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Stab 7

2017

Stab 7 (2017) poster
Status
Released
Released
October 18, 2017
Runtime
86 minutes (85.8 minutes as posted)
Filmed in
Manchester and Bedford, New Hampshire
Studio
StabMovies.com
Distributor
YouTube

We tried again, we failed again. Unfinished film.

Directed by
Joshua Patrick Dudley
Written by
Joshua Patrick Dudley
Produced by
Joshua Patrick Dudley
IMDbSCRIPT

The Film

Read the screenplay (PDF) — Re-release screenplay, May 21, 2021.

Five years have passed since the events of Stab 6: Ghostface Returns.

Rachel and Kylie have successfully gotten away with plotting the deaths of their reality television show cast and are plotting another string of murders.

Kylie has released a sequel to her first book, Manchester Massacre 2, and Rachel has turned both books into movies, Stab 5 and Stab 6, which received mixed reviews.

Desperate to produce another Stab movie, Rachel and Kylie decide to take a more hands-on approach and produce the new string of murders themselves, writing their new book and movie as they go and mashing up famous horror icons with Ghostface!

But with Jennifer Mallard and Shannon Nightingale in hiding… who will play their final girl?

A Stab TV series is also about to hit the air, after Rachel lost the rights to the franchise, and another killer is targeting the same people as Rachel's Ghostface… the cast of the Stab TV series!

The Stab TV series revolves around Sarah Campbell's daughter, basically expanding upon the story of Stab 4: Fresh Blood.

Are the TV show murders connected to the original cast of Stab 4?

Dylan Roberts is also back, with a new crime-fighting partner, Barbara O'Malley, trying to solve the case before more of the cast is murdered.

Still healing from her near death experience, Dylan can't seem to get the story straight.

Can her new partner help her solve the case before it's too late?

One thing's for sure: in the finale all the rules get broken.

Release & Reception

  • Distributor: YouTube (StabMovies channel) and StabMovies.com

Released October 18, 2017 on YouTube as Stab 7 (2017) | Full Movie | Scream Fan Film, with the note that it was everything filmed before production shut down. YouTube now requires a sign-in to watch it.

By September 2026 the full movie had about 358,000 views.

On January 15, 2022 StabMovies.com noticed that the Paramount Scream (2022) used its Stab 7 logo, with the 7 removed and the color changed to red. It shows on Tara's phone in the opening scene and on the TV playing Stab: The True Story.

Deleted Scenes & Trivia

  • Alternate Scene: Shannon Escapes (posted January 21, 2018). With all the rewrites, the team wasn't sure they would need Shannon for the ending, so they shot a short version where she lives.
  • Cut Scene: Rory Fight (posted March 29, 2020). Shot on an iPhone after the camera was run over, then left out of the edit by accident. Sheri Lee as Rory and Mark Haggett as Jason Ghostface.
  • Original Opening Sequence rough cut (November 8, 2016), with Rachel Alexandria Arnold and Ed Davis Jr.
  • Planned re-release, announced March 4, 2022. Missing scenes would be filled in with animation, storyboards and possibly a few new shots. It would have new music by Joe Walker, and Michael Chaisson would voice the killer. A storyboarded version of Mindy's chainsaw death, drawn by Brandon Vesci, went to channel members on March 30, 2022 and was reposted June 17, 2026.
  • The fan wiki mentions a six page extended opening revealing Shannon had been working with the TV killer, and a planned alternate ending with Shannon returning as one of the killers.

Why It Was Shut Down

This one took three years to fall apart, and StabMovies.com wrote about it as it happened.

On October 11, 2016 the film missed its Halloween target. The site said it was still in production on a second version of the movie after innumerable obstacles, both personal and professional. Several actors had moved to other states, which forced major rewrites.

