| For alternate versions of Casey Becker, see Casey Becker's Character Hub |
| “ | Listen, it was Jason! I saw that movie 20 goddamn times! | ” |
–Casey to Billy Loomis as Ghostface about Friday the 13th during horror trivia threats. | ||
Casey Marie Becker is a minor character who appears in the Scream franchise. In the original Scream (1996 film), she is depicted as a naïve, seemingly innocent 17-year-old girl making popcorn and waiting on her boyfriend to show up and watch a VHS tape of a horror film.
As a Woodsboro High School senior in the fall of 1996, she had a relationship with Stu Macher. Before her demise, she dates high school football player, Steven Orth, who she waits for on a late night after 10 p.m. to watch the film. She is the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Becker, as well as a faraway neighbor to the McKenzies.
She is the third person to fall victim to the first Ghostface killing spree, later known as the infamous Woodsboro Murders, which occurs during the events of Scream (1996 film). Her death is commonly mistaken to be the first death of the franchise, though she is preceded by her boyfriend, Steven Orth, and the original, off-screen Ghostface murder victim, Maureen Prescott.
She was portrayed by Drew Barrymore. For the Stab adaptation of The Woodsboro Murders, a novel based on the killings by Gale Weathers, Heather Graham portrayed a fictional version of the victim.
Biography
Early Life
Casey was a horror movie fan. Her favorite movie was Halloween (1978). She had seen the entire A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise (1984—1994), though only enjoyed the original film. She shared this hobby with her ex-boyfriend, Stu Macher, until she dumped him for football player, Steven "Steve" Orth.
Casey was seated to the right of Sidney Prescott in Mrs. Tate's English class at Woodsboro High School. She was an acquaintance of Sidney, Tatum Riley, Billy Loomis, Randy Meeks, Judy Hicks, Christina Carpenter, Mr. Carpenter, Cheerleader in Bathroom and Girl in Bathroom.
The Woodsboro Murders (1996)
| “ | Hello? (...) Who is this? (...) I don't think so. | ” |
–Casey beginning her infamous conversation with Ghostface (Billy Loomis) as she makes popcorn, Scream | ||
Horrific turn for the worst Casey is terrified after Ghostface gives her horrible and frightening news.
Casey answered her phone one night while she prepared for a movie night with her boyfriend Steven Orth. The stranger on the other end flirted with her, then informed her that he could see her. Once this happened, Casey felt violated and slightly frightened, declining any further contact with the stranger. He called back and what seemed like a casual friendly conversation quickly became serious.
After informing the voice on the other end of the phone that her boyfriend is set to arrive who will protect her, he mocks her and tells her to look outside. She does so and sees that her boyfriend, Steve, is bound and gagged in a chair.
The caller forces Casey to answer horror movie trivia questions in order to spare his life.
After missing a trick question regarding Friday the 13th, she watches on as Steve is brutally gutted on the other side of the glass doors. Casey, now extremely terrified, can't answer the question for her own life. The killer says, "Your call." Seconds later, a chair is thrown through the glass door. Casey attempts to flee, but is chased down by Ghostface and runs for her life.
Murder
Ghostface attacks Casey.
Immediately after, Casey sees her parents' car approaching and stops. The moment she pauses at the relief of seeing her parents' car, the killer pounces on her from the side. She attempts to run for safety once more, but Ghostface catches her and stabs her in the chest. Casey tries to fight back, even knocking the knife out of his hands, but the killer grips her neck to strangle her. She kicks the killer in the groin area which causes him to release her. Slowly, she gets to her feet and manages to reach the front porch. Unfortunately, due to the killer's attempted strangulation, she is unable to call out to her parents as they walk up to the doorstep. As they go into the house, Casey remains unnoticed.
A ghostly sight Casey's hung, gutted body found by her parents. Ghostface's second on-screen victim. (Steven Orth being the first and Maureen Prescott being the first ever, off-screen.)
The killer, recovered from the knee to the groin, knocks her down on her back after her parents go in the house. As he raises his knife for the next stab, she pulls off Ghostface's mask and recognizes him as he stabs her multiple times.
Her parents see the house destroyed and Casey missing. Her mother picks up the phone to call the police, but since Casey never hung up the cordless, she hears her daughter barely alive calling for her. The killer realizes the phone is on and hangs up. Her father tells his wife to drive to the McKenzies' house and call the police from there. She heads out and stops on the porch, then starts screaming. Casey's father runs outside, terrified by his wife's screams, and finds his daughter's corpse. Casey's body has been gutted and is hanging from a tree.
