30 Years Of Scream Culminate In Scream 7

In honor of Scream 7’s “Twisting the Knife,” featuring Mckenna Grace, and this year’s 30th anniversary of the original Scream film, we’ve dug into the archives for a few words from Spencer about the first Ice Nine Kills song honoring Scream, “Your Number’s Up,” and the franchise’s impact on the band. 

When The Silver Scream (FINAL CUT) arrived in October 2019, we couldn’t have guessed that Scream stars, from Skeet Ulrich to Rose McGowan, would appear at multiple Silver Scream Cons; that an INK Easter egg would appear in Scream 6; Horrorwood Reserve would feature Matthew Lillard; Lillard would play himself in “The Laugh Track” after video; “Twisting the Knife” would be in Scream 7; and David Arquete would appear as himself in the “Twisting the Knife” after video. 

“I saw Scream in theaters when I was 11, but I can remember the experience as if it were yesterday,” Spencer recalled in 2019. “Although I had already been a big fan of slashers, this was the first time I had ever seen one on the big screen. I was hooked from the opening sequence and watched in awe at the devilishly sharp self-referential dialogue that cut through the screen like a knife.” 

That dialogue came courtesy of Scream creator Kevin Williamson, whose script (originally titled Scary Movie) gave him his big break. He went on to write I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, The Faculty, and returned to write Scream 4, and to direct this year’s Scream 7. (Williamson created television hits Dawson’s Creek and The Vampire Diaries, among other shows.) 

“The film single-handedly revitalized the slasher/horror movie craze in the ’90s, and it will forever remain a crucial figure in the genre,” Spencer said. It also revitalized the career of horror icon Wes Craven (1939 – 2015), who directed 70s classics The Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes, 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, and its meta follow-up. Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. 

“The bloody mark that Wes Craven’s Scream left on the horror genre cannot be overstated,” Spencer said, noting it was time “my favorite film” received “the INK-horror treatment it deserves.”