The Hidden Killer (Movies)

The Hidden Killer refers to a fan theory that there is often an additional, unseen killer in all Scream films.

The Ghostface entity usually comprises of two people in all Scream films, so it is largely referred to as the "Third Killer Theory". The exception to this is Scream 3, where only one killer is unveiled.

After the killer or killers' reveal, many questions go unanswered, as it appears that both killers (or in the case of Scream 3, one killer), could not have been able to commit certain acts.

Fans propose an additional killer may have been involved to tighten up some unexplained questions about what we know about the killers involved. Though widely debunked by certain other attributes, fans maintain there is some credibility to be attributed to the prospect of a third (or second, in Scream 3's case) killer.

Pre-Scream
At the end of the first movie, both Billy Loomis and Stu Macher are revealed to be the killers, beginning with the unseen murder of Maureen Prescott one year prior to the events of Scream (1996). However, fans proposed that there was a third killer.

The third film, penned by new writer Ehren Krueger, toyed with the fan theory of Dewey Riley's involvement from the start, making him a Red Herring briefly, before revealing retroactively that music video director, Roman Bridger—the illegitimate son of Maureen Prescott—angry that she abandoned him and hired to direct Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro, was the mastermind who convinced Billy to recruit Stu to kill his mother, after showing him tapes of his birth mother's affair with Billy's father.
 * Who framed Cotton?: Canon — The film largely implies it is Billy Loomis, with a strikingly similar hairstyle that wore the coat Sidney Prescott sees leaving her house wearing it. But the films never give a visual of the murder, as it functions to be backstory-lore for the whodunit mystery. The assumption is by the reveal that Billy wore the coat at night time, and Sidney witnesses the man leaving from the window of her mother's room (seen in set-form on the Stab 3 set, seen in Scream 3).
 * Both Billy and Stu admitted to framing Cotton, calling it easy.
 * Fan theory: Some fans suggest Billy and Stu were "too short and skinny" to be have been the coat-wearer. Stu, though the same height, like Billy, was too skinny. Cotton was a muscular, large man. Fans propose a possible third killer who resembled Cotton from behind with the same height and muscle appearance could have been responsible for this. It is possible with Roman Bridger claiming to have killed Maureen in Scream 3, that it was Roman who was wearing the jacket. Though he's not as tall as Cotton, his age and body built is closer to that than the obviously younger and skinnier Billy and Stu.

Debunked
While not a legal adult, Billy and Stu were juniors in high school, where many adolescents reach their near physical peak height. We also are not aware of what angle Sidney sees the man wear the coat from, and it is clearly from behind, as she would identify Billy's face easily.

Coupled with the shock that she had found her mother's brutally stabbed corpse, Sidney's account may have been largely unreliable, as Gale Weathers points out in the original film. Also, Billy having a strikingly similar hairstyle to Cotton and walking from a distance may have been enough to convince her.

Scream
Third killer theory: Roman Bridger. In Scream 3, he took so much credit for the events of the first movie that it's possible if there were a third killer that it'd be Roman. At the time, Roman had no actual plan other than executing his own mother using Billy and Stu. He let them make their own plan, but still believed they could be caught and decide to run as soon as it's made clear they were going to be killed.
 * Opening murder: Canon — Billy and Stu were present and the killers during Casey and Steve's murders at the Becker Residence.
 * When Casey finds out Steve is tied to a chair, Steve looks to both to his right and left, indicating there are two killers. As soon as Casey turns the patio lights off, one of them violently kills Steve (Stu), as the other handles the phone call to play a game intended to trick her regardless (Billy).
 * Fan Theory: Some fans suggest there is more to this, and both killers are present left and right to him right then and there, which is why Steve looks both ways. So not long after his death, both killers having to still be in the back, somebody rings the door bell.
 * Debunked: Steve was already abducted off-screen on his way to meet Casey. He would be aware of two men as his attackers, so he would be looking both directions regardless.
 * Stalking Sidney: A Ghostface-wearing individual is seen stalking Sidney and Tatum in broad daylight. Fans suggest a killer was stalking Sidney. However, in between the two stalking scenes, both killers are present at the video store with Randy. If that's the case, who is stalking Sidney in the killer costume?
 * Debunked: There are pranksters in the costume, two of which get expelled at Woodsboro High. This blurs some of the stalking scenes' lines between killer stalking and pranking. Though, Sidney being watched at her house may have been one of the killers. It is possible there is a short time skip to give enough time to be at the video store.

Scream 2
The killers revealed in Scream 2 are Nancy Loomis and Mickey Altieri. Scream 2 has less problems. Most of the questionable moments have been answered.

One fan theory, however, proposes the distance between the killer starting the video in the projector room and attacking Gale suggests a third killer, as Mickey is already trailing Sidney. and the cops. Debunked: The next time we see Sidney, Hallie and Officers Richards and Andrews preparing to leave Windsor College campus is after Dewey's stabbing while Gale hides opposite the soundproof room.

This gives Mickey enough time to escape and hide after Dewey follows Mickey to the projector room, for Nancy to attack Gale seconds later, and leave Mickey to trail after Sidney and the cops.