On August 3, 2017 came a post titled Stab 7 Cursed. The replacement version had been going for over two years. Mandi Russell, who played Detective Dylan Roberts through three films, quit abruptly. More cast members moved away mid shoot and the script had to be rewritten again. Joshua Patrick Dudley’s own summary was that it is rather fitting that just like in the Scream movies, the Stab movies are plagued with problems. He still meant to finish it that year.

On October 1, 2017 production was shut down for good. The reasons given were cast members leaving or being replaced, including two principal characters, and filming locations pulling out of their agreements at the last minute. The team used the hashtag #STAB7ISCURSED, promised to release every foot of footage they had shot, and said they hoped that years from now the curse would be lifted.

Stab 7 had three versions in total. Two of them were abandoned and the footage put on YouTube.

Paramount Used Their Logo

On January 15, 2022 StabMovies.com noticed something in the official Scream. Their own Stab 7 logo, with the 7 taken off and the color changed to red, is in the film. It shows up first on Tara’s phone in the opening scene, and then again on the television screen showing Stab: The True Story.

A fan film logo, made for a movie that never got finished, ended up in a Paramount release.

Trivia

The paired character names in the cast list are deliberate. The film has a rival Stab television series inside it, so most of the actors play both a real person and that person’s counterpart on the show.

Hannah Madison plays Barbara O’Malley here and went on to lead the 2020 reboot as Claire Matthews. Mark Haggett and Sheri Lee carried over into the reboot as well.

The screenplay came out as a 172 page paperback on September 16, 2019.

Who Did It

Rachel Arnold and Kylie Scott, the same two who were behind Stab 6. The film says so in its own opening synopsis. This time they do the killing themselves and write the book and the movie as they go.

  • Most actors are listed with two names because the film has a Stab TV series inside it. They play a cast member and that person's character on the show. The channel had to tell fans there was no real Stab TV series. It was only a plot point.
  • The official synopsis first gave Theo Harrelson as Dylan's partner (March 2017). Later versions changed it to Barbara O'Malley.
  • Ed Davis Jr. is a fan who won his role.
  • In June 2020 StabMovies.com explained that its agreement with Fun World covered Stab 4 through 7. Stab 7 was never finished, and Fun World's later contract with Spyglass meant no fan film could get permission to use Ghost Face, so the reboot needed a new mask.
  • Hannah Madison went on to lead the 2020 reboot as Claire Matthews. Mark Haggett and Sheri Lee also came back for it.
  • Fans made their own Stab 7 extras. Eric Yoder sent in a title sequence that the channel posted on February 27, 2013, and an unnamed fan sent end credits posted August 6, 2017, set to "Bad Karma" by Ida Maria. The channel's only correction was that Joshua and Ruben Morales designed and built Jason Ghostface, and Beyond Disgusting Studios just painted it.
  • Joshua says the film was shot on the same Sony NEX-F3 camera the team had been using.
  • The opening timeline shows the history of the Stab films inside the story: the first two Stabs, a shut-down Stab 3, StabMovies.com's Stab 4 treated as a real movie, the Manchester Massacre of Stab 5, Kylie's books, and Rachel's two flops.
  • Barbara O'Malley is named after Barbara Gordon, the real name of Batgirl, Joshua's favorite superhero.
  • Joshua says this was the last film StabMovies.com could use Ghost Face for under its agreement with Fun World. Because Stab 7 was never finished, he said at the time that a Stab 7 could still be made within that agreement.
  • Channel surfing in the party scene shows clips of the StabMovies.com shorts Thursday at 12, Cinco and True Love.
  • The team once considered making Devin Trevena's news reporter character the killer, the way the reporter was the killer in the first season of the Scream TV series.
  • The site posted a Stab 7 poster on December 24, 2016 that pays tribute to the Friday the 13th Part VII poster, and a teaser poster on January 27, 2017.
  • Rachel Alexandria Arnold did a Freddy Ghostface rap in costume on set. The clip went up February 17, 2017.
  • In Production Vlog 2 (March 18, 2016), Joshua and Rachel took the Bean Boozled Jelly Belly challenge.
  • The Pool Party rough cut, at about 86,000 views, is the most watched Stab 7 clip after the full movie. The Stab TV Scene 5 rough cut is close behind at about 83,000.
  • A kill count video covering every death in the film went up September 29, 2023.
  • Stab 7 is listed on IMDb as tt5789676.

