Who Actually Killed Who In Scream?

Was it Billy? Was it Stu? Or was it really Roman Bridger?

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Miramax

Wes Craven's 1996 Scream is an all-time classic horror movie.

Few horrors of the past 25 years can claim to have had as much of a genuinely game-changing influence on the genre as Scream, with the film managing to both poke fun at the overtired tropes of the genre whilst somehow still managing to be a terrifying movie in its own right.

Scream stared at the formulaic rules of the horror genre, laughed in their face, and then subsequently went about breathing new life into horror and, in particular, the slasher subgenre.

Two key components to any such horror offering, of course, are the amount of bodies piled up and having a good twist at play. The twist here would be that there are two Ghostface killers - Matthew Lillard's Stu Macher and Skeet Ulrich's Billy Loomis - and the kill count of this pair is quite the impressive one.

Given how both killers were adorned from head-to-toe in the Ghostface garb, it's not revealed exactly which of Stu or Billy are responsible for each death. Added to that, there's also the revelation in Scream 3 that Roman Bridger was a sinister presence in and around that first Scream movie.

For those contemplating who was responsible for each of the deaths in Scream, here's the breakdown of who was wielding the knife for each of these murders.

7. Steve Orth

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Dimension Films

Fun fact. Actor Kevin Patrick Walls was at one point up for the role of Billy Loomis.

While Walls ultimately lost out on that role to Skeet Ulrich, he would still be a part of Scream after being tasked with playing Steve Orth. The boyfriend of Drew Barrymore's Casey Becker, Steve doesn't even get a line of dialogue in the movie, but he has a major impact on the initial viewing experience of watching Scream.

Steve is the first person that we see killed in Scream and that moment in itself is the first time that we get to see Ghostface in action. And what brutal, bloody action it is!

Gagged and taped to a chair, Steve's fate is left down to Casey's knowledge of horror films. When she incorrectly lists Jason Voorhees as the killer of the first Friday the 13th picture - the killer of that movie being Jason's mother, Pamela Voorhees - that means that Steve's days are numbered.

Stabbed, slashed, and turned into a gutted piece of patio furniture, Steve bites the bullet quicker than you can say "what's your favourite scary movie?" - and the person under the Ghostface mask for this particular kill is Stu Macher, as confirmed by the filmmakers.

With Billy's Ghostface at this point in time more focussed on what's going on inside Casey's house, it's Stu who's left to deal with matters outside Casey's house.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.