We all 'Scream': 2 new movie trailers drop for upcoming Wilmington-made horror films

In addition to the Friday release of Wilmington-shot slasher flick "Halloween Kills," horror fans got first looks this week at two other scary movies made in the Port City.

Tuesday saw the release of the trailer for the latest movie in the popular "Scream" series, which shot in in Wilmington in 2020. As of Wednesday, the trailer for "Scream" 2022 and the return of the masked, robed Ghostface killer, already had 6 million views.

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The trailer's opening sequence hearkens back to the opening of 1996's original "Scream" movie from director Wes Craven ("Nightmare on Elm Street") and writer Kevin Williamson ("Dawson's Creek"), with a young woman alone in her house being terrorized via phone by a man with a sinister voice. Since it's 2021, however, the man has access to the woman's "smart home" technology on her cell phone, and can lock and unlock the doors of her house at will.

By Tuesday afternoon, parts of the trailer had already been turned into a meme. A screen shot of the character's phone showed that her home's temperature had been set to 74 degrees, which some Twitter users deemed sensible, but which others considered "too warm."

At any rate, the new "Scream," the fifth in the series and which appears to continue the tradition of combining spoofy humor, jump scares and violence, returns original cast members Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette. The trailer features a scene with Campbell that was shot on the Wilmington Riverwalk, but there's little else that's readily identifiable as Wilmington.

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On Wednesday, a trailer for "The Black Phone," starring Ethan Hawke as a demonic abductor and killer of children, was released. The movie from Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions is set for a Feb. 4 release.

The trailer doesn't reveal much that's instantly identifiable as Wilmington, but it is dark, drab, unsettling and definitely scary.

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Written by C. Robert Cargill, known for penning "Doctor Strange" and the "Sinister" movies, and directed by Scott Derrickson ("Doctor Strange," "Sinister," "The Exorcism of Emily Rose"), "The Black Phone" stars Mason Thames as a 13-year-old boy who's abducted by a serial killer. The boy must escape by using a mysterious black phone, in which he can hear the voices of the killer's previous victims, who guide him.

Both "Scream" and "The Black Phone" were based at EUE/Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, and shot at numerous area locations.

Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.