Connections

  • Direct sequel to Stab 6: Ghostface Returns (2012). It wraps up Jennifer Sue Mallard's story and brings back Shannon Nightingale, Rachel Arnold, Kylie Scott and Dylan Roberts.
  • The TV series inside the film builds on Stab 4: Fresh Blood (2010) through Sarah Campbell's daughter.
  • Replaces Stab 7: Knife of the Hunter (2013), the first shut-down version.
  • Will Kennison is the writer of the original Stab movies from the Scream films. Rachel's plan is to get Sunrise Studios making Stab movies again.
  • The shutdown post pointed fans to Theta, StabMovies.com's first original feature.
  • Scream (2022) used the Stab 7 logo in red, without the 7.
  • Followed by the franchise reboot, Stab (2020).
  • A throw through a glass door pays tribute to Audrey's death in Stab 5.

Sources

Cast & Production

Cast

Stephanie Maheu

Shannon Nightingale

Joshua Patrick Dudley

Joshua Dudley

Rachel Alexandria Arnold

Rachel Arnold

Mandi Russell

Dylan Roberts

Grace Paratore

Nora Walker / Tarah Campbell

Mark Haggett

Brody Nichols / Ace

Lindsey Klossner

Lainey Stark / Mercedes

Dave Allen

Ronnie Hewes / Duncan

Devin Trevena

Madison Burke / Victoria

Sheri Lee

Rory / Lennox

Rory was written in as a stunt double so Sheri Lee could take over lines from actresses who quit, including Lindsey Klossner; she wore a wig for each character she covered

Quinlan Orleans-Aikins

Theo Harrelson

Hannah Madison

Barbara O'Malley

Amanda Boettcher

Mindy Truman / Nadia

Stephanie Hazen

Janelle Hertz / Gabriella

Tarah Nolan

Vanessa Reed

Kaitlyn Higgins

Fortune Teller

Erica James

Katie Sawyer

Ed Davis Jr.

Security Guard

a fan who won the role

Chris O'Brocki

Will Kennison

per the commentary, his reveal as the TV killer was planned as a surprise cameo in the finale, which was never filmed; he played in Stab 5 and Stab 6

Mark Haggett

Jason Ghostface and TV Ghostface

stunt performer in costume

Joshua Patrick Dudley

Leatherface Ghostface

in costume; he also played both killers in the scene where Rachel shoots out a window

Chuck the mannequin

Leatherface Ghostface

stood in for Joshua in the Leatherface bathroom shots because it is taller than him and closer to Mark Haggett's build

Crew

Joshua Patrick Dudley

Writer and director

Joshua Patrick Dudley

Executive producer

Joe Walker

Music

Milen Petzelt-Sorace

Stab TV music

Brandon Vesci

Custom Ghostface masks; storyboards for the planned re-release

Ruben Morales

Co-designer and builder of the Jason Ghostface mask, with Joshua Patrick Dudley

Beyond Disgusting Studios

Painted the Jason Ghostface mask

AUZ

Custom MTV Scream mask used for the Stab TV series scenes

Pierre-Luc Boucher

Poster artist (poster posted June 24, 2015)

Shannon (surname not given)

Stab 7 logo and digital work; he also made the Stab 6 logo, per commentary

Rachel Alexandria Arnold

Developed the story with Joshua Patrick Dudley, per commentary

Mark Haggett

Stunts

Production

This is the second Stab 7. StabMovies.com's first version, Stab 7: Knife of the Hunter, was shut down after lead actress Stephanie Maheu quit, and every scene shot for it was released. A new version, just called Stab 7, started over with a new script and cast.

