History YMMV / Scream1996

** [[spoiler:[[PsychopathicManchild Stuart "Stu" Macher]] is one of [[PredecessorVillain the original Ghostfaces]] with his partner [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas William "Billy" Loomis]]. A [[AxCrazy horror-loving psychopath]] who leaped at the chance to become a real killer, Stu assisted Billy in abducting, raping, torturing, and brutally murdering Maureen Prescott, [[FrameUp framing]] her lover Cotton Weary for the crime. A year on, Stu murders Casey Becker and her boyfriend Steve out of spite for Casey leaving him, leaving her corpse for her parents to find, and then gleefully participates in the Ghostface murder spree with Billy that even sees his own girlfriend Tatum killed. Stu plans to massacre most of the attendees of a party so he and Billy can murder [[Characters/ScreamSidneyPrescott Sidney Prescott]], frame her father for it, and pass themselves off as innocent victims free to continue planning their "sequel", with Stu more than happy to stab Billy for their plan, culminating in him attempting to throttle Sidney as he claims he "always had a thing" for her.]]

** In Kevin Williamson's [[https://imsdb.com/scripts/Scream.html original script]]): [[spoiler:[[MadArtist Stu Maker]] is a horror-loving fanatic who decides to become a real-life slasher villain with his partner Billy. Raping, torturing, and murdering Maureen Prescott with Billy and [[FrameUp framing]] an innocent man for it one year ago, Stu kicks off the Bayboro murders by heinously attacking his ex-girlfriend Casey with tormenting phone calls and [[ForcedToWatch forcing her to watch]] her new boyfriend Steve be disemboweled. Stu then gutted Casey herself and strung her body up for her parents to find. Working with Billy to rack up more bodies, ranging from their school principal, to Stu's own girlfriend Tatum and her brother [[Characters/ScreamDeweyRiley Dewey]], Stu relishes exposing the truth of the duo's crimes to Maureen's daughter, and reveals their intent to murder her and her father both so they can pin the mass murder on Sidney's dad. Stu then tries to murder Gale and Sidney's LoveInterest Randy, a smile on his face the whole time.]]

** In (Kevin Williamson's [[https://imsdb.com/scripts/Scream.html original script]]): [[spoiler:[[MadArtist Stu Maker]] is a horror-loving fanatic who decides to become a real-life slasher villain with his partner Billy. Raping, torturing, and murdering Maureen Prescott with Billy and [[FrameUp framing]] an innocent man for it one year ago, Stu kicks off the Bayboro murders by heinously attacking his ex-girlfriend Casey with tormenting phone calls and [[ForcedToWatch forcing her to watch]] her new boyfriend Steve be disemboweled. Stu then gutted Casey herself and strung her body up for her parents to find. Working with Billy to rack up more bodies, ranging from their school principal, to Stu's own girlfriend Tatum and her brother [[Characters/ScreamDeweyRiley Dewey]], Stu relishes exposing the truth of the duo's crimes to Maureen's daughter, and reveals their intent to murder her and her father both so they can pin the mass murder on Sidney's dad. Stu then tries to murder Gale and Sidney's LoveInterest Randy, a smile on his face the whole time.]]

** In ([[Script/ScreamKevinWilliamson Kevin Williamson]]'s [[https://imsdb.com/scripts/Scream.html original script]]): [[spoiler:[[MadArtist Stu Maker]] is a horror-loving fanatic who decides to become a real-life slasher villain with his partner Billy. Raping, torturing, and murdering Maureen Prescott with Billy and [[FrameUp framing]] an innocent man for it one year ago, Stu kicks off the Bayboro murders by heinously attacking his ex-girlfriend Casey with tormenting phone calls and [[ForcedToWatch forcing her to watch]] her new boyfriend Steve be disemboweled. Stu then gutted Casey herself and strung her body up for her parents to find. Working with Billy to rack up more bodies, ranging from their school principal, to Stu's own girlfriend Tatum and her brother [[Characters/ScreamDeweyRiley Dewey]], Stu relishes exposing the truth of the duo's crimes to Maureen's daughter, and reveals their intent to murder her and her father both so they can pin the mass murder on Sidney's dad. Stu then tries to murder Gale and Sidney's LoveInterest Randy, a smile on his face the whole time.]]

** [[spoiler:[[[[PsychopathicManchild Stuart "Stu" Macher]] is one of [[PredecessorVillain the original Ghostfaces]] with his partner [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas William "Billy" Loomis]]. A [[AxCrazy horror-loving psychopath]] who leaped at the chance to become a real killer, Stu assisted Billy in abducting, raping, torturing, and brutally murdering Maureen Prescott, [[FrameUp framing]] her lover Cotton Weary for the crime. A year on, Stu murders Casey Becker and her boyfriend Steve out of spite for Casey leaving him, leaving her corpse for her parents to find, and then gleefully participates in the Ghostface murder spree with Billy that even sees his own girlfriend Tatum killed. Stu plans to massacre most of the attendees of a party so he and Billy can murder [[Characters/ScreamSidneyPrescott Sidney Prescott]], frame her father for it, and pass themselves off as innocent victims free to continue planning their "sequel", with Stu more than happy to stab Billy for their plan, culminating in him attempting to throttle Sidney as he claims he "always had a thing" for her.]]

