For those who want to celebrate Halloween with other fans who also wear the classic Ghostface mask from “Scream,” NECA has released their newest Ultimate Ghostface action figure just in time. This future toy’s primary mask, however, is based on a fictional film. The mask is from the meta-fictional Ghostface murders franchise Stab 8, which was referenced in the fifth Scream film. The concept sheet for the meta-action figure was revealed by Bloody Disgusting, detailing all of the features and extras that will be included with the toy. Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown, Yellowjackets), the film’s protagonist, calls Scream 5 and the currently in-production Scream 6 a “requel,” or a “franchise reboot/revival,” because they are the first in the series in over 10 years.
The NECA action figure is based on a scene from this year’s Scream in which Ghostface uses a flamethrower while wearing a metallic mask. The action figure comes with a variety of attachments, such as a flamethrower to go with the Stab mask and numerous alternative Ghostface masks, including the Devil Ghostface, a mask from the famous multiplayer game Dead by Daylight. The Ultimate Ghostface action figure comes with accessories representing his many incarnations throughout the series, including blades, machetes, a voice changer, and a pitchfork.
The NECA concept sheet also suggests that fans would be able to swap change the action figure’s hands in addition to the masks and accessories. Finally, the action figure will come with the white Ghostface mask used by many on Halloween. This will allow the collector to display the figure as the famous Ghostface from the 1996 original Scream film. Although the first highly successful Wes Craven film in the definitive slasher franchise was released in the mid-1990s, the super meta fictional counterpart of Ghostface did not appear in the Scream franchise until its 1997 sequel, when Ghostface murdered two college students attending a sneak preview for Stab, the first film in the franchise based on the events of the Woodsboro massacre.
The initial killings occur in broad daylight, with the rest of the audience dismissing the protagonists’ calls for aid as a publicity ploy. This continues the series’ long-running theme of societal satire on the horror genre as a whole. Since the Stab franchise imitates actual murders happening in the Scream universe, subsequent films in the series serve to perpetuate this pattern. The date March 31, 2023, has been scheduled for the release of Scream 6. Meanwhile, you can watch the previous four Scream films right now on Paramount+, and you can buy the fifth film on DVD, Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and digital.