The casting call went up on YouTube on June 16, 2015. It said the production filmed in Manchester, New Hampshire, and actors needed to be local or willing to travel. A donation drive for the film was posted the same day. Production Vlog 1 came out on July 30, 2015, with Joshua Patrick Dudley going over the story, cast, characters and custom props. Five and eight second teasers went out on July 28 and August 3, 2015, along with a promo for the show inside the film, Stab: The TV Series, on August 4.

Production Vlog 2, posted March 18, 2016, covered filming at FantaCon. The channel said the vlog was months late because of computer issues. StabMovies.com's June 24, 2020 anniversary post says they were filming Stab 7 on June 24, 2016. A mini teaser of rough cuts came out July 29, 2016, and rough cut sneak peeks followed on November 2, 8 and 9, 2016.

On October 11, 2016 the site said the film would miss Halloween. They were still shooting the second version after many obstacles, personal and professional, and several cast members had moved to other states, so major rewrites were needed. On January 22, 2017 they said the film was set in summer, so they were waiting out the New Hampshire winter and shooting what they could. Production Vlog 3 (February 24, 2017) explained why production was postponed and gave a first look at Fun World's new Devil Face mask, which Fun World had sent for the film.

On March 21, 2017 the site started selling all its Stab props and costumes as production wrapped. The official synopsis went up March 24, 2017, naming Theo Harrelson as Dylan's partner. On August 3, 2017 the site posted "Stab 7 Cursed." The new version had been in production for over two years. Series regular Mandi Russell had quit without notice after delaying production, and several actors had moved away, causing more rewrites. The site still hoped to finish that year.

On October 1, 2017 production was shut down for good. The post blamed actors quitting or being replaced, including two main characters, and locations backing out at the last minute. It used the hashtag #STAB7ISCURSED and promised to post everything that had been filmed, hoping the curse might lift someday. The footage went up on October 18, 2017.

Joshua says most of the hotel scenes were shot in a suite he rented at a hotel in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and actresses who didn't show up left scenes unshot. The FantaCon footage was shot at the real convention in Albany, New York, where fan Ed Davis Jr. got the security guard part after a planned celebrity cameo fell through. The Jason Ghostface chase with Dave Allen, Sheri Lee and Mark Haggett was shot partly on Elm Street in downtown Manchester and partly at Joshua's mother's house in Hooksett. The channel confirms the camera was run over during the shoot, so the Rory fight scene had to be shot on an iPhone.

In the commentary Joshua says Stephanie Maheu left the first Stab 7 and the team decided to shut that version down and start over. Fans begged to have Shannon's story wrapped up, and Stephanie came back for one night to film her death in an empty apartment Joshua was moving out of, with no electricity and fake moving boxes.

The Stab TV series inside the film came from fan requests for a scripted Stab show after the Scream TV series came out. It also let two competing Ghostfaces run through the story. Joshua and Rachel meant this version to feel like the finale of their series, which is why it has mash-up masks, a TV show and at least four storylines.

The FantaCon scenes were shot at the convention after hours. Organizers never set time aside, so the team filmed on the second night until security threw them out. An actor from The Walking Dead who was appearing at the convention was supposed to play the security guard, but he got hurt on another film and never came.

Joshua rented a hotel suite in Merrimack for much of the shoot, which was expensive, and says he lost thousands of dollars a day when actors didn't show. Quinlan Orleans-Aikins, who played Dylan's partner Theo, moved to Hawaii during the pause after Mandi Russell left, so Joshua created Barbara O'Malley and gave her Theo's lines. Lindsey Klossner moved across the country before finishing her few remaining scenes, so her character dies off camera and Rory takes her place. Joshua had been setting Lindsey's character up as the next lead.

Joshua says the biggest mistake on both versions of Stab 7 was not shooting the ending first. The finale needed many actors, effects and night shooting, and it never got made. Mark Haggett was especially disappointed to miss his killer speech.

