Not credited
Sidney Gale, HNN anchor
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Guests of Halloween Horror Nights in 2011 got treated to a special look at production of Stab 8, with footage produced by Planet C Studios. Universal announced that four new horror films were shooting on the backlot that year, Stab 8 among them, and the park began letting tourists on the Universal Studio Tour visit the production.
Terror Tram: Scream 4 Your Life was the tram attraction at Halloween Horror Nights 2011 at Universal Studios Hollywood. It took the movie-within-a-movie idea from Scream 4 and put it on the real backlot. Guests were told Stab 8, the next film in the Stab series, was shooting at Universal, and that they could visit the set.
The backstory Universal gave out went like this. Universal announced four new horror films shooting on the backlot, Stab 8 among them. To cash in on the publicity, the park let people on the Studio Tour visit the production. With thousands of tourists rolling past every day, anyone with a cell phone could get at the set.
Soon unauthorized photos and creepy rumors about the troubled shoot were all over blogs and chat rooms. The worst leak was a homemade video that seemed to show Ghost Face attacking and killing tourists on the Universal tram. Nobody could tell if it was a viral publicity stunt or the real thing. Universal went ahead anyway with Stab-a-thon, a Stab fan festival on the backlot, held during Halloween Horror Nights.
In line, guests watched a video. It opened with an anchor named Sidney Gale reporting live for HNN, the Horror News Network, from Stab-a-thon, a few feet from the Stab 8 set. Then came a Stab 8 trailer. It said the park's plan to let guests visit the fall 2011 shoot proved to be a big mistake, that the footage was real, and signed off with "Next time it's real." A member of a webcast group called the True Fans of Horror then ranted about Hollywood, Zombiez on a Plane, the phony viral video and Stab 8 itself, calling each one a fail. Ghost Face got him, said "FAIL!" and cut the stream.
Guests then rode the tram through the backlot while Ghost Face and other characters stalked them. The route passed the Whoville set (Freakz and Tweakz), the Bates Motel dressed as Stab-a-thon, a hilltop with Meatstalk: Summer of Blood, a burnt-down house and a cannibal camp, the Psycho house, and the War of the Worlds crash set turned into another fake film, Zombiez on a Plane. The Horror Nights wiki says Ghost Face interrupted the Stab 8 shoot and killed many of its cast. Universal's own description asked whether the Ghostface Killer could be real, and promised the ride of your life.
Release & Reception
- Status: Theme park attraction story. Guests toured a fake Stab 8 production on the Universal backlot. No Stab 8 feature was made; only a trailer, poster and queue video exist.
- Studio: Universal Studios Hollywood (client); trailer and poster by Planet C Studios
Deleted Scenes & Trivia
- This Stab 8 has nothing to do with the Stab 8 of Scream (2022). Universal made it in 2011, when Stab 7 was the newest Stab in the films, about ten years before Scream (2022) came out.
- Stab-a-thon comes straight from Scream 4, where Charlie and Robbie throw an all-night Stab-a-thon to watch the Stab movies. The Scream Wiki says Stab-a-thon posters and banners later turn up in the Scream VI Ghostface shrine.
- The anchor's name, Sidney Gale, mashes up Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers.
- Zombiez on a Plane spoofs Snakes on a Plane (2006). The webcaster mocks its Z in the queue video.
- The press release lists the event dates as September 23, 24 and 30, and October 1, 7 to 9, 14 to 16, 20 to 23, and 27 to 31.
- A Vimeo upload titled Halloween Horror Nights Tram Graphix, posted by Gracie Bifulco on October 4, 2011, is listed as a resource on the Horror Nights wiki page. It runs 5 minutes 58 seconds.
- Planet C Studios' project page dates its Stab 8 trailer and poster to October 2011.
- The tram ride that ran alongside it was called Terror Tram: Scream 4 Your Life, and it put Ghost Face loose on the Universal backlot.
- The Stab 8 seen here is not the Stab 8 of Scream 5. This one belongs to 2011, a decade before that film existed.
Confirmed on screen
- That year, Universal announced that four new horror films were shooting on the backlot, including Stab 8, the latest sequel in the popular film series. Eager to capitalize on the publicity, the theme park began allowing tourists on the Universal Studio Tour to visit the production.
- With thousands of tourists rolling past the set every day, nearly anyone with a cell phone suddenly had access to Stab 8 as it was being filmed. Before long, unauthorized photos and unsettling rumors about the troubled production began lighting up blogs and chat rooms across the web.
- The most damaging leak was a homemade video that appeared to show Ghost Face attacking and killing tourists on the Universal tram. No one seemed to know whether the footage was part of a clever viral publicity stunt or something much more real.
- Despite the negative press, Universal Studios Hollywood continued moving forward with plans to host Stab-a-thon, a Stab movie fan fest on the Universal backlot. The event was scheduled to take place during the theme park’s popular seasonal event, Halloween Horror Nights.
- For Stab fans, it promised unprecedented access. For everyone else, it raised one very uncomfortable question: when Ghost Face shows up on a movie set, how do you know where the production ends and the killing begins?
Connections
- Scream 4 (2011): the movie-within-a-movie idea and Stab-a-thon both come from it, and the event promoted the film.
- Stab 7 (in-universe): the newest Stab in the Scream films at the time, making Stab 8 the natural next title.
- Stab 8 (Scream (2022)): a separate, later eighth Stab, directed by Rian Johnson inside that story.
- Earlier and later Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood trams: Terror Tram: Chucky's Revenge (2010) and Terror Tram: Invaded by The Walking Dead (2012). Planet C Studios lists a 2010 Chucky spot and a 2012 Walking Dead Terror Tram intro film among its work.
Sources
- Stab 8, Planet C Studios project page
- Halloween Horror Nights, Planet C Studios project page
- New Terror Tram: Scream 4 Your Life Experience at Universal Studios Hollywood Sets Ghostface Killer Loose, PR Newswire (August 16, 2011)
- Scream-themed Terror Tram to be unleashed for Halloween Horror Nights 2011, Inside the Magic (Ricky Brigante, August 17, 2011)
- Scream 4 added to Halloween Horror Nights, Daily Dead (August 16, 2011)
- Universal Studios Terror Tram press release, Dave's Travel Corner
- Terror Tram: Scream 4 Your Life, Halloween Horror Nights Wiki (Fandom)
- Halloween Horror Nights 2011 (Hollywood), Halloween Horror Nights Wiki (Fandom)
- Stab-A-Thon, Halloween Horror Nights Wiki (Fandom)
- Ghostface Shrine, Scream Wiki (Fandom)
- Halloween Horror Nights, Wikipedia
- Scream 4 Your Life STAB 8 - Halloween Horror Nights - Universal Studios Hollywood (2011), YouTube
- Halloween Horror Nights Tram Graphix, Vimeo (October 4, 2011)
- Scream 4 Blu-ray and DVD Debuts October 4th, MovieWeb