With Scream 2022 scheduled for release in theaters on January 14th, the new installment could finally provide some closure on a major plot hole from Scream 3. Originally, Scream 3 had two killers written into the early drafts, with Roman Bridger’s partner-in-crime being Angelina Tyler, his supposed secret girlfriend, but the final cut had Roman operating as a lone killer. Or so it appeared.
There are numerous moments in Scream 3 where it becomes abundantly clear there must have been two killers at work because it was logistically impossible for Roman to have done everything himself. For one, there’s a plot hole with Roman contacting Sydney at her safe house despite the character claiming to not know her location for much of the movie. Then, in the final act of the film, when all the characters have congregated inside Jennifer Jolie’s hilltop mansion of a home, Angelina is one of the many characters apparently stabbed to death by Ghostface before her lifeless and bloody body is dragged away to an unknown location.
Perhaps Angelina’s murder in Scream 3 was faked by Roman (who did, after all, fake his own death not long before). Now having served her purpose to her Ghost-faced boyfriend by helping him on his murderous rampage, she can get away scot-free to meet up with him at a later time once he’s fulfilled his vengeance-filled duty in killing his sibling, Sydney. Angelina’s character reappearing in Scream 2022 could substantiate this theory and resolve what can otherwise be viewed as a major Scream 3 plot hole by many. Aside from clearing up the Scream 3 plot hole by confirming Angelina worked with Roman, Scream 2022 could use the character to play on the notion the new Ghostface is a returning character.
After killing the bodyguard at Jennifer Jolie’s bungalow, Roman apparently turns on the gas stove in the kitchen without being seen before remotely sending script pages to Jennifer’s fax machine. Once the bungalow explodes due to the gas, Ghostface is ready and waiting at the bottom of the hill to attack Gale Weathers (portrayed by Courteney Cox). It seems more feasible that, instead, it was Angelina who turned on the gas stove. Angelina is seen sneakily departing from the group moments before the explosion, only to reappear later after Roman’s attack on Gale. Most critically, the climactic final act at the mansion demonstrates multiple moments when the logistics of just one Ghostface acting alone just don’t add up.
The booklet inside the Scream Trilogy DVD Box Set contains a list of all the murdered victims within the first three Scream films, and in the Scream 3 section Emily Mortimer, the actress who portrayed Angelina, is not included in the RIP list. Furthermore, Patrick Lussier, editor for Scream 3, mentions on the audio commentary for the film that Angelina’s body was mysteriously pulled away to leave viewers wondering what had happened to her. So, it seems Angelina was very deliberately left alive, for one reason or another.
The film was likely rewritten not to simply remove the second killer, Angelina, from the script entirely but to make it more ambiguous, more ahead-of-the-audience, and more suggestive. Angelina looks very guilty on numerous occasions throughout the film, so rather than simply reveal her as Scream 3’s second Ghostface killer alongside Roman at the end, which would have perhaps been disappointingly unsurprising, it’s more interesting to leave it to the audience’s imagination. It also keeps the door ajar for a future sequel to hearken back to its predecessors in a plot-significant way, such as Scream 2022, the villain of which, rumor has it, will indeed be an old returning character.
