In the Scream franchise, many tout Drew Barrymore's Casey being gutted in the '96 movie as the series' best opening kill. It packed shock value as no one expected a Hollywood darling to be murdered so quickly in a bonafide cameo while proving director Wes Craven was evolving slashers and their games for a new generation of horror fans. However, the best opening kill actually belonged to Scream 2 because it was the most ridiculous, and it had something poignant to say.
In this sequence, Omar Epps' Phil was slashed up in the bathroom of the cinema during a Stab screening. The killer then took up his jacket, wore a Ghostface mask and sat down next to Jada Pinkett Smith's Maureen, duping her into thinking her boyfriend returned. However, she noticed his blood, and as she panicked, she got gutted in front of the entire crowd.
Now, what was silly about this was the murderer knowing exactly where to sit. It's assumed this was Mickey, someone who knew the couple, but it was never confirmed. The cinema being well-lit was also laughable, but still, even with the light, for him to make a beeline straight to Maureen was ludicrous, yet fun.
That said, the crowd thinking this was a PR stunt was pretty ridiculous because the killer was slicing Maureen up in plain view of everyone. Some sequences had people in shock, as Maureen made her way into the aisle, so if people were reacting so squeamishly, they should have pounced on the killer and unmasked Ghostface. It's a weird risk that required the crowd to be too drunk or stupid to see what's really happening, but that led to a strong, meta-message.
Maureen would then crawl upon the stage and scream, bleeding out in front of the screen. The crowd cheered it on, thinking it was marketing, as the slasher moseyed on out. This was a statement, though, for how society gave passes to pop culture. It's not that music, film or games need to be blamed for all violent acts; however, the fact the cinema gave out masks and celebrated the Ghostface serial killer after the Woodsboro murders were the problem.
It's akin to how serial killers are sometimes glorified and romanticized in the entertainment industry over the years when they should be condemned and not turned into idols or fascinating case studies for profit. After all, the celebrity status of these murders would influence some of the villains of the franchise. Furthermore, this public showing -- as opposed to privacy of the first film's opening kill -- rammed it home even more how society either craves violence as entertainment or is willing to ignore actual acts of violence in favor of enjoying their own safe fantasy, thus holding up a mirror to reflect society's damaged psyche at times.
Seeing teens running around town with fake knives and prank calling Sid was also something normalized, which is why the clear signs of Maureen being killed were ignored. Her on-stage death represented this twisted art mankind either cheered on or undermined, which created a haunting spirit to poison future Ghostfaces. Ultimately, it reminded viewers how the slasher became an immortal symbol that Woodsboro and its environs feared while making a commentary on how some people are willing to exploit tragedies for profit and personal gain.