Legacy
The Windsor College Murders (1997)
| “ | I don't like games. Who is this? (...) I don't even have a boyfriend. (...) You know, I don't even know you and I dislike you already. | ” |
–Casey's in-universe portrayal in Stab, incorrectly referencing her tragic call with Ghostface, Scream 2 | ||
Heather Graham as Casey in Stab.
In the opening scene at the movies, Heather Graham portrays Casey Becker in her death scene from Stab. The scene is a bit different, but similar in likeness. As the murder scene occurs, very few viewers witness an actual murder happening in front of them.
Casey's murder was mentioned again in the killing of Windsor College student, Casey "Cici'' Cooper, of the Omega Beta Zeta Sorority House. The authorities and Gale believed it to be a duplicate of the Woodsboro Murders when they saw that the Windsor victims bore similarities in their names and surnames.
The Second Woodsboro Murders (2011)
Casey's character was referenced many times during Scream 4. The first reference is in Stab 6, where Sherrie portrays a mirror of Casey's original phone conversations in the beginning of the film.
Jenny Randall, the "true remake" of Casey Becker in Scream 4.
The initial victims, Jenny Randall and Marnie Cooper are very similar to Casey's character, both girls are blondes who are brutally murdered. Jenny has straight bangs like her, she is a fan of horror movies and was the second to die. Like Casey, Jenny was likely killed for a personal reason related to a former partner of the killer. In this case, Jenny is probably the girl that Trevor Sheldon cheated on Jill Roberts before the senior year.
Marnie Cooper, Casey Becker's remake in the alternate cut.
Marnie's clothing and aura is very similar to Casey's, in the alternative/original opening and a deleted scene where it shows Marnie hanging and with multiple stab wounds to the stomach in the living room, Marnie was shown as the remake of Casey, but in the final cut, Jenny is shown like a remake of Casey.
Charlie Walker and Robbie Mercer host the Stab-A-Thon, which has one of the decorations as a dummy of her "corpse". They play the first Stab film which was first introduced in Scream 2. This shows the same cameo of her character portrayed by Heather Graham.
The Third Woodsboro Murders (2022)
| “ | It's a girl at home. Alone. She answers the wrong number and starts talking with the killer who makes her play a game. | ” |
–Richie Kirsch as Ghostface to Tara Carpenter, alluding the similarities between her and Casey herself 26 years prior, Scream (2022) | ||
Casey is referenced by Tara Carpenter whom is left home alone in a big house. She is called and harassed by the killer before being made to answer trivia questions to save her life. She answers her last question half correct, and then the killer proceeds to attack her. She fends the killer off, but is stabbed multiple times. However, unlike Casey (and more like Sidney), she survived the first attack.
Wes Hicks sports the blonde hair like her, is left in a big house all alone and showers like the Stab version of Casey Becker that Heather Graham portrays; except gender-bent.
Wes and Tara are almost the whole reciprocity of perspectives of Casey Becker in many ways; even one part of her character that lives and the other falls victim to Ghostface.
The New York City Murders (2023)
In Scream VI, Laura Crane answers "Reggie" as she believes as a potential date, who ends up catfishing her and baiting her to go out of a bar she's at during the nighttime in New York City in an abandoned alleyway and is killed and ambushed by Ghostface aftewards, later revealed to be Jason Carvey. Being a Film professor on 20th century slashers at Blackmore University shows her similarities for love of horror movies, like Casey, but disdain for some, like Casey with the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels, and Laura with the Stab film series, which portrayed Casey's unfortunate death, which is a respect to each character alike, despite their demises.
In Richie Kirsch's shrine, there are portraits of Casey, as well as the knife she was killed with and the broken rope swing that had its rope used to hang her.
Gallery
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Casey Becker has a Photo Gallery. |
Relationships
Family
Allies
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Enemies
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Quotes
- "They have 900 numbers for that. See ya." (After Ghostface/Billy says that he wants to talk to her)
- "I don't think so."
- "Um... Halloween! You know, the one with the guy in the white mask who walks around and stalks babysitters?"
- "Well, the first one was but the rest sucked." (After being told that A Nightmare on Elm Street was scary)
- "Well, dial someone else, okay?"
- "Listen, asshole!"
- "Look, you’ve had your fun now. So, I think you better just leave or else."
- "Or else my boyfriend will be here any second, and he’ll be pissed when he finds out."
- "I lied! I do have a boyfriend and he’ll be here any second so your ass better be gone!"
- "I swear. He's big and he plays football and he'll kick the shit out of you!"
- ''Don't do this... I can't... I won't...''
- "Mom..." (Final words)
- "Um… Nightmare on Elm Street!"
- "The first was scary; the rest sucked."
- "It was Jason I've seen that movie 20 goddamn times!"
