In fiction, continuity is a consistency of the characteristics of people, plot, objects, and places seen by the reader or viewer over some period of time. It is relevant to several media. It has also come to mean a series of contiguous events, known the Canon, set in the same universe. Throughout the Scream film series there have been several notable continuity errors, including its timeline inconsistencies, particularly egregious in the fifth film.
Continuity is particularly a concern in the production of film and television due to the difficulty of rectifying an error in continuity after shooting has wrapped up. However, sometimes continuity errors occur in the form of post-production. Most productions have a script supervisor on hand whose job is to pay attention to and attempt to maintain continuity across the chaotic and typically non-linear production shoot. This takes the form of a large amount of paperwork, photographs, and attention to and memory of large quantities of detail, some of which is sometimes assembled into the story bible for the production.
When Gale says, "Be right back" to Kenny after leaving with Dewey, her mouth is saying "Keep watch".
This was done to correspond to Randy's "Rules" scene, explaining Kenny's concerned face.
It is possible that both scenes could've been included in the re-dub, as Gale's face is not included as she exits for the door, with Dewey in frame.
When Sidney comes running to the house and she sees Dewey come out with the knife in his back, she screams "Dewey!" but her mouth says "no!" (01:27:23).
When Gale starts driving away after she hits Randy with the phone, Kenny's body falls on her windshield. At this part the camera pans to a shot overhead and Gale says "Kenny, I'm sorry, but get off my f***ing windshield!". Her mouth is not moving as she says this. (01:26:38).
Continuity Errors
Billy Loomis stabs Casey Becker, but her blood does not become visible until she falls to the ground. (00:10:49).
Tatum Riley refers to Steve Orth as "Steve Forrest", his original surname from an old draft. (00:18:05).
Tatum Riley attacks Ghostface with beer bottles, which are visible all over him as he strikes at her (01:06:55), but a second later, she ducks, and his costume is completely dry. (01:06:57).
Stunt-Double: When Sidney and Stu are fighting in the living room and they both trip over the couch, Stu's stunt double is visible and wearing a wig that is longer than Stu's hair at the time. (01:40:30).
When Neil Prescott falls out of the closet, if you look closely, you can see the hands of a crew member who was there too, pushing items out after him. (01:42:42).
Real-life mistakes
Factual error: At the end when they are loading Dewey into the ambulance on the stretcher, it is standard procedure to put the patient neck brace when they receive any type of unknown injuries (stab wounds) to their back as Dewey did - it was notably absent. (01:43:23).
Factual error: During the scene where the group of friends watch Halloween (1978), one boy says something like "Why do they do that? The blood is all wrong. It's too red!" The problem is, during that part of the movie, no blood is shown or even implied. Bob is just pinned against the wall. (01:12:27—01:27:30).
Assumed, but not actually mistakes
In the garage, Tatum slams the fridge door into the killer's face. The killer falls over, with, and it opens fully. But in the next wide shot of the killer getting up, the fridge door is closed. Tatum's hand is hovering between these two shots, showing she shut the fridge door after. (01:06:42-43).
When Ghostface is trying to kill Tatum in the garage, she tries to go through the doggie door. From the outside shot, she is out of the door from her head to below her breasts, From the inside shot, a second later, her head is only piercing outside the door, while the rest of her body is inside. However, it is between frames as she is moving in-and-out, trying to slip out faster. (01:07:04).
When Stu Macher surprises Sid after she's come in from outside and locked the door, he "tries to stab her" with his left hand, misses, and hits the door right next to the chain in closeup. In wide shot (very quick shot) when Sid legs it, Stu in costume is holding a very badly bent knife in his right hand, nowhere near the chain. (00:29:08).
Explained: Stu did not intend to kill Sidney here. He even gives her an opportunity to fight back after slowly raising the knife. Everything was planned, including suspicion on Billy. He later explains that they intended to lure her to the party right at the end, to reveal the truth. It is not a stretch to assume the knife he used to strike at the door was rubber.
Scream 2 mistakes
Year mistake
In the secondScream film's cold opening, the theatre screening for Stab shows the date "April 12, 1997" followed by "09:50" (the actual date and time of the second film's production/shooting).
The date is inconsistent with not only the events of the film by year and month, but also the time of the screening. In-universe dialogue later confirms the screening for Stab occurred at midnight. The previous film also shows a blurred background calendar of April 1996 in Himbry's office (date of filming). An in-frame calendar also shows the Macher calendar as showing September 1996 (and all sequels re-confirm this timeline).
In the film's dialogue, Maureen Evans overhears another movie goer state, "Those kids got killed in California a couple of years ago". Later, Gale acknowledges the time passing of several years to Cotton and Sidney, regarding "looking back on the last few years". The film takes place in approximately 1998, and slightly into the future of its release date by approximately five months.
With both Sidney and Randy as college students (Randy in Film), both Gale and the female moviegoer's at the movie theatre aforementioned dialogue could also pertain to Sidney's own role as Cassandra, (Greek mythology figure) starring in the "end-of yearproduction" of The Oresteia, a Greek trilogy of plays, in Agamemnon, the first of the three (which Sidney is shown practicing in) for her own participation in the Windsor College Theatre. This due to her own Major (theatre) and due to being in the class, as her Professor Gus Gold is directing, of which could translate that at the end of year meaning after her first full college year up until June 1998 (freshman to sophomore in 1998), or if in late 1997 (See Timeline), could mean the end of her winter semester & production at the end of 1997, still as a freshman in both years, while in June 1998, she'd have become a sophomore had she continued with her education. Before receiving her honorary diploma, Sidney before her practice the day after Cici Cooper's murder, had stated to Dewey that her play would open in 2 days, on Sunday.
Bad continuity perpetuated: The fifth film, produced by Radio Silence, accidentally perpetuated this incorrect release date year of Stab as an "Easter egg".
