Massive spoilers ahead for Scream VI.
The horror genre’s renaissance is showing no signs of slowing down, with 2023 already proving a few killer new additions like M3GAN and Scream VI. The latter slasher broke records for Wes Craven’s franchise upon its release, with fans responding to its twists and turns– especially related to the identity of Ghostface. And one of Scream VI’s Ghostface killers revealed a dark part of their backstory that ultimately got cut.
Scream VI consistently subverted fan expectations, starting from the wild opening sequence, and going all the way to its finale. The franchise broke new ground with three different killers under the Ghostface mask, namely Detective Bailey (Dermot Mulroney), Ethan (Jack Champion) and Quinn (Liana Liberato). The latter actress recently spoke to Collider about her experience on the new Scream movie, and how the family story of the villains could have had an even darker twist. As she put it,
There was talk of mom that didn't make it in the film. I think there was a few lines of us — well not me, but Ethan sort of helping [Detective] Bailey with the death of our mother because she didn't agree with things. [Laughs] And that was cut! That was something. That line always made me giggle while we were filming because I was like, ‘That's insane. I can't believe we killed our mother.’
Talk about chilling. While Scream VI saw Richie’s family seeking revenge over the events of the fifth movie, their mother was noticeably absent. She wasn’t seen or referenced throughout the course of the film’s runtime, but it seems that wasn’t always the case. Was Mrs. Is Mrs. Kirsch actually the first victim of this trio of murderers? We’ll have to wait and see if we get more information from the filmmakers at Radio Silence.
Liana Liberato’s comments to Collider are sure to start a few fan theories about the new slasher. Most movies go through various incarnations, with material being left on the cutting room floor. Scream VI was no exception, but this wrinkle in the origin story of its killers is definitely an intriguing one. Learning they were so enraged over Richie’s death that they were willing to kill the family’s matriarch in order to get revenge would have definitely shown just how crazypants the latest Ghostface killers truly were.
In the end this line was cut, so technically the Mrs. Kirsch kill isn’t in the official canon of the Scream franchise. Funny enough, I didn’t even think about the killer’s wife/mother, assuming that perhaps Bailey was a single parent. But there were originally other plans to further flesh out this bloody story.
Quinn got to have a really interesting arc in Scream VI, with Liana Liberato playing the new character to pitch perfection. While she was seemingly attacked and killed by Ghostface in that chilling ladder sequence, it turns out that they faked her death with the help of Bailey. She was revealed to be alive when the three killers unmasked, and revealed they were related to Sam’s killer boyfriend from the previous film. While Quinn was killed via a gunshot to the head, she was the one who attacked Gale in her apartment.
Scream VI is still in theaters now. Be sure to check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