Trivia
Behind the Scenes Wes Craven (director) and Drew Barrymore.
- Casey Becker's death in the opening scene has been reinterpreted various times across the franchise, starting with:
- The in-universe death of her character in Scream 2 in Stab (1997; continuity error), portrayed by Heather Graham.
- Sarah Darling's death in Scream 3.
- Who was part of the cancelled third in-universe Stab film from the now in-universe series following the second film's events, Return to Woodsboro, which was set to be a fictional film and ploy since no real murders had transpired to make, until the events of the Hollywood Murders in 2000 occurred while making it; Sarah mentions how her character, Candy, is in the shower and killed after two scenes and how she's naked and how she isn't armed after the death of her boyfriend, a loose reference to how Casey was portrayed in the first Stab; reference and a reverse to Christine Hamilton's death in the opening of Scream 3.
- Marnie Cooper in her original deleted scripted death scene in Scream 4, which sees her being hung after being stabbed (see above).
- Nina Patterson's death in "Pilot" from the first season of the TV series of the same name (albiet a different continuity) and her own ex-boyfriend, Tyler O'Neill.
- Haley Meyers' death in being strung up, despite not being gutted, after a party, in "The Orphanage" in Season 2.
- Amir Ayoub's death as he unmasks his Ghostface killer and dies with a shocked expression upon seeing it, not shown to the audience, in the third season titled Scream: Resurrection, in the episode "Ports in the Storm".
- Wes Hicks' death in Scream (2022) is interpolated and re-assigned as the true Casey remake of her death (following Tara's survival in the opening in reference to her) as he is killed after the death of his mother, Judy Hicks, a reverse of how Casey's boyfriend Steven Orth is killed and then her (reversed, seeing as Judy is killed in the daytime and isn't tied down or gutted like Steven, and how it happens in front of the Hicks house instead of the back of the Becker house, as well as it not being daytime. Unlike Casey, Wes wasn't called or made aware of his mother's demise).
- Laura Crane's death in Scream VI.
- Casey's grisly death serves as an introduction to the series, much like the death of Judith Myers began the Halloween film series or the death of Tina Gray served as an introduction to the murder spree of Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
- These deaths are also referenced in the TV series as well.
- She was described as "a young girl, no more than sixteen. A friendly face with innocent eyes," in an early script for Scream.
- Barrymore's presence in itself may have been a tribute to Psycho (1960 film) in that a high-profile actress is attached to a movie only to be slaughtered in the first minutes of the film, as was the case with Janet Leigh's character in Psycho.
- Casey's death was satirized in Scary Movie with the character Drew Decker (played by Carmen Electra).
- Her first name is a nod to Drew Barrymore.
- A 2008 issue of Latina Magazine featured a photoshoot of Jessica Alba recreating iconic horror scenes. Casey on the phone with Ghostface was one of them.
- Casey's body hangs the same as the opening victim of Suspiria (1977 film).
- Wes Craven kept Drew Barrymore in tears and afraid by telling her grisly stories of animal abuse; Drew is an avid animal lover.
- Drew was initially slated to play Sidney Prescott, but Drew insisted that she wanted to play Casey. She said it would give the impression that if she could die, anything could happen in the movie; much like Janet Leigh's death did for Psycho. It was also why she was put in front of everyone else in the Scream poster.
- Drew Barrymore was casted before any director was even found for the movie.
- In the fourth episode of the second season of the reality show Scream Queens (2015-2016), Sierra had to do a photoshoot where she dressed as Casey Becker holding the phone.
- Casey represents the quintessential slasher victim. She is a cute, sweet, blonde teenager left all alone in a big house.
- Casey was a horror film fan and was associated with the original classic 1980s slasher films.
- The night of her murder, Casey was about to watch an unnamed horror film which began the conversation with Billy Loomis, her partial murderer in the Ghostface costume.
- Casey is the first character to appear in the franchise as well as the first character to speak.
- In Scream VI, there are shown portraits of Casey in the shrine, as well as the knife she was killed with, and depicting her murder.
Gallery
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Casey Becker has a Photo Gallery. |
Appearances
Character Guide
| Scream Characters | ||
| Principal Characters | Sidney Prescott • Gale Weathers • Dewey Riley • Ghostface | |
| Recurring Supporting Characters | Randy Meeks • Cotton Weary | |
| Supporting Characters | Billy Loomis • Tatum Riley • Stu Macher • Kenny Brown • Sheriff Burke • Arthur Himbry • Casey Becker • Steven Orth | |
| Recurring Minor Characters | Neil Prescott • Maureen Prescott • Hank Loomis | |
| Ghostface(s) | Billy Loomis • Stu Macher | |