Holy Terrors: Jewish Horror Ic-n of the Month
Holy Terrors is a monthly column highlighting the Jewish talent behind some of our favorite horror films.
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To Liev, To Liev, L’Chaim
Caution: The following contains spoilers for Scream, Scream 2, and Scream 3.
Liev Schreiber, a notably familiar constant in the Scream films, seemed like a kosher choice to kick off our monthly exploration of Jewish stars in horror. Inspired by my mom, who adores the man and often informs me of his Jewishness, I recently revisited my favorite franchise to gain a renewed perspective on him and his portrayal of Cotton Weary.
In my rewatch, I first noticed that Schreiber, who brought the fateful character both to life and death, is a far more powerful force than I had ever given him credit for. While his appearances in the films are brief, they are simultaneously emotional and impactful, especially given his uncanny ability to bring artful complexities to such a starkly grey role. His brilliance really shines through, however, in Scream’s sequel film.
Mirroring the greedily misguided impulses of Courtney Cox’s Gale Weathers, Schreiber as Weary in Scream 2, depicts the innocent, yet troubled, man with a delicate nuance. Cotton Weary is threatening and unthreatening, likeable and unlikable, humorous and severe, and his playfulness is the radiant cherry on top. When push comes to stab (I’m so sorry), Schreiber’s sharp portrayal of this tragic character is a testament to his vast range and shows just how indispensable he is to the franchise.
Cotton confronting Sidney in Scream 2
While horror fans, myself included, embrace Liev Schreiber most as Cotton Weary, I’ve recently discovered that he is quite at home with the genre even beyond his misadventures with Sidney Prescott. Only two years after the first Scream came out, Schreiber starred in an infamously gauche sci-fi horror flick called Phantoms based on a book by Dean Koontz. In it, he plays the deranged Deputy Stuart Wargle whose sanity is slipping amidst a fatally mysterious viral outbreak.
Deputy Wargle wearing a sinister grin in Phantoms
Although more of a King fan myself, I must confess that I found Phantoms itself to be deliriously contagious. While clearly not anywhere near the caliber of Scream, there is a nostalgic comfort in its slime-filled antics that touched my nineties-baby heart. Additionally, Schreiber, whose knack for delivering levity within his scares, is so over the top that I couldn’t help but feel even more endeared to him. His bizarro interactions with Ben Affleck (who spends almost the entire film wearing an obscenely large cowboy hat) alone are enough to liken Phantoms to a fever dream. Like I said, the bubeleh has range.
Finally, I’d be remiss not to acknowledge Schreiber’s role in the 2006 remake of The Omen, which I fortunately saw in theaters when it was first released. In this one, which, like the original, came out on 6/6/6, Schreiber stands in for Gregory Peck as Robert Thorn, Damien’s father. Oddly enough, while I’ve not seen the remake since it first came out, I re-watched the original Omen with my family just last Hanukkah, meaning it’s time to watch the remake again with a fresh pair of eyes.
The Thorn family en route to church in The Omen (2006)
All in all, Liev Schreiber, who more or less flew under my radar for the last twenty-five ish years, is a fabulous holy terror and a veritable presence in the horror world, proving himself time and time again to bring wittily unnerving energy to every horror film he’s in. Outside of the films I already mentioned, he’s in other genre and genre-adjacent films as well, such as the sci-fi flick Sphere, which came out the same year as Phantoms and The Last Days on Mars, which was released in 2013.
I know horror fans will be watching Liev Schreiber for many years to come, but I’d just about die if he popped up in Scream 5 as Cotton’s ghost next January. It’s unlikely, I know, but a girl can dream. Still, I can’t wait to see what’s next for Mr. Schreiber, but I’m pretty sure I now owe my mom a big apology.