Accidentally Consistent Continuity: While outside in line before being admitted into the movie theatre, Phil Stevens is told by his girlfriend Maureen Evans how Sandra Bullock is just playing around the corner. The only films which Sandra Bullock was in between 1997 to 1998 were Speed 2: Cruise Control (released June 13, 1997) & Hope Floats (released May 29, 1998). While the first movie was released in June 1997, it's very likely Maureen was then referring to Hope Floats, which would've been released six days before both Maureen and Phil's murders, if the events in Windsor College, with Sidney and Randy attending took place in June 1998 as it's stated how Maureen and Phil were both seniors (despite Maureen saying to Phil how she should've been studying for her bio, who was a Biology major, likely she'd be taking her last year exams in order to graduate as the senior exit exam is used for U.S colleges/universities).
Fans have rectified this with the idea of Stab being given a limited release at the end of 1997, with its official, wide-release, following an exclusive night of preview screenings at a theatre on Thursday night in June 1998; this'd make it Thursday, June 4th, 1998, at the very most & as the earliest possible timeframe, as it was factually the first Thursday in June of that year & possibly the first day of the Windsor College Murders (It appears Maureen's screening is also not the only screening that night, as exiting kids are seen with the costume, excitedly revealing their thoughts about the film; Maureen also comments to Phil speaking in regards to timeframes, see Above).
However, due to Scream VI, and it visually stating in that the events of the second film occurred in 1997 when showing the murder board of all the then previously nine Ghostface killers and their massacres, this leads to an ostensible explanation which could correlate with the retcon from the sixth film, as explained below (For more information, see Timeline).
Date Formatting Continuity: It's worth noting how if taking the D/M/Y (Date-Month-Year) format of the screen, as seen on the left showing the production date of shooting (stated as supposedly when Scream 2 would've took place, despite it being in-universe, incorrect), it's possible how "12 April, 1997", the month being shown in the middle could instead mean the day; due to the fact that the United States, unlike with the D/M/Y format used worldwide in other countries (excluding Japan, which uses Y/M/D), only uses the MM/DD/YY, also known as the M/D/YY format, for when writing dates (Month/Date/Year).
It's possible that if by only using the first 12 months chronologically to count the first 12 days, possibly with it using the 18 remaining days via the other half of Phonetic Alphabet letters in counting all (overlooked despite fact of how it's only 12 months in a year but only 30 days in any given month except February), this'd make the movie screening date shown translated from "12 April" to Thursday night, December 4th, 1997 still at midnight "09:50", which also occurs on a Thursday falling upon December of that year. With it nearing the end of the year into 1998, correlates to Gale saying "looking back on the last fewyears", as she tried to interview both Sidney and Cotton together, and to that of the female moviegoer's for Stab saying "Those kids got killed in California a couple ofyears ago", as more aligned due to it being near the end of the year, speaking approximately, and also corroborating with the rectification of Stab then being released for limited release at the end of 1997, before wide release in 1998. The only plot hole is Maureen's statement about going to see Sandra Bullock to Phil; however, it's possible, despite the overall negative reception of Speed 2, the film itself could've still been playing, due to some movie theatres not having a strict timeframe of films playing even after their initial releases; this contributes to what Gale said following Maureen and Phil's murders, "They'd be stupid to pull this movie. With all this free press, they're going to have huge numbers this weekend", referring to Sunrise Studios distributing Stab.
The end of year production which Sidney is set to star in also correlates to whether the Windsor College Murders events took place, either June 1998or December 1997 (with the murders beginning on Thursday night-Friday midnight, on the 4th, approx. with them all occurring over 2-3 days), and if did take place in late 1997, on the first week of December, it would've took place a week before the release of the second film, which would've made or if retconned, could make it the first film to have also taken place around the same time (due to the original film being released almost 3 months after the film events in-universe had occurred), despite Scream 3 currently holding the title for its film events taking place coinciding with that to the film's release date.
Continuity Errors
Maureen Evans receives a different order than what she asked for.
When the killer is attacking Cici on the balcony, you can see blood on Cici's back before she is even stabbed and both times she is stabbed, the knife that comes out of her back has no blood on it. (00:33:20).
Visible crew: If you look really close in the background as the killer throws Cici off the balcony, you can see someone sitting in a tree, wearing black, with a camera.
When Chief Lewis Hartley writes "Cici Cooper" on the chalkboard, between the closeup and wideshot of him writing, the handwriting and location of his writing dramatically changes, and the words "Maureen Evans" and "Phil Stevens" above, also change too. (00:41:20).
Character mistakes:
Randy Trivia Fail: During the scene in which they are all arguing whether or not film sequels are better than the original or not, someone says Sigourney Weaver's classic line from the movie sequel Aliens (1986): "Get away from her you bitch". Randy makes a smart comeback and tries to correct him by saying "I think the correct line was 'stay away from her you bitch'.[1] This is film class, right?" Wrong — the first guy was actually right.[2]
This line may initially appear unconvincing for the Randy character, being a big movie buff, but he also detested sequels; it shows the character is slipping, inadvertently foreshadowing his demise later in the film. It also signals he is less trivia savvy about sequels in general.
Explanation: Jamie Kennedy decided to improvise as Joshua Jackson actually made the initial mistake by saying the wrong line, causing a different mistake. (00:16:25).
Scream 3 (2000) mistakes
"Ten more murders and we'll have a calendar" stated by J. Wallace is contradicted by the fact that there has already been three murders, so it would be nine more murders and they will have a calendar. Wes Craven noted this in the DVD commentary.
Angelina also states, "Two people are dead," to Tom Prinze at Jennifer's wrap party, but three people are known to be dead at this point.
A reporter states Cotton Weary shot his cameo for Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro, but in the opening Cotton is complaining about being asked to do it, and wants more money to make it happen, so he has not actually shot it yet. A possible re-interpretation of this is he was asked to have a more extended scene or a different cameo following one of the re-writes (in-universe).
Roman threatens Cotton with killing Christine if he does not reveal information about Sidney's whereabouts. Due to his connections, Cotton would apparently have this information. However, the logic of Roman finding Sidney through monitoring Dewey's calls with a scanner make threatening Cotton and Christine pointless, as Dewey would contact Sidney regardless.
The only other way around this is to believe Roman's accomplice, Angelina (before the studio rejected the idea during filming), stole Dewey's phone from Jennifer at her wrap party. This makes the whodunit far less convoluted.
