10 Best Slasher Horror Movie Fakeout Endings

7. Scream 3

Scream 3 Roman Bridger Dewey Riley
Dimension Films

Yes, the end of Scream saw the believed-dead Billy Loomis lurk up for when last attempted attack, and Scream 2 likewise had Mickey Altieri do the same, but there was something brilliant in just quite how ridiculous that trope was used in the final moments of Scream 3.

With Sidney Prescott's long-lost half-brother Roman revealed to be the solo killer of this threequel, Gale and Dewey find a sombre Sid who's just fatally stabbed her sibling to death. Even Dewey in aware enough to call out the classic trope of the 'dead' villain resurrecting for one final kill, and he asks Neve Campbell's character whether her brother will rise up in some sort of superhuman way.

While Sidney asserts that Roman is far from superhuman, it's at that moment the rogue does indeed spring to his feet.

What makes this fakeout particularly great is the sheer erraticism of Scott Foley as his character is revealed to be not quite as dead as Sid had believed. Sure, the majority of the audience expected a fakeout here, but that's not always a bad thing, especially at what was supposed to be the closing part of a trilogy.

Foley jumps up and down on the spot, screams at our three protagonists, and gets shot a bunch of times by a hapless Dewey, before finally ol' Dewdrop got the message that he needed to shoot Roman in the head.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.