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| For alternate versions of Billy Loomis, see Billy Loomis' Character Hub |
| “ | We all go a little mad sometimes... | ” |
–Billy quoting Norman Bates, before shooting Randy, revealing he's the Ghostface #1 | ||
Billy Loomis is the main antagonist of Scream (1996 film) and the original Ghostface killer. As a horror film fanatic, he pressures his best friend, Stu Macher, into helping him commit a killing spree in Woodsboro.
While he states it is "scarier when there is no motive", he reveals to Sidney, and Stu, that the killing spree is an elaborate revenge attack against Maureen Prescott. Billy's anger stems from his mother's abandonment, following his father's affair with Maureen, his girlfriend's mother. He blames Maureen and her well-renowned promiscuity for ruining his family structure. In revenge, he kills Maureen, and successfully frames her other lover, Cotton.
One year later, he tortures his grieving girlfriend, Sidney, in an elaborate revenge plot, hoping to frame her father for the killing spree he commits with Stu, following their success with framing Cotton. However, Billy fails this time around, as Sidney ultimately defeats and kills the psychotic pairing inside Stu's house.
25 years after his death, it is revealed that Billy had an affair with Christina Carpenter, and she gave birth to his illegitimate daughter, Samantha, who later faces a similar killing spree to the one Billy orchestrated.
Billy is portrayed by Skeet Ulrich in Scream (1996). Ulrich reappears as a reimagining of Billy through the hallucinations of his daughter in Scream (2022). He is portrayed by Luke Wilson in Stab (1998), based on Gale's re-telling of the murders in her best-selling book.
Biography
Early Life
Billy was born to Hank and Nancy Loomis and at some point started dating Sidney Prescott as well as befriending Stu Macher. Hank had an affair with Sidney's mother, Maureen, and upon discovering this, Billy's mother left. The maternal abandonment caused a serious disruption to Billy's life.
After learning about the affair, Roman Bridger showed Billy video footage of Hank having an affair with Maureen, his girlfriend's mother. Roman convinced Billy to murder Maureen because she was the reason Mrs. Loomis left Hank and Billy. Roman told Billy to get an easily controllable accomplice he could pin the murder on if it went wrong and to frame another of Maureen's lovers. Billy and Stu followed the plan perfectly.
Either prior to, or during, the Woodsboro Murders, Billy slept with another student, presumably whilst still with Sidney, and she gave birth to his daughter, Samantha Carpenter. Billy never knew his daughter and Samantha spent most of her life not knowing he was her real father until she found her mother's diaries which confirmed this to her.
The Woodsboro Murders
Billy pretending to comfort Sidney after being released from jail.
A year after Maureen's murder, Billy and Stu killed Casey Becker and Steven Orth. Billy was the one, who called Casey, when Stu murdered Steven. When Casey punched Stu at the window, later she got caught by Billy. He strangled her and stabbed multiple times. Stu assists Billy in gutting and hanging Casey, after she is already severely injured from stab wounds to chest, stomach, neck and legs. His choice of apparel is a generic Halloween costume that several people own, making the killer almost impossible to find. This costume is responsible for making the killer known as Ghostface throughout the Scream franchise. The next night, Billy and Stu target Sidney.
After he calls Sidney and Stu chases Sidney in the Ghostface costume, attempting to kill her. Billy pops through her window as himself "comforting" a very terrified Sidney. Sidney notices a cell phone (possibly her father's as it was cloned) that drops from his pocket. She looks at him and puts a puzzle piece together, ultimately assuming he is the one that called and ignited the attack. She runs down the stairs with him shouting for her, "Whoa, Whoa, Wait... What's going on? Sidney, come back! Sidney!" She opens the door and is extremely jumpy to find Dewey holding the Ghostface mask and the cops arrived at her house. Billy is then arrested and brought to the Woodsboro Police Precinct.
At the police station Burke interrogated Billy who was with his father Hank, first asking him, why he has a cell phone and Billy answered that everyone has one, denying that he called and harassed Sidney. Hank defends his son saying ''Check the phone bill for Christ's sake!'', then asked if he can call vital phone comp because they have the records of every phone number dialed.
Billy and Stu confront Randy in the video store.
