20 Awesome Easter Eggs In "Scream VI" That Made Me Do The Leonardo DiCaprio Screen Point

    Scream VI shouts out many of its directors' favorite scary movies...

    Ken W. Hanley
    by Ken W. Hanley

    BuzzFeed Contributor

    Scream VI is a wicked and wild new chapter of the classic horror franchise, one that adheres to many of the established “horror movie” rules while offering several new ones as well.

    Ghostface holds a knife in an apartment
    Paramount Pictures / Entertainment Pictures / Alamy

    But like the other Scream films, the callbacks, references, and hints to horror history don't stop there.

    With the film set around Halloween, Scream VI offers plenty of love to various films from yesteryear, especially the predecessors within the Scream franchise itself.

    Paramount Pictures

    So, without further ado, and a massive 🚨SPOILER ALERT🚨warning, here are 20 fun and freaky easter eggs that you can find in the latest Scream installment.

    1. Friday the 13th, Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)

    Jason Voorhees stares at a shattered mirror while covered in slime
    United Archives GmbH / IFTN / Alamy

    With Scream VI taking the madness from Woodsboro to New York City, it's only fitting that the most famous NYC-set horror sequel gets a little love. Though the film often gets a lot of guff for dedicating most of its runtime to traveling between Camp Crystal Lake to New York, the divisive yet extremely fun Jason Takes Manhattan is playing on the television in the aptly named Jason Carvey's apartment during the opening scene.

    2. Ready or Not (2019)

    Samara Weaving in a wedding dress smiles and holds up a novelty card
    Mythology Entertainment / Fox Searchlight Pictures / Lifestyle Pictures / Alamy

    The previous non-Scream directorial effort from the filmmaking collective Radio Silence is rightfully rewarded with a tip of the cap in Scream VI. Not only is there a shoutout to the "Bride" character as the main characters are coming down the stairs to the subway, as someone is dressed in a wedding gown and bandolier, but a pair of primary cast members from the film, Samara Weaving and Henry Czerny, both appear in the films as characters who meet a gruesome end.

    3. Us (2019)

    A group of people holding hands in red suits stand ominous in a driveway
    Universal Pictures / Lifestyle Pictures / Alamy

    There are plenty of horror icons who are highlighted during the now-famous subway sequence in Scream VI, including Hellraiser's Pinhead, A Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Krueger, and Halloween's Michael Myers, but there are more recent horror offerings given the shine as well. Case-in-point: Jordan Peele's Us, which is referenced through a number of "Tethered" cosplayers on the right hand side of the subway car, complete with red jumpsuits and even a mask akin to that of the son's doppelganger.

    4. V/H/S (2012)

    A bloodied man screams in a tight stone hallway
    8383 Productions / Alamy

    After releasing a string of viral horror shorts on YouTube, Radio Silence got their big break with the final segment of the inaugural V/H/S film, which follows a quartet of doomed partygoers who accidentally stumble upon a legitimately haunted house on Halloween. With Scream VI also taking place on Halloween, the costumes that Radio Silence wore in their V/H/S segment are cleverly replicated by the costumes that Tara and her friends are wearing when they run into Jason in the film's opening sequence.

    5. The Babadook (2014)

    A terrifying black-and-white pop-up book features a screaming monster
    IFC Films / Alamy

    One of the least hidden easter eggs comes in the form of The Babadook, a film that was previously featured as a talking point about "elevated horror" in Scream (2022). Yet the titular character itself shows up in Halloween costume form during the subway scene, with the day player in makeup standing right behind our heroes as they scope out the rest of their potential attackers.

    6. Wednesday (2022)

    A severed hand rests on the shoulders of Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams
    Netflix / Alamy

    While the filmmakers have stated there was no explicit reference to the Netflix reboot series of The Addams Family, the mere appearance of a Wednesday Addams at the frat party elicited some murmurs and excited gasps in every audience with which I've seen the film. Add to the fact that Jenna Ortega herself walks right past the extra in Wednesday garb, it certainly feels like more than a noticeable coincidence, don't you think?

    7. In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

    A terrified Sam Neil sits in a rubber room while covered in drawn crosses
    New Line Cinema / Alamy

    Scream VI goes above and beyond to shout out some more obscure movies for eagle-eyed viewers, including a Hot Rod costume during the frat party scene and posters for numerous golden-age horror movies around Jason's apartment. But this writer was grinning ear-to-ear when I noticed a character dressed as the lead character from John Carpenter’s cult classic In the Mouth of Madness while Mindy navigated her subway nightmare.

    8. Judgment Night (1993)

    A man attempts to crawl across a ladder connecting a rooftop to a window
    Universal Pictures / Via youtu.be

    Scream VI's most riveting set piece occurs when Sam, Tara, Mindy, and Anika have to make their way to a neighboring apartment through a window-to-window ladder crawl high above the ground. It's gripping and intense, but not exactly the first time this concept has been executed, as the underrated thriller Judgment Night follows four friends who attempt to escape from murderous drug traffickers from a rooftop to an open window via ladder in the same manner.

    9. Midsommar (2019)

    A smiling Florence Pugh sits in an ornate costume full of flowers
    A24 / Via youtu.be

    Another hard-to-miss reference to a recent horror offering prominently appears following Mindy's subway attack near the end of the film. As Ethan drags Mindy to safety, you can see a woman wearing the ornate flower costume from the climax of Ari Aster's Midsommar looking down at them on the subway platform.