There are two assailants during the set-attack of 34 Elm Street. It is impossible for Roman to play with the door from one end of the room and grab Sidney from behind at the other. Also, when Sidney flings Ghostface from the set structure, causing a huge landing fall onto the bed, Ghostface manages to be in Maureen's set-room mere seconds later, to whisper to Sidney to come into the room. We later learn this is not Sidney losing her sanity, as Roman acquires Maureen's voice through a voice modifier, so how is he able to teleport between two different places? The only explanation is that Roman is superhuman, as Randy suggests, or he had an accomplice (Angelina).
Two voice changers and costumes: Roman has two voice changers and costumes, noted when Gale finds both in the final act, but Ghostface (Roman) attacks later, and Roger L. Jackson can be heard still under the mask. If he was a lone killer, he would not want to implicate himself or give himself away with revealing his voice modifying technology. This is further evidence of a second killer, and an accomplice.
Year of events, regarding Maureen from past to present: Given that there's heavy exposition in the third film events, regarding Maureen Prescott and her identity as an actress named "Rina Reynolds" for Sunrise Studios, background, which would be the same studios in meta commentary, responsible for the exploitation of the brutal Woodsboro Murders of which she was the first victim of via producing and distributing the Stab film series of which portrays them, adapting them based from the books written by Gale, on the "real" terrorizing murders committed by Ghostface even after Woodsboro, of which all have targeted her daughter, Sidney, for Maureen's death and secrets is given detailed depth and explanation and in literary devices and tropes in horror (as stated by Randy in an interquel scene, due to him having recorded himself a videotape at Windsor College before his death, explaining rules for trilogies, mainly on how there's more context and exposition given than ever before, who remarks to those watching to forget on what they knew in the past, which ties in to trilogy rules).
Including Maureen's time at the studios in Hollywood in the 1960s before leaving in the early 1970's due to having been blacklisted/blackballed, for attempting on speaking out about her being gang raped by producers during producer parties, meta commentary on these crimes in the film industry.
Due to the end result of her assault (1969, approx.), as per John Milton's own statement of "It was in the(19) 70s" (who produced Maureen's movies when she was Rina), she ended up conceiving an illegitimate child, a son, her first (02/04/1970), of who she birthed and gave up for adoption before finally leaving Hollywood in 1971-1972; settling down in Woodsboro, marrying Neil and having a legitimate child, a daughter, her second-born (03/14/1979) 7-8 years later, as Maureen then became a housewife, and Sidney being born nine years after her older half-brother (as originally they would've been 10 years apart, with Roman originally supposed to have been born in 1969; See Below for explained).
However, her past trauma led Maureen to cope by being promiscuous and having a few affairs consummated during her marriage, due to her husband's busy work life and her dealing with her issues, which soon became talk in the small town of Woodsboro, most notably being that with Cotton Weary, who was imprisoned following her murder.
This all comes down to Roman Bridger, director of the cancelled Stab 3, revealed as the first son of Maureen and mastermind of the original Woodsboro Murders, who'd looked for Maureen his whole life and "4 years ago" he had, and how after she denied him (as she said he was "Rina's" child, her actress stage name of who was dead; in a sense of foreshadowing and irony, due to her becoming the first ever victim), he would stalk and come across videotaping Maureen meeting to have an affair with Hank Loomis, as the father of his own half sister's Sidney's murderous former ex-boyfriend, Billy Loomis, as Roman then gave this footage to Billy and his motive for killing Maureen, due to Billy's mother Nancy Loomis (of who attempted to avenge her son by setting out to murder Sidney and her friends in Windsor College) having left Billy and divorcing Hank after having discovered of this extramarital affair. He convinced Billy to do this with his best friend, Stu Macher, in case he had to sell him out and to frame Cotton Weary (due to all of Woodsboro knowing about this publicized affair even before news broke out of the murder).
This would see the breaking down of the timeline for the original trilogy, as well as Maureen's background more thoroughly, such as her age due to various photos of a young Maureen as Rina in backlots at Sunrise Studios (as stated by Dewey as it being "28 years ago" to Gale, which if given the fact the Hollywood Murders were in 2000, by comparing a photo featuring her in the same lot which Jennifer Jolie, the actress who portrayed Gale in the Stab movies, was taken, back in 1971-1972, possibly her last photo at the studios before she was blacklisted from Hollywood).
Real Life Commentary: More likely than not, the actual filming of Scream 3, of which in it's film's events also sees the production of a film-within-a film be halted, of which sees Roman Bridger, director, who's shown, following the opening scene and news of the murders break out, talk to producer John Milton and others from Sunrise Studios on the indoor lot stage set for the fictional sequel (due to no Ghostface massacres ever since Windsor at the time having occurred, thus not warranting it an adaptation), saying to hire more security in light of recent events in order to not cancel the movie, with an executive telling him "Violence in cinema is a big deal right now, Roman. This is not the kind of news this studio's after".
This is actually, in real life and within-universe, in regards to the aftermath of the Columbine High School shooting in April 1999, which saw backlash on how its two perps were inspired by certain films, and the impact of violence in entertainment carrying out into real world translation, via copycat crimes or inspired, as Scream was one of the various horror films called out. This alongside various film studios's response, would cause a delay in the original Assembly Cut (unlike the final film of which has been released), due to rewrites to prevent Internet leaks like Scream 2, and of which is commentary interpreted within the third film.
Roman's follow up to the executive, states "So if we stop making movies, what? All the psychos in the world will retire?", before complaining and pointing out Cotton Weary being an infamous talk show host with an implied reputation in regards to his death being a reason to affect the already rushed film (Roman reminds John and the others how casting Cotton was their idea), due to the aftermath. John asks Detectives Mark Kincaid and J. Wallace if there's no reason to believe Cotton's cameo in the film, and his death, have anything to do with each other, as Wallace sarcastically yet clearly points out the title of the film and the nature of Cotton's death as he'd fallen victim the same way (like the Film students in Scream 2 blaming Stab for Maureen Evans and Phil Stevens's deaths at a screening the night prior).