Burke continued to interrogate Billy first asking him why he was over at Sidney's house. Billy answered that he wanted to see her, Burke then asked about last night pointing out that Sidney said that he came through her window last night too. Hank asked his son, ''You went out last night?'' unaware that Billy left the house. Billy answered that he was watching TV, then got bored and decided to go out for a ride. Burke then asked him, ''Did you happen to ride by Casey Becker's house?'', Billy denies it and says he didn't kill anybody. Burke told Hank that they will have to hold Billy until they get those phone records and Billy is placed in jail for the night. Dewey then shows Burke the Father Death costume saying that they sell it every five in dime in the state and there's no way to track down the purchase. Burke then asked about the phone billy and Dewey said they pulling Billy's phone bill and won't learn anything until the morning. The next morning, Dewey informs Sidney that Billy's phone records are clean and it couldn't have been him making those phone calls to her or Casey Becker which gets Billy released from jail. In order to help clear Billy's name, Stu also calls Sidney at Tatum's house as Ghostface, promising that Sidney will find out who Ghostface is soon. This, combined with the phone records being clean, results in Billy being released from jail; however, the rest of the gang begin to distance themselves from him.
Sidney, fleeing from insensitive classmates, is surprised when she runs right into Billy. Although she sees it's him, she is not comforted and pushes him away. Not caring about how she must be feeling, he asks her if she still thinks he's the one who attacked her. She says no, but he claims she isn't the same as she used to be since her mother died. Sidney gets angry at his careless statement and scolds him. He tries to minimize what she's going through by comparing his own maternal absence to the death of Sidney's mother. He tried to justify this statement and say he wants his girlfriend back. Sidney, very emotional because of what Billy says, walks away.
Before the party, it is likely Billy stalking Sidney and Tatum when they are talking on the porch and later shopping at a convenient store. The girls talk of her mother's death and Tatum revealing more rumors. Rumors of other men involved with her mother (which later proved to be Billy's father). In the Convenient store, Sidney and Tatum hold a conversation about Billy and finally giving it up. Tatum says he doesn't deserve her. As she says this, Ghostface is in the reflection of store refreshment cooler. It's very apparent this is Billy, and he has targeted Tatum to get Sidney alone and possible resentment over statements she said about him.
Billy's fake death
The party occurs. He isn't invited, but is lurking around. Tatum goes into the garage for beer and she is confronted by Billy in his Ghostface costume, after Stu locked the garage door. He kills her, and enters the house through the garage to hide out. Sidney shouts out summoning Tatum that it is time to go. After no response, she asks Stu were she is. He isn't sure. Billy pops into the door frame scaring both of them and then asking if he can talk to Sidney alone. She agrees and they go upstairs to the master bedroom and talk. Randy Billy apologizes and then Sidney sympathetically agrees that it is her fault too for being so repressed. Billy goes on to relay he understands how she feels by some movies he has seen. She calmly tells him it is real life and not a movie. He tells her, "Sure it is, Sid. It's all... It's all... a great big movie. ..Only you can't pick a genre." They grow intimate again and Sidney saying in a flirtatious way, "Why can I be a Meg Ryan movie...? ..or even a good porno."
Billy then asks her if she is ready. She replies saying she is. Soon after, Sidney and Billy have sex. The remaining guests are intrigued to find out their principal had been killed as well and flee to see his corpse. After they leave, Ghostface appears and stabs and seemingly kills Billy, and Sidney is chased once more by the killer. After Sidney is chased and she goes back into the house locking Randy out with Stu (out of his own house), Billy appears to be mortally wounded, but alive. He falls down the stairs seriously injured. She then goes to him and sees if he is alright. She helps him up saying they must get help. He insists on getting the gun and opening the door. He lets Randy in only to reveal he is the one of the masterminds behind the murders and shoots Randy in the chest area. It is then revealed that Billy and Stu took turns doing the killings while the other did the calls. They revealed Billy's motive to kill Sidney's mother, and then explained that they intended to frame Sidney's father, Neil Prescott, for everything. However, Gale Weathers intervened with the gun, only to realize that she left the safety on. Billy kicks Gale into a pillar, knocking her out, and is about to shoot her when Stu sees that Sidney is gone. Billy leaves Gale and then gets a call from Sidney, using the Ghostface voice, to taunt him. She has already called the police, and is hiding. An infuriated Billy rips up pillows with the knife while Stu talks to Sidney on the phone.
