PopHorror Let's Get Scared
It’s been over 7 years since we last saw a new Scream film. Recently, while watching the fourth film, a thought came across my mind. Sidney Prescott has had to kill a lot of people since the first film. In fact, would you believe that she has killed enough people to make her tied as the second most deadly character in the franchise? Isn’t that crazy? The survivor of every film has, unintentionally, become more dangerous than most of the adversaries she has faced. Don’t believe me? Allow me to enlighten you on some facts.
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has been responsible for the deaths, in whole or in part, of 5 people, across the Scream franchise board, including Stu (Matthew Lillard), Billy (Skeet Ulrich), Mickey (Timothy Olyphant), Mrs. Loomis/Debbie Salt (Laurie Metcalf), and Jill (Emma Roberts). Roman (Scott Foley) was technically killed by Dewey (David Arquette), so the blood is on his hands for that one.
One of the things that always bothered me about the Scream films is we didn’t really get to see how that affected her. We do see how being targeted touched her throughout the films plenty. However, wouldn’t killing people have a major influence on her day to day life as well? I totally get the self-defense justification, and I am not arguing that, but as a regular, non-sociopathic human being, there is bound to be some residual baggage left over from taking a human life.
In the original Scream, there were four deaths total. Casey (Drew Barrymore), Steven (Kevin Patrick Walls), Principal Arthur Himbry (Henry Winkler), and Tatum (Rose McGowan) all fell under the fatal knife of Ghostface. Two people donned the terrifying get-up, and no matter how you divvy it up, their total kill count just doesn’t surpass Ms. Prescott’s. With just this film alone, she pretty much ties the number of kills by murdering the killers. However, she was just getting her first taste at this point.
In Scream 2, Phil Stevens (Omar Epps), Maureen Evans (Jada Pinkett Smith), Cici Cooper (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy), the two officers (Chris Doyle, Philip Pavel), Hallie McDaniel (Elise Neal), and Derek (Jerry O’Connell) all met their demise at the hands of Ghostface. Using deductive reasoning, Mickey was responsible for the first duel kill, the two officers, and Derek. He is the only killer that actually ties Ms. Prescott for being the second most fatal. Sidney then kills Mrs. Loomis/Debbie Salt, before finishing off Mickey with Gale Weather’s (Courtney Cox) help.
Scream 3 is where things get very interesting. Roman is the sole killer in this film, and is quite the deadly antagonist, killing nine people and revealing that he has been the mastermind behind every deadly action taken in this franchise. Christine Hamilton (Kelly Rutherford), Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), Sarah Darling (Jenny McCarthy), Steven Stone (Patrick Warburton), Tom Prinze (Matt Keesler), Angelina Tyler (Emily Mortimer), Tyson Fox (Deon Richmond), Jennifer Jolie (Parker Posey), and John Milton (Lance Henriksen) all fall victim to his blade. While Sidney does get in to quite the brutal scuffle, inevitably stabbing him, it’s Dewey that takes the shot that finishes him off. This means, as I’m sure we all already knew, that Roman takes the cake for most deadly villain of the entire series.
Scream 4 is the only film that can be debated, as we only know only a select few kills belong to a certain person. Be that as it may, with the kill count in this film totaling 11 (excluding the stupid fake Stab openings), Marnie Cooper (Britt Robertson), Jenny Randall (Aimee Teegarden), Olivia Morris (Marielle Jaffe), Rebecca Walters (Alison Brie), Ross Hoss (Adam Brody), Anthony Perkins (Anthony Anderson), Kate Roberts (Mary McDonnell), Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere), Robbie Mercer (Erik Knudsen), Trevor Sheldon (Nico Tortorella), and Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin) found their lives cut short by the infamous Ghostface. Sure, Charlie was on of the killers, but he did meet his demise due to someone donning the Ghostface costume, so he counts! We can assume that even if the kills were split evenly, Jill and Charlie would either come in at 3rd,or tie for 2nd. Sidney Prescott is the one that finally saves the day by killing her psychotic cousin, Jill Roberts.
If I had to choose a rank for Sidney Prescott, I would give her the second most deadly. Why? Honestly, she isn’t really a killer. Every single time she has come up against the next neighborhood psychopath, she has risen to the occasion and went from prey to predator effortlessly. She was really only defending herself and her friends and family (the ones that weren’t behind the Ghostface mask, at least). That is what makes her so dangerous. It is the key factor in why she is also my second favorite final girl of any horror franchise. Laurie Strode will always be first. With everything that we’ve gone over in this article, I think we have a new suspect that should be wanted in Woodsboro. It is also my expert opinion that people need to stop targeting her. It may just be bad for their health. Attention killers, Sidney Prescott is a lot like Batman. Many have tried to kill her, but none have succeeded. Get your infamy elsewhere!
What do you thought about this ranking? Do you think someone else should be second most deadly? Let us know who and why in the comments! Don’t forget to like our Facebook page to stay up to date with all the latest in horror and carnage!
