How do you rank the killers of the Scream franchise? It’s a tough task. Are they better killers for working alone or for coordinating with a partner? Do they get more points for the viciousness and creativity of each kill? Certainly, you have to consider the kill count. And, of course, there is the motive. When the killer finally removes their mask, who has the best rationale behind their murder spree?
For the uninitiated, the franchise began in 1996 with Scream, written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven (who would direct the first four films in the franchise until his death in 2015). Neve Campbell stars as final girl Sidney Prescott, who is terrorized when a killer in a Halloween costume starts stalking and killing her and her friends on the anniversary of her mother’s murder. Courteney Cox stars as Gale Weathers, the tabloid journalist who comes to Woodsboro to make her name on the story, and David Arquette stars as Deputy Dewey Riley. These three become the legacy characters, appearing in the first five installments of the franchise.
Leading up to the sixth film--the first without Campbell or Arquette--we went through the Scream franchise and analyzed each murder, each killer reveal, and the motives for each villain. We have ranked them from the “worst” killer to the “best.” The ranking of these killers has nothing to do with how we would rank each individual Scream film, but rather what we think of each person donning the Ghostface mask.
8. Charlie Walker (Scream 4)
Charlie has the least to do of any Ghostface killer in any Scream movie. The majority of his screen time is spent lusting after fan-favorite Kirby. He is most useful when he is being used as a trap to lure Kirby out to him when she thinks he has been captured by Ghostface.
Motive: None stated. He is the only Scream killer to not specifically state a motive.
7. Jill Roberts (Scream 4)
There are nine Ghostface kills in this Scream film - not including the four fake-out Stab kills in the two opening sequences. Jill is unique in that she is the only one who definitively kills her accomplice. Several other Ghostfaces have attempted to kill their partners, but have always required Sidney or Gale (or both) to land the final killshot. She also has the entire killing spree on video, to show the world. Such Millennial thinking.
Motive: Jill has the weakest motive. She is Sidney’s cousin and is annoyed by hearing about Sidney’s life at every turn. So, with Charlie’s help, she has decided that they are going to be the new Sidney and Randy, leaving them surviving heroes of a new Woodsboro murder spree. She has even picked out a new "Billy Loomis" to blame this on: Trevor.
6. Mickey (Scream 2)
Unfortunately for him, Mickey is just a patsy. Debbie met him on a website for serial killer fans, and he needed some tuition money, so the two teamed up. Debbie could have used any unstable college kid to be her #2. She didn’t care about him, as evidenced by her shooting him. (She didn’t kill him, though--that honor went to Sidney and Gale in a dual shoot-out when Mickey popped up for “one last scare.”)
Motive: Mickey, a film student, planned on stating that the “movies made me do it!” He was going to say that he was inspired to kill because of the influence of violent movies, then get the Christian Coalition to pay his legal fees. Debbie reveals herself to be the second killer and shoots him down, putting an end to his attempt at a political statement.
5. Debbie Salt (Scream 2)
Scream 2 ups the body count, giving us eight murders at the hands of the two Ghostface killers. Debbie Salt, small-town reporter, reveals herself to be Billy Loomis’ mother and the newest killer, keeping the Loomis brand of psychopathy alive.
Motive: “Good old-fashioned revenge.” She’s just a mom looking for a little payback for the murder of her son.
4. Amber Freeman & Richie Kirsch (Scream 5)
Scream 5 goes back to the classic, with only five murders (though one of which happens off-screen--we come in to discover a dead cop in the hospital hallway). However, the killers here get some bonus points for killing Dewey, a legacy character, who survived near-fatal injuries in virtually every other Scream film to date. It is interesting to note that this is the first Scream film in which the Ghostface killers are not killed by either Sidney or Gale. The moniker of Final Girl has officially been passed to Tara and her sister Samantha.
Motive: We put Amber and Richie together because they have the same motive: to restart the Stab franchise. The duo feels that the Stab franchise--a franchise they love--has gotten stale, and the best way to reinvigorate it is to create a new massacre to base a new movie on.
3. Roman Bridger (Scream 3)
Roman deserves an extra point in his column because he is the only killer in the Scream franchise (so far) to act alone. What is even more impressive is that he got nine kills all by himself.
Motive: Roman reveals himself to be Maureen Prescott’s illegitimate, unrecognized son. He took video of Maureen, revealing her affair with Billy’s father, and showed these videos to Billy. Roman is proud to announce to Sidney that he “got [Billy] started” on his whole killing spree. In a sense, then, he is at least partially responsible for the acts in the first Scream movie. His motivations for his own murders are simply to get Sidney’s attention.
2. Stu Macher (Scream)
Involved in five of Billy’s six murders, Stu is too manic to play much of a role in the set-up of Sidney’s dad, but if you are looking for someone wild enough to go along with damn near anything, then Stu is your guy. He doesn’t do well under pressure, however, as he starts to whine the moment Billy stabs him to set up their “left for dead” story.
Motive: Peer pressure, plain and simple.
1. Billy Loomis (Scream)
Billy Loomis is the end-all, be-all Scream killer. Even though he was partnered up with Stu Macher in his murder spree, Stu is rarely mentioned as the second killer. Between Billy and Stu, the pair can claim five murders, but Billy has an additional kill to his name: the murder of Maureen Prescott, a year prior.
Motive: Sidney’s mom, Maureen, was having an affair with Billy’s dad, destroying their marriage. Billy had the foresight to frame another man for Maureen’s murder, then return a year later, with plans on framing Sidney’s dad for this new rampage which, had he been successful, would have included Sidney on the death list.
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