Billy is killed by Sidney.
Billy then hears noises and opens up a door, to see that Sidney has tricked him by playing Halloween on a TV. Sidney, disguised as Ghostface, stabs Billy twice in the chest and smacks him. As Sidney begins to remove her Ghostface costume, Stu runs out of the kitchen and battles Sidney, After killing Stu, Randy gets up from his gunshot wound, much to Sidney's relief. However, Billy also gets up and punches out Randy. He then tries to strangle Sidney and she sticks her finger in one of his knife wounds. However, this only angers Billy and he raises his knife to stab down. Gale then gets up and shoots Billy, and he collapses. Randy predicts that Billy will come back for "one last scare", and Billy indeed did open up his eyes and let out a grunt startling the survivors. However, Sidney with a certain survivor's edge, holds the gun in confidence and delivers the killing shot to him in the forehead, officially killing Billy Loomis.
The Windsor College Murders
Luke Wilson as Billy Loomis in Stab.
By Scream 2, the new movie, Stab, based off the events of Scream had came to theaters.Luke Wilson played Billy Loomis in the movie. He is seen in the infamous scene at Woodsboro High School with Tori Spelling (who played Sidney) where they argue about the difference between their mothers being gone.
Nancy Loomis attempted to avenge his death with another killing spree with the help of Mickey, who acted for his own reasons and who she killed, when he was useless and still useful as a scapegoat to get away with it. She killed Randy, because he bad-mouthed Billy while on the phone with her saying he was a "rat-looking, homo-repressed mama's boy". Eventually, she confronts Sidney over the death of her son. Mrs. Loomis is cleverly fought, but eventually takes Sidney captive. She was shot by Cotton Weary, who saved Sidney's life.
Hollywood
Sidney remembered conversations with Billy when she visited her bedroom set for Stab 3 at Sunrise Studios. She smiled at his sweet side before she thought of his sinister side. She hear noises on the set, grabs her mace, pulls her closet door against her bedroom door like before. She sees her "door" move on it own and gets nervous backing towards the window of her "room". All the remembrance, she forgot Billy did in fact came through her window through the struggle. The killer appears behind her and grabs and pulls her through "her window". Roman also mentions him after his reveal to explain his revenge plan.
15 Years Later
Billy was referenced in the fourth installment a few times.
Trevor referenced Billy by being Jill's boyfriend at one time, crawling through Jill's window, and giving constant romantic gestures of being together. Sidney remarked that this reminded her of herself and Billy.
When Sidney comforts Jill concerning Olivia, Jill doesn't seem as bothered as she is a female "Billy". This brings on the bonding scene between Sidney and Jill, much like when Billy and Sidney made up and Sidney lost her virginity to Billy, but reciprocated. Instead, with them being female cousins, Sidney and Jill share a tender family moment, but Sidney is left with a gut feeling of familiarity as she sensed a familiar energy.
Another reciprocated reference was the chase in Kirby's house, where both Jill and Sidney run upstairs to Kirby's room. Stu originally came up and interrupted Billy and Sidney, and pretended to stab Billy leaving him "unconscious" on top of the bed and Sidney fleeing. This time, Sidney tells Jill to hide UNDER the bed and pretends she is running to get help as she flees. Like Billy, she emerges from the bed and as one of the killers.
Her very name "Jill" is reference to being a female version of Billy while being Sidney's kin. Jill has represented a hybrid of Billy and Sidney; by gestures, similar female versions of his apparel, reciprocated and similar actions, repressed anguish, wicked sense of humor and love of horror movies, and killer instinct. Charlie referenced a part of Billy by being repressed in his Love towards Kirby (the new version Sidney). Jill represented about 3/4 reference of Billy and 1/4 of Sidney while Charlie represented about 1/4 of his reference to Billy.
2022 Woodsboro Legacy Murders
- Billy: "Sam, Sam, Sam... There's a killer on the loose. He's threatening you and he's threatening your sister. Are you gonna run away from who you are, like you always do, or you're gonna use it?"