Roman's comments would correlate with the previous films, seeing as how Scream 2 discussed the impact of copycat crimes briefly, due to the basis of the first Stab film (Sunrise Studios, of which Roman was hired to direct), and of who at one of various exclusive screenings, was responsible for the tragic deaths of two students, although Cici Cooper said, "You can't blame real life violence entertainment. Movies are not responsible for our actions.", to her fellow Film classmates who argued the opposite, who were in the Windsor Film class discussing this before discussing sequels with Randy Meeks, a survivor; even the first Scream itself is meta-commentary on both horror films conventions and it's real self-aware satirical implications, with the first Ghostface killer Billy Loomis, telling Sidney to not blame movies for his and his accomplice Stu Macher's actions, saying "Movies don't create psychos! Movies make psychos more creative!"; the latter being Roman as the initial force who led Billy to killing his and his half-sister Sidney's mother for him.
In regards to continuity, this'd explain and translate various scheduling conflicts with cast (Neve Campbell, being in the popular TV show, Party of Five, had limited availability and despite her main role as Sidney, had less screentime than in the previous films), changes in crew and ultimately rewrites in light of the events (as due to the original Kevin Williamson screenplay being rewritten by Ehren Kruger, due to Kevin being the screenwriter for Wasteland, whose original screenplay had to be heavily altered and remodified in light of Columbine, thus explaining it's own change in tone and emphasis on comedy over horror at times), thus explains Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro's commentary on its own film-within-a a film production, of which'd explain the Calendar error (See Below), as Stab 3 was possibly likely in development hell, even before Cotton's cameo and eventual death following him having shot it.
Continuity Errors
Calendar: A calendar at Roman's office at Stab 3 Production Office shows the calendar for dates in 1999, (Casting, Filming, etc.) including June-August (as seen on the right), as well as November 1999, when Sarah Darling heads into Roman's office before her murder, as it creates questions as to the timeframe as to the Hollywood Murders occurring within production of Stab 3. Given that Scream VI, it visually shows 2000 when showing the murder board of the first 9 Ghostface killers and their massacres, it is then when the third film took place on February 1-4, 2000 instead; when Roman stated he'd found Maureen "four years ago", it was an approximation (as it would've been 1996, not 1995, literal).
With the third film, it's events occurred in early 2000, with Roman then having been born in 1970 instead, not 1969, in corroborating with him turning 30 in the film (most Continuity Errors comes from errors not caught on or changed during post production, as is the case with discrepant calendars left in the background. Ex: Arthur Himbry's April 1996 calendar, etc.), thus in 1970, he'd been only 9 years older than Sidney, (b. 1979) not 10 years apart in age had he been born in 1969.
Although various script rewrites and discrepancies in dialogue before and during, even so, after the final product, as well as visual storytelling devices, would've suggested the film took place in late-1999 instead, which would've fit exactly with Roman tracking Maureen "four years ago", in 1995; similar to the fifth film almost 22 years later, which also suggests it's events had took place over two years as well (2021-2022 for the Legacy Murders, See Below).
Assumed, but not actually mistakes
Power Outage: While the power goes out at Jennifer's, the fax machine is a backup power generator. Wes Craven explains this in the DVD commentary, pointing to the backup power light.
Roman's pulse: Wes Craven explained in the DVD commentary that he tried very hard to find a way for the dialogue to explain how Roman managed to slow his pulse down to a point where it seemed like he was not alive. He demonstrated it as proof of it being a real thing, but could not find a way to explain it in words. Fans mistake this to be a plot hole, as if he were alive, his pulse would be evident.
Scream (2022) mistakes
Timeline and Other Mistakes
Ghostface claims Sidney is in all films but Stab 8. Sidney was only in the original Stab trilogy, according to the previous film. She threatened to sue if they continued to use her in subsequent films. However, the previous film also shows Gale watching an interview in which the interviewer asks Sidney whether the seven Stab films, all based on Gale Weathers' books about Sidney, made it difficult for Sidney to move on. This question suggests that Sidney was involved in all seven films or that the plot of each one draws from aspects of her life.
Samantha Carpenter is too young to be Billy Loomis' daughter at age 23. The timeline is wrong by one year (two years if the film is set in 2022).
The film simultaneously suggests it takes place in both September 2021 and 2022, despite how in Scream VI, a reporter in the New York Murders states how Sam is being framed as the mastermind of the Third Woodsboro Murders "in 2022", suggesting it took place and was committed then, clearly stating so.
Principal states classes are cancelled tomorrow, but the next day is Saturday, if Tara's attack corresponds to the landline date.
Due to Scream VI's retcon, this would mean that Woodsboro High classes would take place on Saturday and how the next day the classes would be cancelled, despite that being Sunday when no school takes place, except Sunday School, which is mostly used for church (possible explanation being the Principal had meant to say classes are cancelled for Monday, September 26th, 2022 instead. despite this being vague.)
Sidney's Threatened Lawsuit: Sidney's lawsuit, threatening the creators for using her character after Stab 3: Hollywood Horror in the continuation of the Stab franchise is ret-conned. It appears she is in "every movie but the last one", according to "Charlie" calling Tara Carpenter. However, the reason for her lawsuit is now unaccounted for, effectively creating an unintentional plot hole.
The suggestion that Sidney threatened to sue based on using fiction is inconsistent with her story arc in Scream 4 (2011). In context, Jenny Randall is stating that, because Sidney could no longer appear, the Stab franchise became exaggerative with fiction, not that they were intending to re-use real life elements with Stab 4, as no real life murders occurred at that time.
A possible resolution to this is that the studio was going to remake Stab (1997) in the mid-2000s. But because Sidney bought the rights to the original Woodsboro Murders (1995—1996) killing spree through her self-help book, Out of Darkness in media format, they were held off from doing so, hence Stab sequels were made instead, akin to the Saw franchise.
It is claimed that Dewey was stabbed 9 times, although that doesn't match what we've seen in the previous movies. In the original movie, he was only stabbed once in the back, while in Scream 2, Nancy Loomis stabbed him 4-5 times.
It is possible that Dewey also counted the cut on his hand during the fight with Roman Bridger in Scream 3 and he may have gotten stabbed more off-screen in the first movie. However this was never shown directly.
