Scream: Class Reunion
We open on a young couple. Miguel and Oliver- two young men out on a date leaving a movie. They’re high schoolers- one tall handsome and cool, wearing a leather jacket and jeans. He smiles and it's like the sun rising in the night. It's late- the parking lot is basically empty save for a few cars from the restaurant that shares the lot.
A deep orange moon hangs in the sky above, obscured by some stringy stray clouds. Miguel is smiling down at his date for the evening. He is shorter, preppier, and beaming with nervousness. The two had never been on a public date before. Clandestine trysts at parties and scant kisses in between classes were nothing compared to this- being together like normal people.
They’re talking excitedly about the movie they’d just seen. A horror movie. It's not unusual in their town, horror movies. In fact, they were so common the general population could have done without a new one for quite a while.
The city of Woodsboro didn't have the pleasure of being a general viewer of slasher movies. Here- horror movies weren't just something you got to watch, they were something you lived. It had been 10 years since the last 'sequel' and there was a quiet in the air that felt familiar. It felt like the camera, among other things, are about to roll.
They stop in the parking lot as the lights of the theater begin to shut off. Oliver and Miguel say their goodbyes and part with a single soft kiss. Oliver grins to himself as they part and turn to walk to their cars. He didn't feel like this was real. It was one thing for the soulful bad boy to be all over you in secret but they were like on a date. He didn't kid himself, there were a lot of words to describe him but cool wasn't one of them. Sheltered? Maybe. Studious? Definitely. Kinda slutty? Only in the YA books he secretly wrote in study hall. But cool? Definitely not one of them.
Miguel was cool. Genuinely cool. He was tall, gorgeous, carefree, and always showed just enough of his stomach when he stretched to show off his happy trail and defined abs. He was way out of Oliver's league- but here they were. On a date.
Oliver arrives at his care and moves to fish his keys from his jacket pocket. He pauses, still aglow. Behind him we see Miguel turn back in the distance. He looks like he wants to say something. A sneaky grin spreads across his face- His arm raises but he stops as he is suddenly engulfed by a hooded figure and pulled into the shadows between cars. Oliver doesn't notice.
He pulls out his keys and looks back over to Miguel- likely still getting into his car... only there's nothing there. His brow furrows in confusion. Had he left already? It didn't look like any of the cars had moved but he also wasn't really focusing on them. Oliver was just about to call Miguel's name when-
his phone rings.
He blinks, looking at it- it’s Miguel. That same bright smile looks back at him from the caller ID. Oliver smiles to himself and answers. "Calling me already? Aren’t you afraid you’re going to come off despy?"
There's a silence on the other end. It's hollow. Maybe it was the movie he'd just seen but it felt foreboding.
"Oh- um, hi." A voice finally spoke up on the other end of the call. It definitely wasn't Miguel. The voice didn't have the same playful confidence. "I think someone left their phone in the theater?"
"Oh! I’m sorry-" He shook his head. The one and only time he'd playfully answered a call without stumbling over his words and it was a theater usher. "Uhm, yeah. I think this is my friend's phone. We were just in the movie."
Oliver looks around for Miguel to see if he'd maybe missed him before- but he was all alone.
"Oh? Is he there with you."
Oliver suddenly feels vulnerable. "No, he just left."
"Fuck" The guy on the other end of the phone blurts out. He's clearly tired and just wants to go home. "But you know whose phone this is, right?"
"Yeah, you couldn't miss us." Oliver crosses his arms over his chest. "It wasn't exactly a packed theater."
"Oh yeah, I think I remember checking you two in." The voice replies. There's something behind his words that feels snake-like. Knowing. "Just a friend, huh?"
"Yeah something like that."
"Well uhm, I have to finish some closing stuff in here but if you want you can come grab your friend's phone."
Oliver looks around for any other sign of life. Even the restaurant across the parking lot sounded like it had closed down for the night. He turned back to the theater and it looked the same- dark, empty. Granted- this theater had seen much better days. It was older and didn't see big crowds with blockbusters let alone horror sequels that were less than hyped. "Okay." He said, moving across the parking lot towards the doors.
"The doors are still unlocked. Let yourself in."
Oliver got to the doors and pushed- it was locked. "Uhm, no. The door is locked." He could hear something inside moving around. He'd expected the door to pop open- but nothing moved.
"Oh sorry, someone must have locked it. We keep the last door on the left open for employees to take the trash out. Try that one."
Oliver looked down the row of doors- the entrance in question was steeped in shadow at the very end of the building. He took in a sharp breath and started walking towards the door. He could feel the fear rising him his throat but he shoved it down. "Stop being stupid." He scolded himself as he slowly crept away from the light of the entrance and into the darkness. of the night. "You're just freaking out because of the stupid movie."
"You still there?" The voice asks, causing Oliver to jump out of his own skin in surprise. "Whoah- you okay? I didn't scare you, did I?"
"No," Oliver grips the door handle and pulls the door open freely. Finally. He can get in and get out. "It's open. I'm coming in."
"I wouldn't blame you. I get spooked after watching scary movies too." He paused. "Are you into scary movies?"
"Yeah, I guess. I mean I grew up in Woodsboro so it's kind of a prerequisite." He's entered through an exit door at the end of a long hall of enclaves that lead to the theaters. The signs above them still glow with their final showtimes of the night. He can see the lobby down the hallway.