- ': "Samantha hallucinating Billy"
- — [src]
Billy appears as a hallucination to his illegitimate daughter, Samantha Carpenter, multiple times whilst she is on her medication. The hallucinations seem to resemble Billy as he was when he was alive, consistently attempting to convince Sam to embrace her dark side and kill. Eventually succeeding.
Billy initially appears to Sam in the hospital, as she leans down to drink water from a tap and then rises again to see Billy behind her. He taunts her with the secret she is keeping and questions as to when she'll tell Tara the truth, thus the reason why she was attacked in the first place. Sam's phone rings and Billy disappears.
When Samantha is driving away from the Meeks House after being offended by Mindy Meeks-Martin's accusation that she is the killer, Billy appears in the rearview and tells Sam that it's time to find the killer and "cut some fucking throats". Sam screams NO and just barely avoids being T-Boned by another car. Billy disappears again.
After Richie Kirsch revealed himself to be a killer, Billy appears yet again in a mirror in the house, pointing out the location of Richie's knife which he previously dropped. Billy nods, encouraging his daughter to use the knife and she finally sublimates her darkside and uses Richie's knife to stab him repeatedly and then slit his throat, killing him.
As Sam leaves with Tara in an ambulance, she hallucinates Billy standing behind her once more, indicating that he still is, and will continue to, haunt her.
The New York Ghostface Murders
Following the 2022 Murders, Sam has stopped suffering hallucinations of Billy however she still feels his presence in her life and admits that when she stabbed Richie, "it felt right". After discovering the Ghostface shrine belonging to Richie (although not revealed to be his until revealed by his father, Wayne Bailey), Sam approaches a glass display case containing Billy's old robe and knife and she begins to hallucinate Billy reflected behind her in the glass, much to Sam's fear.
When she returns to the shrine to trap the new killer, Sam hallucinates Billy once more when he convinces her to open the display case and use his old bloody knife to kill the new killer. Sam obliges and takes the knife. To kill Wayne, Sam dresses in Billy's old robe and mask and uses his knife to stab Wayne on 40 times and then once in the eye to finish him off.
In the aftermath of the unmasking, Sam reveals Billy's mask hidden in her jacket but fights off the intrusive thoughts and drops the mask to the ground, leaving Billy behind her.
Murders Committed
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Maureen Prescott | Stabbed to death. (with Stu Macher) | Scream (1996) |
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Casey Becker | Gutted and hung from tree. (with Stu Macher) | Scream (1996) |
|
Arthur Himbry | Chest impaled 3 times/stomach once/gutted with hunting knife. | Scream (1996) |
Relationships
Family
Allies
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Enemies
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Quotes
About Billy
- ''He was destined to have a flaw. I knew he was too perfect.'' (by Tatum)
- ''He's got "killer" printed all over his forehead'' (by Randy)
- 'And Billy Loomis, Billy Loomis, what the fuck? Jesus, what a rat-lookin, homo-repressed momma's boy!'' (by Randy)
Scream (1996)
Before reveal
- ''Hey, it's called tact you fuck rag.''
- ''Nobody said you did.''
- "Understand what? That my girlfriend would rather accuse me of being a psychopathic killer then touch me?''
- "Subtlety, Stu. You should look it up."
- "Sure it is, Sid. It's all, it's all a movie. It's all? One great big movie, though you can't pick your genre."
- "What do I have to do to prove to you that I'm not a killer?"
After reveal
- ''Mmmm...corn syrup. Same stuff they used for pig's blood in Carrie."
- "What's the matter, Sidney? You look like you've seen a ghost."
- "It's called GUESS HOW I'M GONNA DIE!". No, no, no. We already played that game, remember? You lost".
- "You hear that, Stu? I think she wants a motive. Well, I don't really believe in motives, Sid. I mean, did Norman Bates have a motive? Did they ever really decide why Hannibal Lecter liked to eat people? DON'T THINK SO. See, it's a lot scarier when there's no motive, Sid."
- "That woman was a slut-bag whore who flashed her shit all over town like she was Sharon Stone or something!"
- "Is that motive enough for you? Well, how about this? Your slut mother was fucking my father. And she's the reason my mother moved out and abandoned me. How's that for a motive? Maternal abandonment causes serious deviant behavior. It certainly fucked you up. It made you have sex with a psychopath!"