Third killer theory: Some fans propose Joel, or sorority sister, Lois or Murphy. Although neither have any motive against Sidney and the victims.

Scream 3
In Scream 3, Roman is revealed to be the killer. Though the reveal never happened explicitly, visual and diegetic evidence unveil a hidden, second killer in Scream 3.


 * Two Killers Attack 34 Elm Set.gifStab 3's 34 Elm Assailants: Two people attack Sidney in the Stab 3 set version of her house, 34 Elm.


 * Someone tries to open Sidney's room door, while someone else in the window grabs Sidney from behind, on the opposite end of the room. This occurs 3 seconds within one another.


 * Sidney throws one Ghostface to the landing of her set-bed in her room, revealed to be one massive fall, while seconds later, as Sidney remains on the top floor, the voice of Maureen (the other killer) tells her to go to her mother's room across from where she was. We later learn this is not Sidney's imagination, as the entity goes after Sidney from the window in Maureen's body bag. These events also occur a moment apart.


 * Why Threaten Cotton?: Roman is unable to track Sidney down, so much so that he threatens to kill Christine unless Cotton Weary gives up her whereabouts. As director, there are many ways he could have gotten access to Dewey's phone records as an employee of his. But it does not explain why he threatens Cotton in the opening. If he already knew, why does he threaten Cotton that he will kill Christine unless he reveals Sidney's whereabouts?
 * Sarah's call: If Roman calls Sarah Darling from the set, how is she unable to hear him from inside the studio, speaking to him on the phone? Unless a second killer is on-set, and Roman is using his normal voice from afar (which also gives him an alibi).
 * Gas stove explosion: It is impossible for Roman to have done everything in this scene by himself. He would need to quickly run to Jennifer's house to turn the gas stove on after killing Stone, cut the power, fax the script pages from the back-up power fax, cause Tom Prinze's death, attack Gale at the bottom of the hill, be shot by Dewey in the chest, then leave a photo of Maureen, all without being detected.
 * Two Voice Changers: Roman has two voice modifiers in the film. While Gale is in possession of one after finding it in a closet, Roman clearly has another, as Roger L. Jackson's voice is heard in the grunts of attacking and killing the Stab 3 cast. It is possible he retrieved the other one from Gale after kidnapping her, but it does not explain why he needs a second.
 * In the fifth film, Stab super-fan Richie Kirsch notes that in the Stab films, there are always two killers, and does not detail an exception. Given the events of Scream 3 were adapted into the book, Hollywood Horror and later a film Stab 3: Hollywood Horror, this seems to correlate with the idea that there was a second killer revealed in real-life sometime later on, which became the inspiration for the film Stab 3. According to fellow super-fan Jenny Randall from Scream 4, the third film was also based on Sidney's true story, which would reinforce that there was a second killer in the actual third film's events.

Second Killer
Theory 1: The majority of the film's production was shot with Sidney's Stab 3 actress, Angelina Tyler (portrayed by Emily Mortimer) as the second killer. This is why she has rather odd behavior throughout the film and almost seems to change personalities each scene that she is in. Tom Prinze even suspected that she had a darker side to her, mocking her ingenue act.

The Stab 3 wrap-up party for example has Angelina act rather suspiciously, as she constantly enters and leaves the house for seemingly no reason. She also wanders away from the others before the explosion at Jennifer Jolie's house occurred. She safely walks down the hill to reunite with everyone later, implying she knew about the gas the whole time and broke away from everyone right before the house exploded. She even ignores Dewey's question on how she even got to the other side of the hill, by what some interpret as feigning hysteria over Tom's death.

The washroom scene at the Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro set ultimately became fauxshadowing with the reveal that Angelina was the other killer being cut. Wes Craven explains on the DVD/Blu-ray audio commentary that Sidney, by breaking down the stall door, actually caught Angelina in the act of changing into her Ghostface costume to terrorize her, unknowingly though. Sidney seems to believe Angelina's excuse that she was only sneaking props off of the set. Angelina in this scene is wearing the same Doc Martens that Ghostface is wearing during the Stab 3 set attack one scene later, and her skirt appears to blend well with the bottom half of the Ghostface robe.

Roman's 30th birthday party scene contains even more suspicious behavior from Angelina. Not only is she the first one there with Roman, but it is their idea to have everyone split up to look around the mansion and explore. Angelina accompanies Tyson throughout the journey but goes into another room alone at some point and disappears from his sight. When she re-appears, it's from a secret passageway and is trying to get Gale and Jennifer to follow her inside before they inform her that Roman was "killed" by Ghostface. If she is a killer, it could have been a trap that she was trying to lure them into.

Filming began without a script, with draft re-writes written each day by Krueger in his office, though this story element remained with many clues in the final product shelved, making her a Red Herring. It was changed last minute due to the studio disagreeing with the idea (See: Executive Meddling).

