Wes Craven
Himself
Planned. Craven agreed to appear.
When Joshua Patrick Dudley attended the premiere of Scream 4 in Hollywood he made sure to shake hands with one person, Wes Craven. The horror legend was a kind, incredibly warm man and extended a friendly hand to Joshua. Amid one of their Twitter chats, Joshua asked (begged) Mr. Craven to appear in a short film for the StabMovies.com YouTube channel. Mr. Craven agreed and Joshua immediately went to work on a script.
The story followed Joshua and Rachel Alexandria Arnold, who had broken into Mr. Craven's house to film a prank video for StabMovies.com's YouTube channel. Wes would receive a phone call from Ghost Face and then discover Joshua and Rachel hiding in a closet, waiting to prank him. Ashley Younger would also be revealed, hiding in another closet, dressed as Ghost Face. Once they had been found, another Ghost Face would appear and kill Ashley and Rachel. Joshua runs from the killer, and finding no other means of escape, dives out of a window, killing himself in the process. As it turns out, Rachel and Ashley had actually been working with Wes and intended on pranking Joshua. They are shown, not dead, standing with Wes over Joshua's lifeless body. The other Ghost Face removes his mask and is revealed to be David Arquette, also in on the prank.
The production would have filmed at YouTube Space L.A. in the early fall of 2015 and would have been released that same Halloween. Sadly, on August 30, 2015, just two weeks before production, Mr. Craven passed away.
The fact that Wes agreed to do something with us blew our minds and we're sad that we weren't able to see it all the way through. Hopefully, this script can live on as a testament to the man that everyone at StabMovies.com considers an inspiration. RIP Wes. We love you.
Below, you'll find some unfinished storyboards illustrated by Eric Yoder.
Release & Reception
- Status: Never filmed. Wes Craven died on August 30, 2015, about two weeks before the shoot.
- Released: Never released. It was aimed at Halloween 2015.
Never filmed or released. The script was published on November 2, 2019 in the StabMovies.com Short Film Collection. The announcement said some of the shorts in the book had never been released.
Deleted Scenes & Trivia
What It Would Have Been
Stabbed 3 had Wes Craven in it. He had agreed to take part. David Arquette was lined up as well. Eric Yoder drew the storyboards, and the shoot was booked into YouTube Space L.A. for the fall of 2015.
Wes Craven died on August 30, 2015, roughly two weeks before filming was due to start. The film was abandoned. The script was published in the StabMovies.com Short Film Collection.
The planned shoot sat immediately after StabMovies.com’s appearance at FantaCon on August 29 and 30, 2015. That was the same weekend Craven died.
How It Ends
Joshua Patrick Dudley and Rachel Alexandria Arnold break into a house to film a prank video and find that Wes Craven has already been warned about Ghost Face. They hide in closets planning to jump out at him, with Ashley Younger dressed as the killer. After the first reveal a second Ghost Face turns up and appears to kill both women. Joshua gets out through a window and falls to his death. Then it turns out everyone was in on it together, and the last Ghost Face pulls the mask off. It is David Arquette.
- The planned shoot came right after StabMovies.com's trip to FantaCon in Albany, New York on August 29 and 30, 2015. Craven died that same weekend.
- StabMovies.com had already been to YouTube Space LA. In March 2015 the channel posted StabMovies.com Visits Hollywood, a behind the scenes video from a trip with Joshua Patrick Dudley, Nicole Linton and Patrick Setwart that also took in Madame Tussaud's and the Oscars.
- The book announcement on November 2, 2019 listed Stabbed 3 among the twelve scripts and said some of those shorts had never been released.
- In June 2020 the channel posted Joshua Patrick Dudley's full uncut interview about the StabMovies.com short films, from Stabbed to Swipe Left. It runs about 58 minutes.
Connections
- Written as the third Stabbed short, after Stabbed (2012) and Stabbed 2 (2015). All three are built on a prank that goes wrong.
- Wes Craven directed all four Scream films, where the Stab movies come from. David Arquette played Dewey Riley in the Scream films.
- Rachel Alexandria Arnold is Dudley's partner on StabMovies.com and plays a version of herself in several of its Stab films.