- ''Now Sid, don't you blame the movies! Movies don't create psychos, movies make psychos more creative!
- "It works better without the safety on. This is Gale Weathers, signing off."
- "I'm gonna rip you up, you bitch! Just like your fucking mother!"
- "Fucker! Say hello to your mother!" (last words)
As Ghostface
- ''No, you listen little bitch! You hang on me again and I'll gut you like a fish, understand?!''
- ''Never say "who's there?" Don't you watch scary movies? It's a death wish. You might as well come out to investigate a strange noise or something.''
- ''Lucky for you there's a bonus round, but poor Steve... I'm afraid, he's out!''
- ''The question isn't, who am I? The question is where am I?''
- ''If you hang up on me, you'll die just like your mother! Do you wanna die, Sidney? Your mother sure didn't!''
As hallucination
Scream (2022)
- ''How you doing Sam?'' Hmm... Antipsychotics aren't working as well as they used to, are they?''
- ''You can't run from who you are, Sam. I'm just trying to help. Hey, when are you going to tell her why all this is happening?''
- ''Really? And how else are you gonna survive? I say accept who you are, let's get out there, find out who's doing this, and CUT SOME FUCKING THROATS!''
Scream VI
- "You know you’re not safe here, whenever someone says we’re save here, it means you’re not."
- "You’re smarter than this Sam! Grab a weapon and clear this place yourself. You know I'm right."
Trivia
- In the script, he was described as: "a young, strapping boy of twenty. A star quarterback/class president type of guy. He sports a smile that could last for days."
- Kevin Patrick Walls and Justin Whalin were final contenders for the role of Billy Loomis before it was won by Skeet Ulrich, with Walls being given the minor role of Steve Orth.
- David Arquette was also offered the role of Billy Loomis, but he wanted to portray Dewey Riley instead; the studio was nervous about this, but Wes Craven decided that Arquette would play Dewey instead of Billy. The role was ultimately won out by Skeet Ulrich.
- Billy quotes killer Norman Bates ("We all go a little mad sometimes") and his motive (avenging his mother, for abandoning him) is similar to that of Jason Voorhees' first kill.
- Billy, along with Stu, are the only Ghostface killers to have been mentioned in all five movies, as well as the only same sex duo of killers in the franchise, overall
- Both himself and Stu are succeeded by other male killers (regardless of whether or not being the main mastermind or their accomplice) such as Mickey Altieri, Roman Bridger, Charlie Walker, and Richie Kirsch in the films.
- In the television series, in Season 3, it is Jamal Elliot who succeeds Billy seeing as he also dons the Ghostface identity and costume to exact his crimes, due to a vendetta similar to Billy's (due to Jay's hatred towards Marcus for having stolen and imposed hate onto his life, and indirectly his neglect leading for Jay's mother to die, just like how Maureen caused for Billy's mother to leave and ruining his life)
- Billy is officially the first known Ghostface killer, to date, to have had a child, revealing his infidelity while dating Sidney Prescott almost 25 years later (and vice versa with the other girl he cheated on with also having been in a relationship with her boyfriend and having cheated on him with Billy)
- The first, albeit not a Ghostface until later, would indirectly be his mother and Sam's grandma, Nancy Loomis, whom it's implied only to have committed to the copycat killing spree to avenge her dead son in Scream 2, similar to how Billy used her absence due to Maureen's affair with her father as his motive to kill, avenging her as well.
- This can also be implied indirectly to Billy's first victim and Sidney's late mother, Maureen Prescott, who also had an illegitimate child and Sidney's half brother, Roman, and how despite never being a killer herself, gave birth to one in her first son. Thus, after rejecting Roman, caused for him to convince Billy to kill her for her affair with Billy's father (being the main reason why Billy's mother left), and would go onto become the fifth Ghostface killer in Scream 3.
- Billy's last name is a possible reference to Dr. Sam Loomis from Halloween.
- It could also be a reference to Sam Loomis from Psycho.
- Thus, he is named after Samuel Loomis from Halloween who is in turn named after Sam Loomis from 1960's film Psycho
- Both his motive and death are somewhat similar to Piper Shaw. Both wanted revenge for the absent of their parents, and both were killed after shot twice once in the chest and once in the head.
