Who Is the Killer in 'Scream' 5? 'Scream' 2022 Spoilers, Ending Explained

Warning: Scream 5 spoilers ahead. Since the fifth movie was announced, fans have been dying to know: Who is the killer in Scream 5 and who dies in the end?

The Scream franchise, created by direct Wes Craven, in 1996 with the original Scream. The movie followed Sidney Prescott, a high school senior in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California, who becomes the target of a mysterious killer in a Halloween costume known as Ghostface. The film—which sees Sidney investigate the murders with the help of town police officer Dewey Riley and local reporter Gale Weathers—went on to gross more than $173 million worldwide and is the second highest-grossing slasher movie of all time after 2018’s Halloween. The movie—which is based on The Gainesville Ripper, a.k.a. Danny Rolling, a serial killer who murdered five students in Gainesville, Florida, over the four days in August 1990—also went led to the release of four sequels: 1997’s Scream 2, 2000’s Scream 3, 2011’s Scream 4 and 2022’s Scream 5 (also known as just Scream.)

Scream 5, which premiered on January 14, 2022, is the first Scream movie not directed by Wes Craven, who died in 2015. The movie sees the return of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dewy Riley (David Arquette) as they investigate a recent series of murders committed by a new Ghostface. The film also introduces Melissa Barrera as Sam Carpenter, Jenna Ortega as Tara Carpenter and more actors as new characters who are haunted by Ghostface more than decade after the events of Scream 4.

In an interview with Yahoo in January 2022, Campbell revealed why she was “hesitant” to film a fifth Scream movie. “I was just feeling hesitant about making this movie without Wes Craven,” she said. “I mean, he was the master of these movies. He’s responsible for this incredible franchise and for why they are as good as they are.” She continued, “[Directors] Matt [Bettinelli-Olpin] and Tyler [Gillett] had reached out to us prior to our deciding to make the movie and expressed that they are directors because of Wes Craven, and they made Ready or Not because of the Scream movies and that they literally were tickled pink to be asked to direct this installment. Ready or Not was amazing, and I realized these are the guys for it. And I think they really wanted to honor Wes’s legacy in the right way. So it felt worth it.”

So who is the killer in Scream 5 and who is still alive at the end of the movie? Read on for who the killer is in the new Scream and who from the original characters survives the massacre.

Who is the killer of Scream 5? Read on for who the killer—or killers—are in the new Scream movie.

Image: Brownie Harris / © Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection.

Amber is the first killer revealed in Scream 5. Amber, the best friend of Tara, unmasks herself as Ghostface at the end of Scream 5 during a party at her home, which is the old house of Stu Macher and where Stu and Billy Loomis, the original killers from Scream, were killed at the end of the first movie. Amber reveals that she’s the killer after Tara, Sam and Richie—who are on their way to Modesto, California, to escape Ghostface and Woodsboro—stop at her party to pick up Tara’s spare inhaler, which they think she left behind at the hospital. When they arrive, Amber—with the help of Richie—stop the party and force almost every out. As the guests leave, Richie tells that he “saved their lives.” As the group looks for Tara’s inhaler, Ghostface appears and attacks Mindy, one of the last guests at the party. With the help of Sam, Mindy escapes, which is when Liv returns to the party with blood on her hands and news that she’d found Chad stabbed and wounded outside. As they argue over who’s the killer, Amber reveals that she’s Ghostface and shoots and kills Liv. She then runs outside pretends that she was wounded by Ghostface to lure Sidney and Gale, who tracked Sam’s care in case she was in danger, to Amber’s house. When Sidney and Gale don’t believe that she’s Ghostface’s victim, Amber shoots Gale and runs back inside.

Image: Brownie Harris / © Paramount Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection.

Richie is the second killer revealed in Scream 5. He unmasks himself as the second Ghostface after Sidney runs into Amber’s house after she shoots Gale. As she open random doors, she finds Richie, who tells her that he’s hiding from Ghostface, who attacks her from behind. Ghostface and Sidney throw themselves off the railing of the second floor onto the ground floor, where Sam finds them and holds a gun to Ghostface. Richie runs down the stairs to tell Sam that he’s happy to see her alive before he stabs her and reveals that he’s the second Ghostface and Amber’s accomplice. Amber and Richie take Sam, Sidney and Gale into the kitchen, where they plan to kill them. Amber and Richie reveal that they’re a couple after meeting on a Reddit for the Stab movies. They decided to become Ghostface after how disappointed they were in the last Stab movie, Stab 8, which led them to don the masks and go on a killing spree as “source material” for a new and better Stab movie. Amber also reveals that she became obsessed with the real story behind the Stab movies after her family moved into the sam house as Stu Macher. Richie tells Sam that he lied when he said he had never seen the Stab movies and laughs at how Dewy identified him from the beginning as the killer because he’s Sam’s “love interest” and their short time together.

When Amber goes to find Tara, who was last seen tied up in a closet, Sam reveals that she untied her. Tara, Sidney and Gale fight in the kitchen, as Sam and Richie brawl foyer. During their fight, Sidney and Gale pour alcohol on Amber before Gale shoots her. After Gale shoots Amber, she stumbles on the gas stove behind her and lights herself on fire due to the alcohol on her body and clothes. Out in the foyer, Sam and Richie wrestle with one another before Sam takes a knife and tabs Richie through the neck, telling him not to mess with the daughter of a serial killer. (Earlier in Scream 5, Sam revealed that she’s illegitimate the daughter of Billy Lumis, the original Scream killer.) Sam continues to stab Richie until Sidney and Gale join her and tell her that the killer always comes back, which leads Sam to shoot Richie in the head. After she shoots Richie, a burnt Amber runs out from the kitchen before she’s shot and killed by Tara. The movie ends with Amber and Richie dead, as Tara, Chad and Mindy—who survive their Ghostface injuries—are wheeled out to ambulances by paramedics. As Sidney and Gale say goodbye to Sam, Gale reveals that she doesn’t plan to write another book about the events of Scream 5, but instead wants to write a biography about Dewy, her love interest from the Scream movies, who is killed by Amber as Ghostface earlier in the film.

Scream and Scream 2 are available to stream on Peacock. Here’s how to watch them for free.

Our mission at STYLECASTER is to bring style to the people, and we only feature products we think you’ll love as much as we do. Please note that if you purchase something by clicking on a link within this story, we may receive a small commission of the sale.