More footage kept coming out while the shoot dragged on. Two Boys vs Girls clips shot by the cast behind the scenes went up on August 9, 2015. A Freddy's Coming teaser with Freddy Ghostface came out March 1, 2017. The Freddy Ghostface vs Stab TV Series Killer preview on May 31, 2017 thanked fans for waiting and said the team wanted the film to be perfect. A Samurai Jason Ghostface clip with Mark Haggett and a Jason Ghostface lighting test followed on July 19, 2017.

After the release, four short behind the scenes clips went up. One shows the guys rehearsing the big fight scene. Another shows Joshua and Rachel going back to the hotel to film a year after the production had been there, and finding something they had left behind.

Behind the Mask, Part 5 (June 24, 2020), is the making-of for Stab 7, the fifth StabMovies.com movie. It includes interviews with Joshua Patrick Dudley, Rachel Alexandria Arnold, Stephanie Maheu, Mark Haggett, Dave Allen, Lindsey Klossner and Brandon Vesci.

Filming locations

  • Manchester, New Hampshire: Home base of the shoot; the Jason Ghostface chase runs through downtown
  • FantaCon, Albany, New York: Convention filming in January 2016, after hours on the second night
  • Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham, Merrimack, New Hampshire: The cast hotel, where Joshua rented a suite for much of the shoot
  • Joshua Patrick Dudley's mother's house, Hooksett, New Hampshire: The Stab TV pool party scene, filmed at her pool, and part of the Jason Ghostface chase
  • Behind a movie theater in Hooksett, New Hampshire: Rachel shooting out a window, filmed in an empty part of the parking lot
  • Elm Street, downtown Manchester: The Jason Ghostface chase
  • The woods behind Joshua Patrick Dudley's mother's house: The chase into the woods that stands in for the hotel grounds
  • Laura Coleman's house: A Stab TV show scene with Grace Paratore's character; Laura Coleman appeared in Stab 4 and Stab 6
  • The loft of Joshua Patrick Dudley's apartment: The fortune teller's room, the first set the team built
  • An empty apartment Joshua Patrick Dudley was moving out of: Shannon's apartment in the opening
  • A local park in Manchester: A crime scene

Effects and makeup

Six effects tests and three title effects tests from the production went up on YouTube on April 3, 2018.

The Pool Party rough cut (November 2, 2016) was posted before its digital knife was added, and the original opening rough cut (November 8, 2016) was still missing digital blood.

When no one was free to wear the costume, the team put it on a mannequin they later named Chuck and filmed around it.

Props and costumes

The killer wears Ghostface mashed up with other horror icons: Freddy Ghostface with a knife glove, Jason Ghostface (also filmed as a samurai version), Leatherface Ghostface with a chainsaw, and Billy Ghostface based on the Saw puppet.

Jason Ghostface was designed and made by Joshua Patrick Dudley and Ruben Morales. Beyond Disgusting Studios painted it.

Brandon Vesci made several custom Ghostface masks for the film. The site posted photos of how they were made on March 1, 2017.

The TV Ghostface on Stab: The TV Series wears a custom MTV Scream mask made by AUZ, first tested on camera in July 2015. The fan wiki says a Zombie Ghostface mask was the first plan.

Fun World sent StabMovies.com its new Devil Face mask for the film in February 2017. Vlog 3 says the same artist designed Devil Face, Skele-Face and the Zombie and Scarecrow Ghostface masks. It also says RJ Torbet named the mask Devil Face, not Ghost Face Devil, to keep it apart from the Ghost Face line.

Most of the mash-up masks shown in Production Vlog 3.5 were later sold on the StabMovies.com website.

The fortune teller's decorations were left over from True Love, a StabMovies.com short about witches, and the tarot cards are the same ones used in Stab 5.

Vlog 3 adds that Devil Face and Skele-Face were inspired by Ghost Face. Fun World was making hard plastic masks out of PP, but the Ghost Face mask would still come in the usual PVC plastic too.

