POP! Movies – Ghostface (Scream)

Company: Funko

Year: 2014

Originally created as something of a tribute to a genre that had kind of gone out of vogue, Scream ended up being a big hit and spawned a franchise of its own. Directed by horror legend Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street), what the first Scream film got right was the balance of comedy and out-and-out horror. There’s plenty of knowing winks and nods (like Freddy the Janitor), but the film doesn’t skimp on the intensity or gore at any point. It’s not Cannibal Holocaust, but it’s more full-on than plenty of the films that inspired it. The film also owes a lot of its success to the smart screenplay from Kevin Williamson, who would go on to be quite a successful screenwriter…though he did pen another very successful slasher film that was arguably a Scream knockoff* in and of itself.

As a relatively modern horror icon, it’s no real surprise that Ghostface ended up getting released as one of the earlier horror movie figures under the POP! Movies banner. For whatever reason, the box lists the name as “Ghost Face” rather than “Ghostface”. Perhaps this is to do with trademarks surrounding Ghostface Killah, but that’s only a guess on my front.   

The sculpt is great fun; the mask is nicely rendered, and it does a good job of capturing the loose look of the costume. Ghostface has actually been portrayed by seven different actors (plus two others if you count the TV series), not to mention numerous stuntmen. However, the personality and actions remain reasonably consistent across the movies – and while the costume and mask do have some subtle differences across the films, it’s not as drastic as, say, Jason Voorhees. In POP format, one and done is fine on this occasion. 

There are some paint issues, but this is typical of the POP releases of the time. Most of him is cast in black, with some gloss areas -- these are fine. The issues come with the mask itself. Areas of white have been visibly touched up before it went into the box. I wouldn’t mind redoing this more cleanly in the future, but even when I was painting a lot of miniatures, I always struggled with painting white. It’s not ideal, but I’ll live.

Ghostface doesn’t seem to be vaulted, but he is increasingly unusual to spot out in the wild – if you’re a Scream fan and keen to get him, I’d pick him up soon. I’m hopeful that we also get a version of the Brandon James Ghostface from the TV series too; the first season was quite enjoyable, though it started to lose me in Season 2. He’s a fine addition to my ever-growing horror shelf, if not as well-executed (ha!) as some of his fellow horror-themed POPs.   

*I Know What You Did Last Summer