    10. Creep (2014)

    A man in a werewolf mask stands creepily in front of a door
    Netflix / Via youtu.be

    Though there are too many references to horror movies to list here from the aforementioned subway sequences, some perceptive audience members may catch a mask that would be familiar to fans of Netflix's stellar Creep films. While he may not be trying to block any doors this time around, the unmistakable mask of "Peachfuzz" can be spotted briefly among the myriad costumes, though it's truly a "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" moment.

    11. Scream 2 (1997)

    Courteney Cox and Neve Campbell stand on a strange stage set
    Miramax Films / Alamy

    Of all the Scream movies, Scream 2 gets the most love from Scream VI, including physical easter eggs like props from Sidney's Aeschylus production and the reference to Randy's daytime van murder as well. But perhaps the most interesting Scream 2 easter eggs are the more subtle narrative ones: Jason Carvey and Detective Bailey mirror the motivations of Mickey Altieri and Nancy Loomis, the film takes place in a college setting, a film class with Jason and Tara is referenced, and the endings even line up with both films concluding in an empty theater showdown.

    12. Scream 3 (2000)

    Parker Posey, Courteney Cox and David Arquette are illuminated in the night
    Dimension Films / Alamy

    There are a number of references to Scream 3 throughout Scream VI, including Kirby Reed touching on Roman Bridger as the only solo Ghostface to date. But if there's any nice easter egg to the polarizing third Scream film to savor in the latest sequel, one needs to not look further than the melted fax machine in Richie's Ghostface shrine, which hints at one of the most fun (and admittedly absurd) kills in Scream movie history.

    13. Psycho (1960)

    Janet Leigh counts money in a mirror
    Shamley Productions / Alamy

    Psycho is one of the two-fold easter eggs in Scream VI, the more obvious of which is the vintage poster for the film in Jason Carvey’s apartment. However, the more unique and subtle easter egg for Psycho comes in the form of the film’s first victim, Laura Crane, who is a similarly blonde woman that shares the last name of Psycho’s first victim, Marion Crane, and is equally eradicated in an unexpected fashion early in her respective film.

    14. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

    A haggard man in a suit bounces between cars in traffic
    Walter Wanger Productions / Allied Artists Pictures / Alamy

    In one of the more heavy-handed easter eggs in the film, Scream VI telegraphs the death of Sam's therapist with a clip from the original 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The classic horror/sci-fi film, which has been remade on numerous occasions, reaches its distressing ending at the beginning of the scene, with the protagonist crying out "You're Next!" again and again as the therapist walks slowly to greet a visitor… who, of course, dispatches him swiftly.

    15. Scream (1996)

    A young man in a varsity jacket is duct taped to a chair
    Miramax Films / Alamy

    The easter eggs to the original Scream are unique in Scream VI in that they draw lines to the original film as well as the Stab-universe versions of those events. But outside of the varsity jacket, rope swing, and other nostalgic props from the original Scream, the film also hints at the frequently debated "Stu Theory" among the franchise's die-hards, several of whom argue that Matthew Lillard's cinematic sociopath may have somehow survived the events of Scream.

    16. Murder Party (2007)

    A man in a cardboard and duct tape knight outfit remains tied and gagged
    Screen Media Ventures / Via youtu.be

    Another obscure but really fun easter egg for horror fans in Scream VI happens at the top of the film at the frat party with Ethan Landry's costume. One would not be completely faulted for thinking his costume is a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but his costume is actually a reference to the first film from Green Room director Jeremy Saulnier, Murder Party, in which a random man is lured to a Halloween party by a collective of aimless artists in Brooklyn who intend to kill him.

    17. Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)

    Theatrical U.S. Poster for “Four Flies on Grey Velvet”
    Everett Collection, Inc. / Alamy

    Scream VI lays a lot of groundwork to establish Jason as a devout giallo fan, especially horror maestro Dario Argento, so it's no surprise that the film makes reference to the lauded genre filmmaker. This easter egg can be seen plain-as-day on Jason Carvey's shirt during his fateful phone call, which adorns the name of the third film in Dario Argento's "Animal Trilogy," Four Flies on Grey Velvet.

    18. Twin Peaks (1990)

    The iconic opening title card for "Twin Peaks"
    CBS / Via youtu.be

    This one is an easy easter egg to miss, unlike other horror properties that wear their Twin Peaks fandom on their sleeve, but one that nevertheless feels obvious once you see it on screen. This reference comes down to Peaks' iconic credit font, which is utilized by Richie in his home video and is projected slightly above Sam and Tara during their final moments in the abandoned theater.

    19. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)

    Olwen Fouere as Sally Hardesty looking at a polaroid picture in a car
    Netflix / Entertainment Pictures / ZUMAPRESS.com / Alamy

    One of the more surprising easter eggs you can find in Scream VI comes during Mindy’s “rules” rant in the quad for Blackmore College as she lists off “legacy” characters who have died in their franchises in recent years, including Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi and Laurie Strode in Halloween: Resurrection. But one name that shockingly makes the list is Sally Hardesty, the heroine of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise who re-emerged (and sadly parted the world) in the most recent film, which debuted on Netflix only a month after Scream (2022) hit theaters.

    20. The Exorcist (1973)

    A screaming woman poses in front of a demon statue and a blinding light
    Warner Bros. / Photo 12 / Alamy

    This easter egg is one of the hardest to find in Scream VI, but if you happen to have a keen eye for details, you'll spot a reference to The Exorcist hidden during Sam's therapy session. If you pay close attention to the therapist's office, you may notice that even Sam's therapist is a horror buff, with a number of horror figurines adorning his office as well as a glass case with various creepy figures and artifacts, including a small Pazuzu statue akin to the one made famous by The Exorcist.

    Did you spot any other easter eggs in Scream VI? Do you have a favorite Scream VI easter egg from our list above?

    Let us know in the comments below!