s television series Party of Five, playing the role of teenager...

 and Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Sarah Michelle Prinze , known professionally by her birth name of Sarah Michelle Gellar , is an American actress, singer and executive producer...

 to fight it. The mask was later used in The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...

 episode "Fortunate Son" where it is worn by the character Christopher to commit a robbery.

The costume is referenced in an episode of the television series Boomtown entitled "All Hallow's Eve" (2002) where a police officer uses the costume to frighten a bully who has been terrorizing other kids. In the Japanese anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 FLCL
FLCL
is an original video animation series written by Yōji Enokido, directed by Kazuya Tsurumaki and produced by the FLCL Production Committee, which included Gainax, Production I.G, and Starchild Records....

 episode "Marquis de Cabras" (2003), protagonist Naota's face changes to resemble that of Ghostface frequently during a scene where he and his family are eating spicy curry.

The character makes a cameo
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...

 in Tripping the Rift
Tripping the Rift
Tripping the Rift is a CGI science fiction comedy television series. It is based on two short animations published on the Internet by Chris Moeller and Chuck Austen. The series was produced by CineGroupe in association with the Sci Fi Channel...

in the episode "The Devil and a Guy Named Webster" (2004) as the judge when Chode sells his soul to the devil and finds a way to sue him. He also appears in a 2004 advert for Trivial Pursuit: '90s edition representing iconic characters of the 1990s along side Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The...

 and the character Rose from the 1997 film Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...

. A parody of Ghostface appears in the television series All Grown Up!
All Grown Up!
All Grown Up! is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó. After the success of All Growed Up, the Rugrats 10th anniversary special, Nickelodeon commissioned All Grown Up! as a spin-off series based on the episode.The series ran from April 12, 2003 to August...

episode "Interview with a Campfire" (2004) where Lil DeVille
Phil and Lil DeVille
Phillip Richard Bill "Phil" and Lillian Marie Jill "Lil" DeVille, or simply Phil and Lil, are the twins from the Nickelodeon shows Rugrats and All Grown Up!, and are among the series' original characters....

 is taunted by phone and stalked by a character wearing an Easter Bunny
Easter Bunny
The Easter Bunny or Easter Rabbit is a character depicted as a rabbit bringing Easter eggs, who sometimes is depicted with clothes...

 mask.

The character appears briefly in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

 episode "Home Away from Homer
Home Away from Homer
“Home Away from Homer” is the twentieth episode of The Simpsons’ sixteenth season. The episode aired on May 15, 2005 in the United States.-Plot:...

" where Homer Simpson
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...

 suggests him as a babysitter for his daughter Maggie
Maggie Simpson
Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James...

. Roger L. Jackson lends his voice to Ghostface in the Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken
Robot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show...

episode "That Hurts Me" (2005) alongside other famous film killers in a show that parodies Big Brother
Big Brother (TV series)
Big Brother is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but continuously watched by television cameras. Each series lasts for around three months, and there are usually fewer than 15 participants. The housemates try to win a cash...

, launching a prank war against Pinhead
Pinhead (Hellraiser)
Pinhead is a fictional character from the Hellraiser series. Created by Clive Barker and portrayed by Doug Bradley, Pinhead is a prominent figure in the series, mostly featured as the main antagonist....

 and Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger
Frederick Charles "Freddy" Krueger is a fictional, horrifying character from the Nightmare on Elm Street series of horror films. He first appears in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street as a disfigured dream stalker who uses a glove armed with razors to kill his victims in their dreams,...

 before giving a speech to save himself from elimination from the show. He is referenced by Kenny Powers
Kenny Powers
Kenny Powers is the fictional main character from the HBO television series Eastbound and Down, played by American actor Danny McBride. Powers is portrayed as a once dominant baseball pitcher, whose poor work ethic and short temper jeopardized his professional career...

, the main character of Eastbound & Down
Eastbound & Down
Eastbound & Down is an American comedy television series broadcast on HBO, starring Danny McBride as Kenny Powers, a former professional baseball pitcher, who after an up and down career in the major leagues is forced to return to his hometown middle-school in Shelby, North Carolina, as a...

 who requests to wear the mask while having sex.

Impact

In his book Going to Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film, Adam Rockoff opined that Ghostface's mask was a "striking, surreal and downright terrifying presence". Calling the mask a "hyperbolic rendering" of Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...

's The Scream
The Scream
Scream is the title of Expressionist paintings and prints in a series by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, showing an agonized figure against a blood red sky...

, Rockoff wrote that the 'face' is "twisted in an exaggerated, almost mocking grin, as if reflecting the look of terror and surprise on his victims' faces."

Tony Magistrale
Tony Magistrale
Anthony Samuel Magistrale is a Professor in English at the University of Vermont since 1983. He received a B.A. in 1974 from Allegheny College, and from the University of Pittsburgh an M.A. in 1976 and a Ph.D. in 1981. He has written several books about Stephen King and Edgar Allan Poe.-References:...

 also discussed the similarities between Ghostface's mask and The Scream
The Scream
Scream is the title of Expressionist paintings and prints in a series by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, showing an agonized figure against a blood red sky...

in his book Abject Terrors: Surveying the Modern and Postmodern Horror Film, stating that the painting, "an apt representation of the degree of alienation from other people, inspires the killers' murderous agenda". The mask of Ghostface is widely renowned for its major appearance on Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...

 night. It has been one of the most common movie-inspired costumes on Halloween since the launch of it. There are many variations such as a mask that can produce fake blood, and as of 2010, scarecrow and zombie versions of the mask. There are even masks from the Scary Movie
Scary Movie
Scary Movie is a 2000 comedy-parody film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, as part of Warner Bros. Entertainment. It is an American dark comedy which heavily parodies the horror, slasher, and mystery genres...

version like the 2 wazups and the stoner, plus emotional versions, including Surprise
Surprise (emotion)
Surprise is a brief emotional state experienced as the result of an unexpected event. Surprise can have any valence; that is, it can be neutral/moderate, pleasant, or unpleasant. If a person experiences a very powerful or long lasting surprise, it may be considered shock.-Reality...

, Smile
Smile
A smile is a facial expression formed by flexing the muscles near both ends of the mouth. The smile can also be found around the eyes . Among humans, it is an expression denoting pleasure, joy, happiness, or amusement, but can also be an involuntary expression of anxiety, in which case it is known...

y, and Angry
Anger
Anger is an automatic response to ill treatment. It is the way a person indicates he or she will not tolerate certain types of behaviour. It is a feedback mechanism in which an unpleasant stimulus is met with an unpleasant response....

.

External links

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