Scream 4 was amazing in its own right, but here’s a version that couldve been even better.
I have to start off by stating that I am a huge fan of Wes Craven’s work. I love what he did with this franchise, and Scream 4 is my favorite after the original. RIP to the legend. Any changes I make are meant to honor my love for this franchise, not disrespect it.
With that in mind, Scream 4 is one of those gems that didn’t do great upon release, but eventually grew a cult following years later. Some fans abhored the grundgy asthetic, claustrophic setpieces, and the splatter of it all. Others see it as the sequel where the story found its horror footing again after the comedy blast of part 3. Whether you rank it high or low, one thing is clear: Scream 4 had all the ingredients for a great whodunit meta slasher—it just needed more focus.
So, I rewrote Scream 4 with stronger setpieces, better secondary characters and a tighter second act. This is part two of my ‘Raye Rewrites Scream’ series, where I rewrite each of the Scream movies in a standalone format. If you missed part one, where I rewote Scream 3, you can check it out by clicking the thumbnail below or clicking here.
If you love the Scream franchise, ending rewrites, horror rankings, or smart storytelling, you’re in the right place.
Let’s fix Scream 4.
Act I
The Canon Opening Scene
Scream 4 breaks its canon opening scene into three sections. First we meet Sherrie and Trudie who are home alone and having a Saw IV movie night. Trudie groans, commenting on torture porn being gross rather than actually scary. She also admits that she’s weirdly attracted to a Facebook stalker who hacked his way back into her DMs after she blocked him. Off rip, we’ve got some strong character moments and have an understanding of who these girls are. “After about three minutes of screen time, Ghostface kills them both and gives us a Stab 6 title card.
Then we meet our next pair of teen girls, home alone and watching scary movies. Rachel hates the stab movies and comments on how tired the self aware post-modern meta shit is. Chloe retorts that Stab is scarier than aliens or zombies or little asian ghost girls. They mix up the formula here by having Chloe stab Rachel to death, revealing a killer in the opening just for it to be another stab movie fakeout.
Finally, after about 5 minutes of screentime, we meet our actual opening victims, Marnie and Marnie. Jenny comments on how illogical the stab movies are, and Jenny raves about their town at least being known for something. They prank each other until Marnie gets taken out by the killer off screen and we get a chase scene with Jenny. They even give us a homage to Tatum’s death, but it just doesn’t land as well.
The Rayewritten Opening Scene
While these three openings each have great potential, they’re reduced in quality because we never get enough time with each of the character. We spent 10 minutes with Casey Becker before her demise, same goes for Maureen in part 2, and Cotton in part 3.
To fix this, I would combine the first and last segments into one opening. We’ll keep the second scene too, but let’s put a pin in it for now. So for my rayewritten opening, we’ll start off with Jenny getting what she assumes is a prank call while she and Marnie debate on their movie for the night. Jenny will want Saw IV and Marnie will want Stab 7. This still gives them the space for their horror commentary and allows us to get to know the characters.
I like the idea of Charlie being Marnie’s facebook stalker, and using that as a way to get information, so we’ll keep that idea. I also really like Jenny’s phone call, so I would keep it the same. However, I would give her a more unique kill, because the Tatum homage just does not work for me. Instead, I would homage a kill from Saw IV, since it was referenced. Either the scalp trap, or dismembered on the bed, dealers choice.
Suspects & Meta Commentary
Kirby has a better first line of dialogue than any other character in this franchise, and you cannot convince me otherwise. Such clever foreshadowing. We learn about Kirby’s admiration of Sidney and Olivia’s fear of her almost immediately.
We meet Robbie and Charlie, the leaders of cinema club. Then, Trevor, the boyfriend who cheated on Jill with Jenny from the opening scene. We also have Sidney’s publicist and Jill’s mom. Any of them could have had nefarious intentions and motives we’ve yet to dissect.
I love the way we use Gale’s character to see into the cinema club and how Charlie rage baits her into bringing Sidney. Charlie and Jill are so fascinating to watch in hindsight, and I love watching him taunt characters so subtly. Plus, this cinema club scene gives my favorite rendition of meta commentary after Randy and Dewey’s private conversation in part 2.
I have no notes on the introduction of the suspects or meta commentary. I think this movie handles it perfectly, so we’ll leave all of it as is.
Act III
The Olivia kill was bloody and brutal and fit into the realm of grundgy 2010’s gorey horror, which I love. The publicist kill was a dramatic spectacle and surprisingly suspenseful, considering how common the whole car garage trope is. I love how they crashed Dewey’s press conference. Good for him.
I love the Dewey/Gale conflict, and personally, I wish this entire thing played a bigger role in their eventual divorce because I hate them together. Gale going rogue because Dewey is an incompetent idiot who things he’s smarter than her annoys me so much. Especially because its repetitive.
Stabathon
I love the stabathon concept, and I wish we went all out with it. I liked Gale installing her cameras and Charlie moving it, however, I would’ve removed Dewey rescuing her. The thought of Gale bleeding out until it seeps through the floorboards and someone trips on it would increase the rewatch value for me a lot. Gale never truly felt at risk in this timeline.
Outside of adding some suspense and tension, this change would mean no false ending at Kirby’s house and we’d have more time to spend at the barn. Kirby would still pick up Jill, after she took out the officers and her mother. I know that Charlie did those kills in the canon timeline, but Jill makes more sense here. They’d end up at the Stabathon where Trevor would show up with his new phone.
Robbie would do his rendition of Randy’s rule speech and get surprise stabbed, like the Kristen Bell opening that we scrapped. Charlie would do this in costume, similar to the Scream 2 opening. This would be the event that sends the crowd scrambling, giving Charlie free slashing range in the crowd. This is when Kirby would be the one to slip in Gale’s blood and discover her unconscious body. Charlie, now unmasked, would whisk her off to safety where they get in her car and drive away. Dewey will show up to investigate but will be knocked out by Jill in costume.
The Final Reveal
The two will drive frantically for a few minutes, but park after almost crashing. Charlie will get out claiming he has to pee, despite her objections, stating how close they are to her house. After a few minutes her phone will ring. This will be her infamous remake monologue scene reimagined. It will the same, with Charlie stabbing her and then running off into the night.
Meanwhile, Sidney receives a call, luring her to an abandoned house with cameras hidden throughout. She’ll have to work through clues to unlock each door, going deeper in the house to find Jill. This would mean there is back to back tension from the Robbie kill. Sidney will eventually be estatic to find Jill and Dewey both tied up beside each other, for her to face one last test. Who gets to live? Her surrogate brother, or her replacement?
After back and forth from each of the characters and realizing she can’t cheat the system, Sidney would choose to save Jill and immediately be stabbed by her. Charlie would appear, with a tied up Trevor and they’ll go into their villain monologues.
Jill would still shoot Trevor and Charlie before destroying herself to fit the cover story. Investigating Dewey’s disappearance, and hearing the gunshots, Deputy Judy will discover the house and learn Jill’s plan. She’ll shoot Jill twice in the chest, seemingly killing her, until she inevitably comes back. Sidney trips her, sending her face first into a shard of broken glass from the mirror she ran into moments earlier. Thus, the end of Jill Roberts.
An Ending That Feels Earned
Scream 4 is my favorite entry of the franchise, aside from the original. It holds a special place in my heart, and (these changes) unlock a version of the story that could’ve elevated it even higher.
Do you agree with these changes, or would you keep all the breakaway set pieces? Let me know in the comments.
And if you enjoyed this rewrite, the series continues next with Scream 5 Rewrite, where we’ll meet the Carpenter sisters, requel culture, and one of the biggest missed opportunities in the entire franchise.
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