- However, unlike Piper, Billy didn't intend to kill his mother rather frame Sidney and her father, while Piper wanted to kill both her and Emma's mother with her half sister (this is a reference more to Roman Bridger and who in turn, prior to his reveal, convinced Billy to kill his mother).
- He has several similarities with Kieran Wilcox, who was the boyfriend of Emma, and the reasons for killing are similar in the format of abandonment issues in the deaths of his parents. However, unlike Kieran, Billy wouldn't hurt his own family.
- Skeet Ulrich reprised his role in Scream (2022 film) as a hallucination manifested in his daughter's mind, with CGI being used to de-age him. It was originally believed he would appear in some capacity as he had been tagged on Marley Shelton's Instagram which was then edited later.
- Since this version is merely Samantha's hallucination, the fact he wants her to kill people doesn't make him a Ghostface.
Gallery
 |
Billy Loomis has a Photo Gallery. |
Appearances
See also
- Billy Loomis (Stab) (portrayed by Luke Wilson)
Character Guide
| Scream Characters | ||
| Principal Characters | Sidney Prescott • Gale Weathers • Dewey Riley • Ghostface | |
| Recurring Supporting Characters | Randy Meeks • Cotton Weary | |
| Supporting Characters | Billy Loomis • Tatum Riley • Stu Macher • Kenny Brown • Sheriff Burke • Arthur Himbry • Casey Becker • Steven Orth | |
| Recurring Minor Characters | Neil Prescott • Maureen Prescott • Hank Loomis | |
| Ghostface(s) | Billy Loomis • Stu Macher | |
| Scream (2022) Characters | ||
| Core Four | Samantha Carpenter • Tara Carpenter • Mindy Meeks-Martin • Chad Meeks-Martin | |
| Principal Characters | Richie Kirsch • Wes Hicks • Liv McKenzie • Amber Freeman • Ghostface | |
| Supporting Characters | Deputy Farney • Deputy Vinson • Vince Schneider • Judy Hicks | |
| Legacy Characters | Dewey Riley • Gale Weathers • Sidney Prescott • Billy Loomis (hallucinations) • Randy Meeks (photo) | |
| Ghostface(s) | Amber Freeman • Richie Kirsch | |
| Recurring Characters | Judy Hicks • Martha Meeks (cameo) • Kirby Reed (photo) • Jennifer Jolie (photo) • Roman Bridger (archive footage of Scott Foley) • Tori Spelling (photo) • Casey Becker (Stab)/Heather Graham (photo) • Billy Loomis (Stab)/Luke Wilson (photo) | |
| Cameo Characters | Deputy Keith • Frances • Christopher Speed (fiction) • Principal | |
| Scream VI Characters | ||
| Core Four | Samantha Carpenter • Tara Carpenter • Mindy Meeks-Martin • Chad Meeks-Martin | |
| Principal Characters | Anika Kayoko • Quinn Bailey • Danny Brackett • Ethan Landry • Jason Carvey • Wayne Bailey • Ghostface | |
| Supporting Characters | Laura Crane • Christopher Stone • Brooks • Greg Bruckner | |
| Cameo Characters | Richie Kirsch (video footage) • Stu Macher (photo) • Amber Freeman (photo) • Jill Roberts (photo) • Charlie Walker (photo) • Nancy Loomis (photo) • Mickey Altieri (photo) • Roman Bridger (photo) | |
| Legacy Characters | Gale Weathers • Kirby Reed • Billy Loomis (hallucinations) • Dewey Riley (photos) | |
| Ghostface(s) | Jason Carvey • Wayne Bailey • Ethan Landry • Quinn Bailey | |
| Ghostface Killers | ||
| Scream killers | Billy Loomis • Stu Macher | |
| Scream 2 killers | Mickey Altieri • Nancy Loomis | |
| Scream 3 killers | Roman Bridger | |
| Scream 4 killers | Charlie Walker • Jill Roberts | |
| Scream (2022) killers | Amber Freeman • Richie Kirsch | |
| Scream VI killers | Jason Carvey • Wayne Bailey • Ethan Landry • Quinn Bailey | |