How Many Murders Was Billy Loomis Responsible for in ‘Scream?’
Wes Craven‘s Scream revitalized the genre where horror meets comedy. The wildly popular 1996 release scored with audiences and continues to be an iconic go-to horror flick to date.
Although Scream dives deeply enough into character development, the slasher cuts right to the chase during the opening of the film. High school student Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) receives an ominous phone call while home alone. Initially, she thinks the caller is being playful but quickly learns the caller is actually a crazed killer.
Before the title sequence hits Casey and her boyfriend Steve (Kevin Patrick Walls) are both murdered. The film then delves into the main character, Sidney Prescott’s (Neve Campell) backstory and why a killer could be on the loose. Scream ultimately reveals the identity of the killer, which ends up being Sidney’s high school boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) and his side-kick buddy, Stu (Matthew Lillard). Since the killer always wore the infamous ghost mask, is there any way to know which character was the murderer each time? Fans have an idea of who was responsible.
Steve and Casey
Who did it? Stu
Casey receives a phone call from the killer who uses a voice disguiser so she can’t recognize him. In 1996, caller I.D. wasn’t prevalent so it wasn’t uncommon to automatically not know who was calling. Now that audiences know two people are involved in the Scream murders who did the calling and who did the killing in this scene?
Fans believe Billy was on the phone, while Stu was the one who did the deed. Fans think Billy gave Stu the signals as to where Casey and Steve were in the house so that he could deliver the fatal blow. However, some fans believe both boys were responsible and that Stu killed Steve, while Billy killed Casey.
Principal Himbry
Who did it? Billy
Fans point to Billy as being responsible for taking out Principal Himbry (Henry Winkler). Himbry is alone in his office after sending the students home on an emergency lock-down. He yells at two students who were mocking the killer, confiscating their ghost masks before sending them on their way.
After he checks out what he might look like with the ghost mask, he hears a noise. After a false alarm, Himbry encounters the killer who adds Himbry to the list of murders. Fans think Billy must have killed Himbry since Stu was too busy inviting students to his big shindig.
Tatum Riley
Who did it? Billy
Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan) almost managed to escape the killer if it weren’t for a cat door that was just too small. She did battle with the killer in the garage during the party and was a formidable opponent for a while. She was ultimately murdered in the film, but did her boyfriend Stu do it?
Fans think Billy killed her. The thinking is that Stu was busy being the “host with the most.” If he left to kill his girlfriend, people would have noticed.
Kenny Jones
Who did it? Stu
Poor Kenny (W. Earl Brown) was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. As Gale Weather’s (Courtney Cox) cameraman, he was verbally abused by Gale and probably wanted to leave before the killing started.
But he ended up in a no-win situation. Billy was “attacked” by the killer upstairs and pretended to be dead. Gale planted cameras inside the party but they were on a delay. Kenny thinks Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) is about to be killed and tries to go for help. But he doesn’t make it as fans think Stu kills him before he could getaway.
Although the trail of “who done it” is fan speculation, Billy admits in the film that he was the one who killed Sidney’s mother, Maureen. And, of course, both Billy and Stu end up dead at the end of the film.