Judy Hicks is a character in a "shitty, inferior sequel". This is an attempt to be a meta joke at Scream 4 (2011), but is inconsistent with other references of the Stab film series in the Screamuniverse, as seven Stab films had previously been released (the most recent being Kristen Bell as Ghostface, Chloe). This makes the only conceivable sequel to be Stab 8 (2021; continuity error release year).
However, it is obvious from the dialogue, it was intended to be a previous iteration, as Wes Hicks would state Stab 8 forthright, as it is so recent "it came out last year", whereas all previous sequels were a decade beforehand.
As per Mindy's idea of Requel rules, nobody questions whether the killer the killer will strike a character who appears in the supposed "worst Stab of all".
Sam Forgets Billy and Previous Killers' Motive: She expresses to Mindy during the sit-down at Martha's house, "Come on, it's just a movie", in response to the idea that the killers are Stab fanatics. From a dialogic perspective, it makes very little sense that Samantha questions this motive: Dewey Riley stated in the previous scene, "Your killer's obsessed with the Stab movies. right?"
It also makes little sense from contextual background information: she attended Woodsboro High as a freshman and sophomore when the second and third Stab-A-thon (2010-2011) occurred, the previous killers also had a Stab fanatic, Charlie Walker, who was two grades above Samantha in high school. Samantha also acknowledges his existence on the car trip to Woodsboro. Most importantly, her father, Billy Loomis's very motive for killing was inspired by horror movies.
Inside Stu Macher's House Where Your Dad And Stu Killed "Everyone": Sidney warns Sam to leave 261 Turner Lane. "You're in Stu Macher's house, where your dad and Stu killed everyone. Someone planned to get you there. You need to get the fuck out, Sam." But they only killed one person inside the house, Dewey's sister, Tatum.
The line would have also worked better if Sidney stated "You're in Stu Macher's house where your dad and Stu killed my best friend, Tatum Riley. Tatum was Dewey's little sister. Whoever brought you there wants you there, and wants your little sister there too."
Continuity Errors
Class Cancelled on Saturday: The film begins on 23rd September, 2021 (according to Tara's landline) which falls on a Thursday. But the new Principal of Woodsboro High (voiced by Drew Barrymore) states that "all classes are cancelled tomorrow due to public safety concerns", despite the next day being Friday 24th. However, with the film being in 2022, September 23rd fell on a Friday night, with the next day being Saturday when class would not take place regardless.
Samantha Carpenter claims her sister was attacked the night before her attack. The reporter's voice also claims it occurred "one night" before. Though if this is true, this contradicts the Principal of Woodsboro's message.
A possible re-interpretation of this is that the attack took place one working day before Sam's attack, and the news reporter followed this along, while Sam exaggerates this to Dewey for dramatic effect (similar to Sidney "where your dad and Stu killed everyone" or Woodsboro holds classes on a Saturday).
Logically, the 23/09 date is simply the date of filming, though its explicit on-screen appearance leads people to believe it may follow in contingent with Stu's calendar in his house from the original film which was dated as "September 1996", as the reporter at the end also states it has been "twenty-five years, almost to the day".
Another issue with the events of Sam's return being the morning after Tara's attack is Amber hosting a party on Sunday, the night before school (unless classes were suspended once again). Though this may align with it originally being a memorial for Wes, which turned into a party, as Sunday is a religious day.
Unfinished CGI: Before Ghostface (Richie) goes to knife the board column in attacking Sam, it appears to be one special effects shot where he is not wielding a knife, it simply flies mid-air on its own.
Ghostface Three Board Knife Column Position: When Sam is assaulted at the hospital the first time, Ghostface misses Sam with his knife, which gets stuck on a poster on the board. By mistake, he "stabbed" the third column of the text on the poster. The knife, however, gets stuck in the first column instead, then he pulls him out from the third column again, resulting in a hole in the second column. (00:24:00)
Amber Grows 7 inches With Rib-Cage Immunity and Mass Muscle Strength: The film does not explicitly reveal Amber wore a bulletproof vest when shot by Dewey Riley; it has been discerned by audience members, though Ghostface briefly flaunting the bulletproof vest for a moment. Even still, the idea that her ribcage remained in tact after taking gunshots from such a close range is inconceivable.
When killing Dewey, she is able to regain momentum somehow in his distraction, and have enough strength to lift a stabbed 50-year-old male trained sheriff with full body mass weight through wielding a knife, despite her small stature out-of-costume and weighing around 180 pounds. She is also noticeably much taller in the scene (as it is a stuntman), while in the final act, it appears every other character is taller than her, Sidney included. Due to previous films, we know Sidney's height is much smaller than Dewey's, marking further confusion by fans about the scene.
1 Day Passed After the Hicks', Deputy Clay and Dewey Riley's Murders: The four murders of Judy, Wes, Deputy Clay and Dewey Riley, seems to all have taken place on the same day, which in 2022, would've been on Sunday, 25th September. After the latter's murder, Gale is seen arriving outside the hospital at sunrise, leading to Monday, September 26th and it was still daylight when she is shown embracing Sidney; Since the scene after Sidney and Gale's reunion takes place at night, it is assumed they waited for Sam until then before seeking her help to catch the killer.
This also explains Samantha being attacked by Ghostface (Richie Kirsch) within Saturday night, Sept 24- Sunday midnight, Sept 25th, as Sheriff Judy Hicks, just before her death, talks to Sam about Vince (unnamed), as having "a body outside of Main", having a victim wound up not long before Sam's attack, in correlation as it corroborates to the timeframe (most likely Vince was killed by Amber before her being brought into the station for questioning, and then Richie attacking Sam as it would've occurred from Saturday night leading into Sunday, with in 2021, it'd be Friday night, Sept. 24th onto Saturday midnight, Sept 25th; See Timeline).