Marianne Maddalena expressed disappointment with the removal of the incestuous element in the reveal, as "we loved the sickness of that" (referring to Craven, Maddalena and Lussier) and the subsequent reveal, which in a script, followed her "body", as well as Tyson's and Jennifer's legitimate corpses, hung up Silence of the Lambs style, for when Sidney arrives at Milton's mansion, only to reveal she was alive. This would explain why she was dragged away prior, and why the physical knife impaling her chest is never explicitly seen on-screen. Maddalena and Lussier believe her death scene to be dubious.

The Official DVD/Blu-Ray Scream collection booklet also infer Angelina is alive. The section for Scream 3 in the official list of Scream trilogy deaths (which include killers), excludes Angelina. In January 2000, 3 months after production wrapped, re-shoots led Mark Kincaid (played by Dempsey in a wig) to be involved in the replacement to Angelina's reveal scene, and also to adequately conclude his character arc. Scrapped from canon, the drafts written revealed Angelina had a pseudonym like Nancy Loomis had with the name Debbie Salt. She was to be revealed as Angie Crick, Sidney's former classmate and Roman's secret girlfriend.

Remnants of Angelina's aborted story arc were passed onto sequel characters, Judy Hicks as a Red Herring (a former classmate of Sidney's) and Jill Roberts as the Killer (wanting to become Sidney and desiring her fame). This Mythology Gag may erase Angelina's motivation/backstory if she were still considered to be the hidden, second killer, but it nonetheless remains possible of her involvement.

Theory 2: The length of time between Roman's "body" being found, and Angelina being attacked by Roman has some fans believe the identity of Roman's accomplice to be someone else, or a third killer. Some suggest Mark Kincaid (though this is debunked due to Scream 5 revealing his marriage and family with Sidney). His partner, J. Wallace is at the station close to Sidney during her call, so he cannot be the attacker.


 * Debunked: It is also possible the length of time between the two scenes is longer than implied, despite being scene-to-scene, or Roman simply directly followed Jennifer and Gale out without them seeing. If Roman helped stage Angelina's death and dragged her off with Gale and Jennifer seeing it as witnesses, this would give Roman a postmortem alibi to quell suspicion; his "corpse" also being moved, should someone else go and discover his "body" is missing.

Scream 4
In Scream 4, the killers are revealed to be Jill Roberts and Charlie Walker. Even they have some questionable moments that make us wonder if they have a partner. Third killer theory: Most fans theorize that Deputy Judy Hicks could be the third killer. She has the possible motive of being in love with Dewey, being jealous of his marriage with Gale, and jealous of Sidney's fame as she admits that she knew Sidney from high school. After Jill betrays Charlie to be the sole survivor, Hicks (who was not near Dewey when he called her to go to Kirby's) could have decided to abandon her plans to reveal herself to play hero to save herself from being caught.
 * Who killed Rebecca: Both killers were present when publicist Rebecca Walters was murdered in the parking lot structure. However, both were not alone and therefore could not have realistically killed Rebecca. Charlie was with Robbie, while Jill was at the hospital, with no access to a costume, most likely being watched. Rebecca is also taken four stories up the structure, to the tenth floor and thrown off the structure which police quickly monitor. Fan theories suggest this means either teenager being her killer is implausible.
 * Debunking: Charlie and Robbie are outside Woodsboro Community Hospital to document the press commotion, through a Hall Pass live vlog, but are not staying for Dewey's press statement about Olivia's murder happening sometime shortly later when Rebecca is thrown off the top of the structure to the news van. The film also implies a short time skip between Rebecca's firing inside the hospital, and leaving to go to the parking lot where her rental is. So they may have both went home after speaking to Gale.
 * In Charlie's case, he "went home", but stayed, helping Jill to kill Rebecca, giving her the costume or wearing it himself. It is possible with the length of time to throw Rebecca over, as she screams to her death, that one or the other ran to the elevator and hid on a floor where Jill, who was scoping the cops throughout the film, knew where to hide him.
 * Who attacked Gale: Neither killer could have done this as Jill was not around and Charlie was with Robbie. Though unconfirmed, some fans claim they have spotted Charlie in the crowd running in a panic when Dewey arrives shooting at the killer. If this were true, then this leaves Jill as the killer since she later exposed herself when she mentioned her and Gale's matching wounds. But once again, she's not in the position to do this as she was with Kirby.
 * Roberts home: Neither killer could have been present during the ambush of the Roberts home. Charlie was with Robbie and Jill had been picked up by Kirby. Two killers are present as one is seen in the backyard but then immediately at the front. Immediately after Kate is killed, Deputy Hicks appears. Most fans have theorized that Hicks may have been a more superior and tougher partner for Jill and Charlie.
 * Who is attacking Jill and Charlie: Near the end, both killers are clearly not in the position to be the attacker when both are simultaneously being "attacked." While Jill is under the bed, the killer goes for Sidney. This could be Charlie. But not long afterwards, Charlie is seen being attacked by a killer most see as Jill. However, neither killer would have time to switch places. So a possible third killer is attacking them both. It could be that while this third person is attacking Jill and Sidney, Charlie is hiding Trevor. After hiding Trevor, Charlie goes to be "attacked" by the third killer while Jill takes her time to prepare to reveal herself.


 * However, since Judy became the new sheriff and served as a major character during the fifth installment, her role as a third killer is all but debunked.