"Yeah, I guess." The voice replied, languishing in a moment that felt like silk coming over the phone. It was like whoever he was talking to relished saying these words. "What's your favorite scary movie?"
"Oh come on." Oliver chuckles to himself. "Really? That tired old line?"
"What's wrong? It's a classic for a reason."
"Maybe in the nineties or something." Oliver relaxes a little. Just being in the safety of the building helps him with feeling less anxious. "Don't get me wrong, Stab movies are a staple of the genre but they're not scary anymore."
"You think?"
"It's the nature of a franchise. Eventually the killer just becomes a joke. Look at Michael Myers- they've rebooted that franchise to Hell." Oliver nears the end of the hallway and pauses. The lights are low and there's a vague shape standing by the doors- shrouded in darkness.
"Michael Myers is just a movie." The voice replies, his voice is lower. It's darker- familiar. "The Stab movies are real. Based on true events."
"Yeah but not..." Oliver stumbles over his words, not taking his eyes off of the shape in the lobby. "all of them."
"And what's why they've gotten so bad. Do you wanna know what makes a good Stab movie?" The voice pauses, waiting for Oliver to come to the realization of where he is. "True events to base them on."
"That's not funny," Oliver states, he can feel himself trembling. He starts to step back towards the hallway, preparing to run for the door that he'd entered through. He started to mentally retrace his steps and make a plan. Run. Door. Run. Keys. Car. Go.
"Where are you going? Don't you want your friend's phone?"
Oliver stops. He's definitely being watched. It was now or never. He hangs up his phone and immediately takes off towards the back entrance. He slams into the door, pushing with the weight of his entire body- but it won't budge. The door is locked. "Fuck!" He yelled out in frustration and tried pushing at it again.
It wouldn't move.
The sound of a door opening and closing in the lobby echoed through the theater. Whoever locked the door must have come back inside. He must have come back in. Oliver cursed himself for coming inside the building- hating himself for even going on this date and trying to move forward with Miguel. If he'd just stayed in his lane and understood their differences were defining- he wouldn't be here in this theater with a psychopathic Stab fanatic.
Another sound in the lobby breaks the silence of the theater and Oliver knows it's time to move. He pushes away from the door and dips into the enclave of the first theater door. Hidden out of view he tries to open the door- it won't budge. Oliver peers around the corner and into the hallway- it was clear. He darts into the next enclave, doing his best to stay out of view.
just as he tries the door, it flings open and a black shrouded figure bursts out of the doorway, knocking Oliver off of his feet.
From here Oliver is chased through the lobby and we see all the decor and posters for STAB X: THE NEXT GENERATION plastering the walls.
The killer ends up chasing Oliver into an empty theater where we get the reveal of Miguel’s body. After a hide n seek in between the rows of the chairs- he is gutted in front of the screen and then hoisted up by the neck.
The camera lights up bathing his dead body in shaky footage that settles on a large shot of the Ghostface mask with Quinn’s bleeding corpse resting between the eyes, his blood smearing across the screen.
CUT TO TITLE
FADE IN: JILL’S APARTMENT
We open with Jill. She gets up and we see a scar on her stomach before she slides a robe on and starts the shower. It’s a normal morning for her. She walks into the living room and opens the windows up and we see the beautiful skyline of Seattle. She grabs a bottle of water from her fridge and hears her phone start ringing. She doesn’t recognize the number so she ends the call- and sees the notifications on her phone going crazy. The latest is from Kirby: TURN ON GALE’S SHOW.
She turns the TV on and we angle on Gale Weathers’ morning show.
Angle on TV: Gale is reporting on the murder of two teenagers in Woodsboro.
CUT TO: CHARLIE’S APARTMENT
We pull back to see Charlie watching the same report in his own apartment. He’s dressed for the day, watching intently with a bag across his chest. He was clearly about to head out when he got the text.
Holding on the concern on his face, we hear Gale explaining the details: Teenagers were posed like Casey and Steve, were dating, and found by theater staff the next morning. We see their school pictures on the screen. They were at the theater seeing the latest Stab movie- the one based on Noah Reid’s rampage through Woodsboro 10 years ago.
CUT TO: KIRBY’S STUDIO
Angling back on Gale for a moment we transition to Kirby Reed, who is moving through her studio apartment, throwing things onto her bed next to an open bag. Her phone sits black screened on the bed next to it. She feels rushed, manic. She’s been dreading this day and after an amount of time- she had hoped that it wouldn’t have happened.
Her phone chimes and lights up- Robbie is calling her. She grabs the phone and answers.
CUT TO: WOODSBORO CINEMA
Robbie, clad in a Woodsboro Deputy uniform, has turned away from the crime scene and speaks closely into the phone. Kirby grills him for information but he isn’t giving anything away. She asks if there’s a reason for them to be afraid and he stays silent. There’s something he isn’t telling her. He tells her that he will see her soon, implying that there’s something he can’t say. They hang up and he looks back at the crime scene.
Oliver, still hanging with his internal organs spilling out onto the stage floor. Robbie walks back over to the scene and where Miguel’s shoulders is a Woodsboro letterman jacket with the last name ‘SHELDON’.