Likely, Tara was discharged onto Monday night, 26 September heading to midnight at Tuesday, 27 September, as her and Sam and Richie planned to get out of Woodsboro before Tara, who couldn't find her inhaler, led them to stopping to Amber's house to retrieve her extra, who's hosting a memorial for Wes/night party; due to nature of her injuries, it could be that Tara was released on Tuesday night (27th) instead; although given the statement by the reporter at the end of the Third Woodsboro Murders, ending "almost to the day" of the 1996 murders, with the 2022 murders having ended also at 261 Turner Lane (Stu's former house, which Amber's parents now owned), for the second time, albeit this means
Wes's Memorial and Night Party at Amber's House Taking Place on School Night: While stating under the pretense of hosting a memorial to commemorate Wes, the party at Amber's house, owned formerly by the second revealed Ghostface killer, Stu Macher and his family, the memorial party is being an exact re-enactment of the party hosted by Stu himself almost 26 years prior (originally 25), with the only differences being that the party back in September 1996 was just a party; not a memorial to the victims of Stu or Casey, like with what Amber is hosting hers for Wes, which is almost the exact remake device of what the diversion of the Stab-A-Thon was meant to be (like the original, was just a party, despite the murders of Marnie, Jenny, and Olivia), before it had turned out the afterparty at Kirby Reed's house, 329 Whispering Lane, was made to be in the Second Woodsboro Murders, the new and true party held by the teenagers after Stu's original one. Regardless, both parties seemed to then take place on a school night, despite how the curfews are supposedly imposed on both each time since the original, following the murders.
With the Legacy Murders taking place in September 2022, and Tara's attack occurring Friday, and if Woodsboro High cancelled or cut classes short for Monday, 26th September -Tuesday, 27 September, it's possible that Amber's party, like Stu's and Charlie's before her, was used, in her guise, to lure the targets of the killers, as a "memorial" for Wes, and that's why it took place on Tuesday night instead (See Above).
"Almost to the Day": At the finale of the fifth film and the Third Woodsboro Murders, a female news reporter states how the new third murders had ended "almost to the day", meaning Tuesday dawn, September 27th; in regards to when they began (anniversary theory debunked: See Below), of which was when the first Woodsboro Murders would have also ended on Saturday morning, September 28th (Maureen being killed on the same day a year prior, Thursday Sept. 28th), with the female reporter's statement then corroborating this fact, as they did in fact, ended "almost to the day," with it then being concluded, not on the anniversary day of September 28th (date of Maureen's murder in 1995, following up with the 1996 murders, latter ending on the anniversary day of it; in 2011, then having been chosen as the first day for the Second Woodsboro Murders; Maureen's death just 16 years prior and 15 since the day the 1996 Woodsboro Murders ended on the date of her death anniversary, coinciding).
In regards to Vince' murder on Saturday night, Sept. 24th heading into midnight on Sunday, Sept. 25th, with the later four murders (see Above) occurring also on the 25th, meaning that Tara would've been released from the hospital, and Sidney and Gale's reunion, it'd be Monday, Sept. 26th, 2022, also the night of the party in hosting Wes Hicks' a memorial as a front at Amber's house, at 261 Turner Lane (in the original 2021 timeline, this would've meant Vince's murder them transpired on Friday, Sept. 24th to Saturday midnight, Sept 25th; the 4 murders then had taken place on the same Saturday, with then the reunion of Sidney and Gale; to Tara and her hospital discharge on Sunday, Sept. 26th, which falls into with the night party also being that day, in regards to why Wes Hicks' memorial's was held: See Above sections to clarify); this also would've meant in 2021, the Legacy Murders finished on Monday, Sept. 27th; in 2022, it's on a Tuesday, as in either year, it corroborates the news reporter's statement outside 261 Turner Lane, 26 yrs. later, in the finale).
If Tara was discharged on Tuesday the 27th, would've been a Wednesday, 28th Sept., just coinciding with Maureen's death off by a day (Thursday, Sept 28, 1995) and 26 years since the day the 1996 murders ended; ironically, it would've ended when the Second Woodsboro Murders began just 11 years earlier on the same day, also on a Wednesday.
Unexplained plot threads
Liv McKenzie states she cannot visit their friend, Tara Carpenter at Woodsboro Hospital. It is a Red Herring to draw suspicion on her, but it is unexplained why, later on, she did not choose to meet her friend, who was stabbed seven times and was also her co-worker.
Why does nobody seem to know that Amber Freeman is an occupant to a former murder house?
Sidney Prescott is married to Mark Evans and has several children with him. However, Rebecca, her assistant and publicist, claims that Sidney was celibate and "never got laid", implying she was single. To explain this, it's possible Sidney did not disclose her relationship with him during Scream 4 but this is unconfirmed.
If Sidney Prescott was forced to stay in Woodsboro due to being a potential material witness during Scream 4 (2011), it appears almost certain she would have chosen to stay with Martha Meeks, who she hugged and appeared to be fond of and close to in Scream 3 (2000) over her estranged aunt and cousin, Kate and Jill Roberts. It appears that Martha and the twins must have left before returning to Woodsboro.
Scream (2022 film) timeline inconsistencies
Summary
Sam, Billy's daughter, is 5 years older than 18-year-old Tara, a high school student (Sam is 13, while Tara is 8 when Mr. Carpenter leaves); the reporter at the end confirms it has been 25 years since Billy's death at 261 Turner Lane.
She is maximum 23 in-dialogue despite this. Amber Freeman also confirms Sam left on her 18th birthday, and Tara confirms she is back "five whole years" later with strong emphasis, and repeats this line.
Fans have rectified this by suggesting Samantha is 24, born 9 months after his murder, conceived shortly before, while Tara is 19 or close to 19 (repeating a high school grade), and Amber additionally exaggerated Sam's departure, which occurred when she was closer to 19, repeating a high school grade. However, all three instances have to be true, not one or two.
This conflicts with information confirming the events is minimum occurring in 2021.
The fifth film declares the Legacy Murders as almost exactly near the 25th anniversary, at least according to an end-of-film reporter, and the Stab film is a digital release in 2021.
A calendar also indicates it is September (though calendars and tickets are inconsistent with said on-screen events). This presents many issues in the story, including the ages of certain characters.
The script was written in 2019 and the movie was made in 2020 (explaining why Samantha Carpenter is indicated to be 23, originally born in 1996 most likely, returning 5 years later). But there are ways to resolve this issue with two retcons.
