Spoiler warning: This article contains plot details.
Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett got back behind the camera for Scream VI, which is in theaters now.
From the original teaser for the Halloween-set sequel, which gave us a first look at the subway sequence filled with Halloween costumes of iconic horror movie villains, it became clear that the filmmakers would continue their streak of Easter Eggs. But just how many can you find within Scream VI?
Bloody Disgusting spoke with Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett about the new movie’s many Easter Eggs, and they revealed some unexpected Scream VI cameos in the process.
When asked about deep-cut Easter Eggs that might be tough to spot on an initial watch, Bettinelli-Olpin revealed one that didn’t even make it to the screen.
“I know one that would be so not obvious because it’s not in the movie,” the filmmaker explains. “But the address of the Carpenter sisters’ apartment was 1939, the year [Wes Craven] was born. So much of it in this one is we have the shrine, and we have so much in the movie as part of the story that it felt like it might be a little overkill to do too much beyond that. But it’s still there. Every phone number has a reason.”
Gillett elaborated on their approach to the references this round, “It’s a pretty significant list of little things. I think that it was really exciting for us to populate the story with more personal Easter Eggs and things that were just more relevant in a pop culture sense to us. And there are a bunch; we were putting a list together in advance of these conversations, knowing, geez, we’re going to forget something. By the way, this is in no way an exhaustive list.”
As Gillet explains, several of the Halloween costumes seen during the film’s frat party are references to other works, including a character from the TV series “I Think You Should Leave.”
“We have a Dan Flashes costume at the frat party,” Gillet tells Bloody Disgusting, referring to a popular character from the show. “We’re huge fans of ‘I Think You Should Leave.’ Hot Rod is in the frat party as well; [Andy Samberg] is a dear friend of Matt’s.”
Tim Robinson’s Dan Flashes sketch in “I Think You Should Leave”
Bettlinelli-Olpin adds, “We should dovetail on those because those two are in there because I’m friends with Akiva [Schaffer], who directed Hot Rod, and Andy and all those guys. I moved to LA with the Lonely Island guys. Tyler and I both, and Jasmin [Savoy Brown], we should say, I feel like she would kill us if we left her out of this, are gigantic ‘I Think You Should Leave’ fans. Obsessive. And Akiva directed a lot of those. He hooked us up with Tim Robinson, who did a voice cameo for us in this. He’s Paul 2.0. He’s the voice of Liana’s off-camera boyfriend voice: ‘Who the fuck is Paul?’ That is Tim Robinson. And then Akiva did the voice of the Ghostface that fake scares Jasmine in the subway, who’s just a drunk guy.“
Taking a more personal approach this time meant paying tribute to their roots. The filmmakers incorporated nods to their past work, including the horror anthology V/H/S.
“Another little fun nod to the Bloody Disgusting fam: Miska’s Mead is one of the alcoholic beverages that are in the bodega,” Gillett points out, referring to Bloody Disgusting’s Brad Miska.
L-r, Melissa Barrera (“Sam Carpenter”), left, and Jenna Ortega (“Tara Carpenter”) stars in Paramount Pictures and Spyglass Media Group’s “Scream VI.”
“I’m just tying this all to V/H/S now,” Bettinelli-Olpin realizes. “The severed head of Greg Bruckner… the last name obviously is for [V/H/S, Southbound, The Night House, and Hellraiser director] David Bruckner. We basically got a lot of the V/H/S family [in there]. I didn’t even put that together. And the head is Tom Newell, who was the editor on V/H/S and was a part of Southbound and has been in our lives a long, long time.”
Gillett reveals how they even incorporated Ti West’s X into Scream VI during a notable kill! He explains, “That knock in the therapist scene with Dr. Stone [Henry Czerny], when he gets stabbed in the face… The door knock is actually the knock you hear in X; the same knock. Same sound team. He used Karen Baker Landers and the Formosa team to mix that movie.”
“It’s Ti knocking, right? Ti recorded that.” Bettinelli-Olpin adds.
Stay tuned for more from our spoiler-filled chat with the Scream VI directors.
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