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Billy owning a cellphone is used as incriminating evidence against him by Sid and the police since the killer obviously had one to make those pre-killing calls. Nowadays, this would be nothing short of unreasonable to conclude since the vast majority of people own personal phones. In the mid-90's, they were indeed growingly popular (something pointed out by BIilly even), but not yet as accessible as they would get until the tail-end of the century.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Billy owning a cellphone is used as incriminating evidence against him by Sid and the police since the killer obviously had one to make those pre-killing calls. Nowadays, this would be nothing short of unreasonable to conclude since the vast majority of people own personal phones. In the mid-90's, they were indeed growingly popular (something pointed out by BIlly even), but not yet as accessible as they would get until the tail-end of the century.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Billy owning a cellphone is used as incriminating evidence against him by Sid and the police since the killer obviously had one to make those pre-killing calls. Nowadays, this would be nothing short of rash, unreasonable conclusion since the vast majority of people own personal phones. In the mid-90's, they were indeed growingly popular (something pointed out by BIlly even), but not yet as accessible as they would get until the tail-end of the century.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Billy owning a cellphone is used as incriminating evidence against him by Sid and the police since the killer obviously had one to make those pre-killing calls. Nowadays, this is unthinkable since the vast majority of people own them. In the mid-90's, they were indeed growingly popular (something pointed out by BIlly even), but not yet as accessible as they would get until the tail-end of the century.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Billy owning a cellphone is used as incriminating evidence against him by Sid and the police since the killer obviously had one to make those pre-killing calls. Nowadays, this is unthinkable since the vast majority of people own them. In the mid-90's, they were indeed growingly popular, but not yet as accessible as they would get until the tail-end of the century.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Billy owning a cellphone is used as incriminating evidence against him by Sid and the police since the killer obviously had one to make those pre-killing calls, which is nowadays is unthinkable since the vast majority of people own them. In the mid-90's, they were growingly popular, but were not yet as accessible as they would get until the tail-end of the century.

** Casey's death, in which name actress Drew Barrymore is shockingly killed off just as she thinks she's made it to safety.

** [[spoiler:[[[[PsychopathicManchild Stuart "Stu" Macher]] is one of [[PredecessorVillain the original Ghostfaces]] with his partner [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas William "Billy" Loomis]]. A [[AxCrazy horror-loving psychopath]] who leaped at the chance to become a real killer, Stu assisted Billy in abducting, raping, torturing, and brutally murdering Maureen Prescott, [[FrameUp framing]] her lover Cotton Weary for the crime. A year on, Stu murders Casey Becker and her boyfriend Steve out of spite for Casey leaving him, leaving her corpse for her parents to find, and then gleefully participates in the Ghostface murder spree with Billy that even sees his own girlfriend Tatum killed. Stu plans to massacre most of the attendees of a party so he and Billy can murder [[Characters/ScreamSidneyPrescott Sidney Prescott]], frame her father for it, and pass themselves off as innocent victims free to continue planning their "sequel," with Stu more than happy to stab Billy for their plan, culminating in him attempting to throttle Sidney as he claims he "always had a thing" for her.]]

** [[spoiler:[[PsychopathicManchild Stuart "Stu" Macher]] is one of [[PredecessorVillain the original Ghostfaces]] with his partner [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas William "Billy" Loomis]]. A [[AxCrazy horror-loving psychopath]] who leaped at the chance to become a real killer, Stu assisted Billy in abducting, torturing, and brutally murdering Maureen Prescott, [[FrameUp framing]] her lover Cotton Weary for the crime. A year on, Stu murders Casey Becker and her boyfriend Steve out of spite for Casey leaving him, leaves her corpse for her parents to find, and then gleefully participates in the Ghostface murder spree with Billy that even sees his own girlfriend Tatum killed. Stu plans to massacre most of the attendees of a party so he and Billy can murder [[Characters/ScreamSidneyPrescott Sidney Prescott]], frame her father for it, and pass themselves off as innocent victims, with Stu more than happy to stab Billy for their plan, culminating in him attempting to throttle Sidney as he claims he "always had a thing" for her.]]

* ToughActToFollow: Much like {{Film/Up}}, while the movie is considered a masterpiece, the opening is considered so exemplary that the rest of the movie doesn't reach that same peak despite its best efforts.

** In ([[Script/ScreamKevinWilliamson Kevin Williamson]]'s [[https://imsdb.com/scripts/Scream.html original script]]): [[spoiler:[[MadArtist Stu Maker]] is a horror-loving fanatic who decides to become a real-life slasher villain with his partner Billy. Raping, torturing, and murdering Maureen Prescott with Billy and [[FrameUp framing]] an innocent man for it one year ago, Stu kicks off the Bayboro murders by heinously attacking his ex-girlfriend Casey with tormenting phone calls and [[ForcedToWatch forcing her to watch]] her new boyfriend Steve be disemboweled. Stu then gutted Casey herself and strung her body up for her parents to find. Working with Billy to rack up more bodies, ranging from their school principal, to Stu's own girlfriend Tatum and her brother Dewey, Stu relishes exposing the truth of the duo's crimes to Maureen's daughter, and reveals their intent to murder her and her father both so they can pin the mass murder on Sidney's dad. Stu then tries to murder Gale and Sidney's LoveInterest Randy, a smile on his face the whole time.]]