It is possible Amber exaggerated Sam leaving on her 18th birthday. It is also possible Samantha misremembered and was looking for general gifts, and not Christmas gifts, at a much later date (closer to her 14th birthday). Or she looked for leftover Christmas gifts in January 2011, the year of Tara's 8th birthday (most likely).
Debunked idea: Close to Maureen's anniversary
The film could not be 25 years since the Maureen Prescott Murder of September 1995, the definitive beginning of The Woodsboro Murders. This is highly unlikely. While Gale references this as being the first Ghostface killing that was copycatted in Scream 2 with Maureen Evans, it is the 1996 near and actual anniversary succession that is considered the actual Woodsboro Murders, and the references are clearly callbacks to the 1996 events.
Additionally, Stab (2021), the eighth film, is already available as a digital release in 2021 on YouTube, which would not be exactly near September 2020 (25 years after September 1995). However, over five years after Sam's birth would be late-2002 and early-2003 approximately, the graduating high school class of 2021, coinciding with this idea. The reporter's comments of being close to the exact anniversary gives a difficult timeline for other things. Finally, Neve Campbell confirmed the film takes place ten years later, and the fifth film confirms the fourth is set in 2011, in-dialogue.
In the most likely instance, the events of the film are supposed to take place almost 25 years after September 1996. This opens up several issues:
Sam and Tara's five year age-gap goof
The film confirms Sam Carpenter as Billy Loomis' secret lovechild. This easily works if you consider Billy conceived the child a month (specifically late august 1996 according to Scream VI, Sam's birth date is May 19th 1997) before his death, however, other dialogue complicates her sister's age.
Dialogue confirms she is approximately five years older than high school senior Tara Carpenter. At 18, Sam abandoned Tara, 13. (Sam is 18 in 2015, but also this could have occurred in 2016, close to 19).
She is mentioned to have "ghosted" her family on her 18th birthday, according to Amber, but this may simply be an exaggeration by Amber for the others to dislike Sam and build tension to frame her as the new killer. This does not fix several other errors though).
If Amber exaggerated or lied, this is not the first time in a Scream film a character discusses something that is factually incorrect (Randy "corrects" a student who states a line from Aliens, "Get away from her you bitch". In actuality, Randy is the incorrect one, his correction "Stay" is a goof by the production when they were rehearsing lines to get the other actor to understand dialog, causing roles to be switched. In this instance, Amber could also be false for suggesting Sam left right away, possibly intentionally).
At 13 in December 2010 approx., Sam discovered her birth origin, and Tara's father left when she was 8, further confirming they are 5 years apart in age. Therefore, if close to the September 1996 killings, Sam has just turned 24 years old one or two months prior. So Tara is 18 turning 19, one year above a high-school senior age.
To resolve this, it is possible Tara repeated one year of high school and is 18 turning 19 in early-2022, one year above her peers (despite Ortega being 3-8 years younger than her cast mates portraying high schoolers in the same group, so therefore it is a mistake by the production).
It is also possible the Christmas gifts were leftovers in January, and this occurred in 2011, the year of Tara's 9th birthday (Tara turned 8 a month prior in December 14th 2010), having rounded the age her father abandoned her. (It could also be that they were forgotten gifts at a later time period in early-mid 2011, though this is unlikely).
It is also possible Sam misremembered the timeframe of her legal father's abandonment (but that seems unlikely).
Resolution of age issues
Sam Carpenter is 25, born on May 19th 1997 (despite being definitively referenced as 23 in the script for Scream 5 due to a production mistake), and Tara is 19, they have a five-year age difference, 1997-2002, given that Tara's birthday was December 14, 2002 and Sam turned five years old on May 19th, 2002, it's obviously a five year age difference between the two sisters).
Tara's birthday is revealed on a wristband. She was born December 14, 2002.
Amber Freeman exaggerated Sam's abandonment. She was closer to 19, possibly after graduating, if she repeated a year due to her teenage troubles.
Left-over Christmas presents theory: Mr. Carpenter left "that night" in January 2011, the year of Tara's 9th birthday (as Tara turned 8 years old, a month prior in December 14th 2010). This is a case of extreme rounding. Tara had only been 8 for a month, nonetheless, it still is the best possible way to rectify this issue (and people do round life events based on the year of their birthday, even if it is a year-end event).
However, Radio Silence have not given a confirmation or explanation on this.
The fountain scene (with Kirby)'s inclusion would have changed the motivation for why Sidney threatened to sue the studio. It originally appears to be a legal Life Rights Agreement issue (meaning they cannot use Sidney for any purposes at all).
From the (somewhat revisionist) writing development of Scream 5, it is most likely a story/publishing dispute in media entertainment form. Richie Kirsch makes a strong point that Stab 8 is Sidney's first non-appearance in the franchise.
A story/publishing rights issue in entertainment form would suggest Sidney won the rights to tell the original story of Stab in an on-camera, re-made film or television series format. Her motivation may have been to obtain the rights to adapt Out of Darkness to film (if she chose to do so).
The idea of Out of Darkness as a film is mentioned by Rebecca in Scream 4. (In the screenplay, however, the concept behind Rebecca's reference is to show that Sidney is not an opportunist who seeks to create a money based on a self-help novel. This idea, however, may corroborate this revisionist story element in Scream 5 to explain Sidney's desire to sue).
Furthermore, Scream 5 does not indicate Sidney chose to adapt Out of Darkness in media form. But it is possible she simply gained ownership rights with false intentions to re-adapt, but prevented any measures taken to do so.
Scream VI mistakes
When Ghostface calls Sam and Tara while they're in Central Park, near Wayne Bailey, it's clearly in the afternoon, broad daylight. Gale's residence on West 96th is less than 10 miles away, yet when Sam and Tara arrive, it's already 9:00 PM. There's no amount of traffic that could account for a several-hour delay in their trip from Central Park to the Upper West Side, despite it being Halloween.
The only other logical conclusion would be that it would've been nearing into the late afternoon, likely 6:30 PM to 7, when the sisters departed to Gale's, which is when sunset typically falls in New York in October.
