Skeet Ulrich reveals ‘Scream’ 25th anniversary shock, Halloween traditions and scariest movies

Growing up, histrion Skeet Ulrich wasn’t truly that into fearfulness movies. A casual Alfred Hitchcock fan, Ulrich felt similar “The Exorcist” had permanently scarred his psyche, truthful helium focused connected different genres.

Getting dependable enactment by the mid-’90s, Ulrich had conscionable filmed the supernatural fearfulness movie “The Craft” erstwhile helium got Kevin Williamson’s publication for “Scream.” Horror icon Wes Craven, who had antecedently written and directed “A Nightmare connected Elm Street,” “The Hills Have Eyes” and “The Last House connected the Left,” had signed connected to nonstop the movie.

“It was dissimilar immoderate different publication I had work until that constituent – and truly since,” Ulrich said during a caller Zoom interrogation up of the Oct. 19 merchandise of Paramount Home Entertainment’s 25th day “Scream” 4K Ultra HD and remastered Blu-ray sets, which connection caller bonus features, behind-the-scenes footage and formed interviews. (The movie was primitively released person to Christmastime, Dec. 20, 1996, but Halloween seems a much due anniversary.)

The movie was a planetary container bureau smash and spawned galore sequels, a TV bid and adjacent the palmy “Scary Movie” parody franchise created by the Wayans Brothers. A 5th installment of the movie is acceptable to beryllium released successful theaters connected Jan. 14, 2022, with respective of the archetypal formed members reprising their roles.

In the original, a slayer known arsenic Ghostface wears a achromatic disguise (with creepy achromatic eyeholes and a contorted mouth) and a achromatic hooded robe with tattered, draping arms. Wielding a ample hunting knife, Ghostface taunts and terrifies teenagers successful the fictional municipality of Woodsboro. The movie starred Drew Barrymore, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Kennedy and Rose McGowan.

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“Scream” reignited involvement successful the slasher subgenre of horror. Unlike emblematic fearfulness films, Williams acceptable the communicative successful a satellite wherever slasher films similar “Halloween,” “Friday the 13th,” “A Nightmare connected Elm Street” and “Psycho” existed. There are self-referential bits of dialog and hidden Easter eggs that telephone backmost to these earlier films and marque airy of immoderate of the much eye-rolling tropes portion inactive managing to beryllium suspenseful, scary and gory. The other humor and guts came courtesy of Chatsworth-based KNB EFX co-owned by Greg Nicotero of “The Walking Dead” fame.

“Wes [Craven] loved to scare people, but I deliberation there’s thing to fearfulness and wit being truthful tightly woven unneurotic that moves the assemblage done 2 existent premier emotions – and that’s not casual to do,” Ulrich said of what made “Scream” basal retired wrong the genre. “I deliberation there’s thing successful the magic of Wes and Kevin, the publication and execution of it. The quality to conscionable support an assemblage connected borderline and marque them laughter is unique.”

Ulrich’s quality – whose name, Billy Loomis, is simply a notation to Dr. Samuel J. Loomis from the “Halloween” films – is simply a precocious schoolhouse pupil and fellow of Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell).

OK, beryllium warned: If you haven’t seen this present 25-year-old film, determination are crippled spoilers ahead.

Loomis becomes the superior fishy successful the murders of chap precocious schoolhouse students including Casey Becker (played by Drew Barrymore, arguably the biggest movie prima successful the formed astatine the time). Craven and Williamson boldly killed disconnected the film’s large sanction little than 15-minutes into it, which was conscionable 1 mode the brace broke the rules of a stereotypical slasher.

During a country astatine a location enactment wherever oblivious teens ticker “Halloween” arsenic a slayer lurks successful the shadows, Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy), delivers the rules of surviving a fearfulness movie. Those see ne'er having sex, ne'er drinking oregon doing drugs and never, nether immoderate circumstances, saying, “I’ll beryllium close back.”

These rules are intelligibly ignored passim the film.

“I saw the movie successful 1997 and I saw it again astir a period ago,” Ulrich said, noting that his goddaughters, who conscionable turned 11, precocious wanted to ticker the movie with him. “It inactive holds up. It’s inactive a precise applicable happening to announcement successful the movie that these rules are set, but these rules are broken. So are determination immoderate rules?”

To represent Loomis, Ulrich said helium watched Hitchcock’s “Psycho” and besides dove profoundly into the science down real-life serial killers. As well, arsenic a teen helium had watched “Faces of Death,” a notorious 1978 documentary-style fearfulness movie that mixed staged and reportedly existent footage of radical dying.

“It was this benignant of different gruesomeness that was truthful beyond me,” helium said. “That led a small of Billy, for sure.”

Unfortunately for Ulrich, Loomis didn’t instrumentality astir for immoderate of the sequels, but 25 years aboriginal helium inactive gets recognized for that peculiar role. He’s gone connected to prima successful respective different diagnostic films and tv shows and his much caller five-season stint connected The CW’s “Riverdale,” brought him to respective conventions, including Comic-Con, wherever he’d travel face-to-face with diehard fearfulness fans.

“It’s shocking that we’re sitting present 25 years aboriginal inactive discussing this movie,” helium said, adding that helium and Lillard inactive get asked to motion the Ghostface masks.

Now that his kids are adults, Ulrich said helium doesn’t truly person immoderate Halloween traditions, but helium does inactive ticker scary movies. Though “The Exorcist” erstwhile topped his database arsenic the scariest, he’s present much acrophobic of the 2005 film, “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.”

“That rocked my satellite and Jennifer Carpenter is truthful bully successful it … her show is truthful creepy,” helium said. He precocious tried to ticker it astatine location unsocial successful his surviving country wherever determination are ample windows facing a canyon filled with gangly trees.

“I had to crook it off,” helium said with a laugh. ”I decided I’d ticker the remainder successful the daytime. I couldn’t halt looking down me. It’s terrifying and it was based connected a existent story. Religious fearfulness gets maine – and I’m not adjacent religious.”