** [[spoiler:[[PsychopathicManchild Stuart "Stu" Macher]] is one of [[PredecessorVillain the original Ghostfaces]] with his partner [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas William "Billy" Loomis]]. A [[AxCrazy horror-loving psychopath]] who leaped at the chance to become a real killer, Stu assisted Billy in abducting, torturing, and brutally murdering Maureen Prescott, [[FrameUp framing]] her lover Cotton Weary for the crime. A year on, Stu murders Casey Becker and her boyfriend Steve out of spite for Casey leaving him, leaves her corpse for her parents to find, and then gleefully participates in the Ghostface murder spree with Billy that even sees his own girlfriend Tatum killed. Stu plans to massacre most of the attendees of a party so he and Billy can murder Sidney Prescott, frame her father for it, and pass themselves off as innocent victims, with Stu more than happy to stab Billy for their plan, culminating in him attempting to throttle Sidney as he claims he "always had a thing" for her.]]

** Randy as well for being the PluckyComicRelief and GenreSavvy.

** The theory remains as popular as ever going into ''Film/ScreamVI'', though ultimately, [[spoiler:he didn't return in that film either.]]

** Tatum tells Sidney when they are out shopping for the party that night that they “have a long night ahead”. The night of the third act famously took ''twenty-one days'' to film, with many of the cast and crew later wearing T-shirts saying “I SURVIVED SCENE 118”. It has been jokingly dubbed “the longest night horror history”.

** The theory remains as popular as ever going into ''Film/ScreamVI''.

** Early on, Stu dismisses the idea of the killer being a girl. [[spoiler:In ''Film/Scream2'', one of the killers is Billy's mother, one of the killers in ''Film/Scream4'' is Sidney's teenage cousin Jill, and one of the killers in ''{{Film/Scream|2022}}'' is also a teenage girl.]] For bonus points, [[spoiler:the female killers in the second and fifth movies are the ones who kill Randy and Dewey, respectively, succeeding where Billy and Stu failed.]]

* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:[[PsychopathicManchild Stuart "Stu" Macher]] is one of [[PredecessorVillain the original Ghostfaces]] with his partner [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas William "Billy" Loomis]]. A [[AxCrazy horror-loving psychopath]] who leaped at the chance to become a real killer, Stu assisted Billy in abducting, torturing, and brutally murdering Maureen Prescott, [[FrameUp framing]] her lover Cotton Weary for the crime. A year on, Stu murders Casey Becker and her boyfriend Steve out of spite for Casey leaving him, leaves her corpse for her parents to find, and then gleefully participates in the Ghostface murder spree with Billy that even sees his own girlfriend Tatum killed. Stu plans to massacre most of the attendees of a party so he and Billy can murder Sidney Prescott, frame her father for it, and pass themselves off as innocent victims, with Stu more than happy to stab Billy for their plan, culminating in him attempting to throttle Sidney as he claims he "always had a thing" for her.]]

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Billy is marked as a suspect [[spoiler: -- correctly, as it turns out -- ]] because he is found to have... a {{cell phone}} on him. In 1996, cell phones were still luxury items that were only owned by rich kids and businessmen, making it easier to narrow down a killer whose M.O. was to make [[EvilPhone threatening phone calls]] before offing his victims, but nowadays, it would be more suspicious if he ''didn't'' have a cell phone on him (so that he couldn't be tracked). The film's pop culture references likewise nail it down to the mid-late '90s. One of the girls in the BathroomStallOfOverheardInsults brings up the '90s talk show host Ricki Lake when discussing her theory about how Sidney is the killer, and Sidney jokes that, in the [[RippedFromTheHeadlines film adaptation of her life]], she'd like to be played by Creator/MegRyan but would probably get [[Series/BeverlyHills90210 Tori Spelling]] instead (which [[BrickJoke actually happens]] in [[Film/{{Scream 2}} the second film]]). Also, a pivotal scene takes place in a video rental store (now an endangered species), and during that scene, when Stu asks Randy what his motivation would be if he were the killer, Randy's reply of "It's the millennium. Motives are incidental." references the hype over the coming of [[MillenniumBug Y2K]]. In an interview in 2016, Matthew Lillard (who played Stu) [[http://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3417678/matthew-lillard-reflects-scream-20-years-later-nobody-expected/ stated]] that writer Kevin Williamson was deliberately going for this, and wanted the film to reflect the time period and zeitgeist in which it was made as opposed to giving it a more "timeless" feel:
-->"Right before ''Scream'', there was a real push to make movies 'evergreen', meaning don’t date them and stay away from popular references so that if I turn it on in twenty years, I could think it was today. One of the things that [screenwriter] Kevin [Williamson] did was to throw out this idea of 'let it be forevermore', and let's fucking tag it for right now and lean into the moment of right now."