It's possible the side of the park which Wayne parked his car in and that Tara and Sam took off in, was facing away from the Upper West, either in Carnegie Hall, up Northeast, or by Grand Army Plaza, unclear.
Another explanation for this would be Sam and the others not knowing in which building on the Upper West Side was the one Gale resided in, most likely Gale's address isn't publicly available information or if Gale herself had or hadn't told them. If being the former, means Sam would've likely forgotten due to the city, and not having memorized the majority as she was only a resident for less than a year.
They'd most likely encounter problems in parking Wayne's car due to how there are parking car laws in NYC, which would mean if parking wasn't available on the Upper West Side or anywhere that nearby, they'd have to find parking somewhere farther out before having to set off on foot (seeing as the Core Four then take the subway after Gale's attack, as Wayne was likely returned his car after Tara drove it off with Sam) with it having to be within Manhattan (which if they parked North in Harlem or Upper Manhattanville, takes an hour or waking to get from there to the Upper West Side, regardless of parking, due to the vehicle not belonging to either of the Carpenter sisters).
Sam and Tara could've encountered lobby staff denying them access to go up & being escorted by security from Gale's building, meaning they'd have to then find another way into the building which could've taken theoretically a few hours, and who'd have had to contact Wayne or Kirby about if they'd encountered this issue.
However, as Kirby is in the van outside pinpointing the call to find as an FBI agent, as she's seen doing as Sam and Tara leave, would've meant that Kirby had to have tried in finding and knowing Gale's address, to pinpoint the exact coordinates. It'd be illogical that she wouldn't know them, or if she did, Kirby didn't want to risk the sisters heading inside right away as Kirby could've wanted the killer to not know they were onto them, despite it also being illogical, due to Wayne already being there by the Core Four and Kirby as he'd have informed, either within plain sight or hiding, of any plan changes to Quinn and Ethan, mainly the former, of who carried out Gale's attack.
The only other conclusion being that when Tara carjacked with Sam the police car belonging to Wayne, that he would've called into the NYPD to stop them or telling them himself if he called, that he'd stop them and possibly his car would've been a self-driving car which if so could've parked itself and stopped, forcing them out, leaving Sam and Tara to no choice but to set off on foot, regardless, with this then only working if they're in the car farther out from Central Park and driving to the Upper West Side from the North.
It is unclear how Quinn Bailey could have sneaked into Gale's apartment without anyone noticing, especially considering there were lobby staff and a door preventing open entry. She possibly could've entered the building through a lobby backdoor exit in the alleyways, although even if she was successful in her first attempt in entering, she'd still have to evade security cameras even in the back of the high rise building, as she donned the Ghostface costume and hung around the stairwell of the building. Most likely with the help of Wayne hacking the security camera system, if in fact, Sam and Tara's arrival took longer than expected.
Previously, during Jason's murder, prior to his death, he was talking to Wayne as Ghostface on the phone believing it was Greg, his roommate accomplice copycat, and who was being tricked into trying to find him in a game of Hot n Cold. Jason assumed he was using their apartment's living room security camera to monitor him, which Wayne agrees to him. This, and given Wayne's police background could and most likely, would make him familiar to both CCTV footage, as well as security system technology, possibly picking up hacking, seeing as his own son, Richie and his accomplice, Amber, had managed to hack into Tara's home security app to unlock her doors multiple times while she locked them from within her phone.
This would then be a time jump, given how there could've been various factors at play, mostly based on the timing, as if indeed this was a race against going to save Gale, then Quinn would have to answer to her father, and make sure she'd be on top of it. This is possible only if Wayne, whether or not intentionally, misdirected the Carpenter sisters and Kirby, in order to execute things, or if he was stalling to buy Quinn time.
It is unknown why Sam guessed that Mindy was the third Ghostface, since Mindy was in the hospital. However, as Wayne revealed later after she'd asked the Bailey family what would they do if they'd succeeded in killing her and Tara, as Wayne states how they'd go to the hospital to make sure neither Gale or Mindy would make it.
Regardless of this information revealed to Sam, it also makes no sense, regarding to her character exposition on suspecting Mindy, as Mindy went over the Rules of franchise to her, Tara, Chad, and Mindy's late girlfriend Anika, who was vocal on her suspicions of Quinn and Ethan as Ghostface, mainly the latter, especially given his absence in the Apartment attacks, which were indeed correct (he was the Ghostface responsible for Anika's death).
It's possible Sam thought Mindy as the killer in the moment, due to her absence and seemingly given Ethan the benefit of the doubt, even despite it not making sense, due to both the Meeks-Martin twins having vocally stated their suspicion of him following Anika's death. It's more so likely she was worried about protecting Tara that she didn't consider this seriously, similar to how she didn't consider the Stab movies being a role in the Legacy Murders the year prior, as well as only thinking again that the killers were following the Stab sequels based on the "real" massacres.
When Sam runs out of bullets in her gun, she charges at Wayne, and he does the same, completely ignoring the gun he still has. This could've likely been Sam charging at him to disarm him of the gun, similar to how Tara tried to disarm Ethan by throwing a brick at him. However, these reasons don't explain why Wayne doesn't just shoot her.
Based on Roman's file, it shows that he died in 2000 meaning the Hollywood Murders took place in 2000. However, based on Roman stating that he tracked down Maureen "4 years ago", the murders were supposed to have taken place in 1999, four years after he tracked her down and then arranged for her murder.
Date of the Scream (2022) Murders
Based on the release date of Stab 8, and the mention that it was released a year prior to the Third Woodsboro Murders, this implies that the film took place in 2021, as well as the date on Tara's phone matching the 2021 calendar. However, it is stated multiple times in this film that the Third Woodsboro Murders took place in 2022, despite the fact that this contradicts the last film.
Date of the Scream VI (2023) Murders
Based on the dialogue, and the mention that it happened a year prior to the Third Woodsboro Murders, this implies that the film took place in 2023, as well as the dates on Kirby's investigation board at the police station. However, it is stated multiple times in this film that the New York City Murders took place in 2023, despite the fact that this contradicts the last film. Additionally, Sam's phone reads Saturday October 29 when declining a call from Gale, and the only recent Saturday in which October 29 fell on was in 2022.