Production

Stab 7 was shot on a Sony NEX-F3 and cut in Sony Vegas 12 and 13. Filming was under way in June 2016. Five sneak peek clips went out on November 2, November 8 and November 9, 2016.

Killers & Deaths

The killers

Rachel Arnold

Played by
Rachel Alexandria Arnold
Motive
After losing the Stab rights, she stages real murders so she can write and make another Stab movie herself.
Death
Shoots herself in the script's finale and wakes in a hospital with half her face destroyed. This ending was never filmed.

Brody Nichols (Rachel's Ghostface in the mash-up costumes, unmasked as Devil Face)

Played by
Mark Haggett
Motive
Wanted to be in a real Stab movie and be the ultimate Stab crossover star. He did not think the TV show deserved the Stab name.
Death
Shot in the head by Rachel in the script. This finale was never filmed.

Will Kennison (TV Ghostface)

Played by
Chris O'Brocki
Motive
The film never says. Joshua Patrick Dudley, quoted on the fan wiki, says Will wanted revenge on the people who took his franchise and did everything he could to stop Joshua and Rachel.
Death
Shot to death by Rachel in the script. This finale was never filmed.

Deaths

Shannon Nightingale

Played by
Stephanie Maheu
How
Stabbed; her death is implied rather than shown, because Stephanie Maheu promised her grandmother she would never die on camera
Where
Her new apartment
By
TV Ghostface (Will Kennison)

Jennifer Sue Mallard

How
Gutted, reported on the news
By
TV Ghostface (Will Kennison)

Security Guard

Played by
Ed Davis Jr.
How
Throat slit
Where
FantaCon
By
Ghostface

Kylie Scott

How
Throat slit
Where
FantaCon
By
Rachel Arnold

Fortune Teller

Played by
Kaitlyn Higgins
How
Throat slit
Where
Her office
By
Ghostface

Vanessa Reed

Played by
Tarah Nolan
How
Stabbed through the neck
Where
Near the hotel party
By
TV Ghostface (Will Kennison)

Nora Walker

Played by
Grace Paratore
How
Stabbed to death
Where
Hotel
By
Billy Ghostface

Janelle Hertz

Played by
Stephanie Hazen
How
Stabbed to death
Where
Hotel basement, off the elevator
By
TV Ghostface (Will Kennison)

Mindy Truman

Played by
Amanda Boettcher
How
Cut with a chainsaw
Where
Woods behind the hotel
By
Leatherface Ghostface

Madison Burke

Played by
Devin Trevena
How
Stabbed with a knife glove and throat slit
Where
Her house
By
Freddy Ghostface (Brody Nichols)

Lainey Stark

Played by
Lindsey Klossner
How
Killed off camera with a machete (per fan wiki); she is only heard screaming, because Lindsey Klossner left the production
Where
Hotel
By
Jason Ghostface (Brody Nichols)

Ronnie Hewes

Played by
Dave Allen
How
Impaled with a machete
Where
An alley in downtown Manchester
By
Jason Ghostface (Brody Nichols)

Barbara O'Malley

Played by
Hannah Madison
How
Shot (script pages only; never filmed)
Where
Hotel basement
By
Rachel Arnold

Rory

Played by
Sheri Lee
How
Stabbed (script pages only; never filmed)
Where
Hotel basement
By
Rachel Arnold

Dylan Roberts

Played by
Mandi Russell
How
Shot in the head (script pages only; never filmed)
Where
Hotel basement
By
Rachel Arnold

Music & Home Media

Music by Joe Walker. Music for the Stab TV scenes by Milen Petzelt-Sorace.

The original opening rough cut used temporary music from Stab 4.

A 2022 re-release was announced with all new music by Joe Walker.

The end titles use the same song by Joshua Patrick Dudley that closed Stab 6. Rachel Alexandria Arnold sings a hymn in one scene, a song she picked herself.

Merchandise

  • Stab 7 screen used props and costumes went on sale through the StabMovies.com store starting March 2017.

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