Neil Prescott is a minor character in the original Scream (1996 film) who briefly reappears in the third film. He is the widower of the first Ghostface victim, Maureen Prescott and the father of Sidney Prescott, the main protagonist of the Scream film franchise.
A businessman from Woodsboro, he was the prime suspect in the 1996 Woodsboro killing spree on the anniversary of his wife's killing due to his notable absence amid the bloodshed. In actuality, he was abducted shortly after the second and third victim's deaths, in order to be framed.
A small amount of suspicion fell on him during the Windsor College murders, but was proven wrong after Mickey Altieri and Nancy Loomis died. He then continued to work and be a devoted father to his tormented daughter through the next few years. He was last seen visiting Sidney in reclusion.
Biography
Early Life / Meeting Maureen
Neil met his future wife, 20-year-old Maureen, in Woodsboro, California, sometime in 1971. According to Gale Weathers, two years before he met his wife, 18-year-old Maureen had secretly relocated to Hollywood. For those two years (aged 18 to 20), she secretly gave birth to a son, their future child's half-sibling, and later appeared in three of John Milton's horror films. However, she did not mention this to him or their future child.
The newly weds married and moved into 34 Elm. In her late-20s, Maureen became pregnant and gave birth to a daughter, the couple's first child together, named Sidney in 1979. As a workaholic businessman though, he was often busy and away from home, leaving his wife lonely and his daughter closer to her mother.
Against Neil's back, his wife cheated on him frequently in his absence and was never discreet about it. She was murdered while he was away on one of these trips in September 1995, leaving him the single father of a 16-year-old daughter. This forged a very close relationship between him and Sidney.
The Woodsboro Murders
Loving Father: Lawrence Hecht as Neil Prescott
One night at the Prescott House, Neil checked in on his daughter when he heard her scream after she had been startled by Billy Loomis sneaking into her upstairs bedroom window. She hid Billy and told her father that everything was fine. Suspicious, but trusting, he went to bed.
He woke up early the next morning to catch a flight for a business trip but he was jumped by Billy and Stu Macher on the drive to the airport. They had killed Maureen one year earlier and had just murdered Casey Becker and Steven Orth the night before. They drove his car out to the woods and left it there, while keeping Neil bound and gagged in Stu's house for the next few days. With murders plaguing Woodsboro, Neil became the prime suspect. They used his mobile phone to taunt Sidney before attacking her. Suspicion regarding Neil's involvement grew daily when the police couldn't find him. Sidney worried for her father's safety when she learned that he was missing, as any daughter would.
When Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers investigated the sighting of an unknown vehicle parked in the woods, they discovered it was Neil's. Falsely concluding that Neil had come to the party to murder the teens, they raced back up to the house.
Neil, bound and gagged by Billy and Stu
After Sidney had been captured, Billy and Stu unveiled Neil, bound and gagged, and revealed their intent to frame him for the murder spree. Stu placed their main equipment (the voice changer and the cloned cell phone) in Neil's jacket pocket. They wanted the public to believe he had a psychotic break on the anniversary of Maureen's death and committed the new murders. Their finale plan was to make it look as though Neil shot himself in the head after killing Sidney. They would have appeared to be the only survivors.
Sidney, however, with the decisive help of Gale, managed to hide Neil, hide herself and then fight the two killers off and save Neil's life. After hearing the shots, he emerges from the closest trying to help his daughter if possible. Sidney, relieved he is alive goes over to untie him with Randy's help. Randy falls in the effort and Gale walks over and Sidney, even though having a strained past with the woman, shows her gratitude with a calm "thank you" which she helps Sidney untie her father.
The Windsor College Murders
After the murders at Windsor College started and it appeared that a Woodsboro Killer copycat was loose, a reporter asked Gale where Neil was. Nancy Loomis, posing as local reporter Debbie Salt, quickly explained, that he was out of the country on business, but in the same boasted to media trying to get Gale's validation that it sounded a little "fishy".
Hollywood
Neil, as he appears in Scream 3
Neil was last seen visiting Sidney at her secluded home in the California mountains and brought her groceries. He told her he'd been in contact with Sheriff Burke following Cotton Weary's murder and that it might not have anything to do with them, as Cotton had a lot of enemies.
He later tried convincing Sidney to return to Woodsboro with him, because he was worried about her living like a ghost. As much as she wanted to be with her father again, she refused, thinking it was for the best.
Neil and Sidney discuss Cotton's murder.
As a supportive father, he didn't argue with her decision. Still haunted by her mother's death, she began to question her parents' marriage. However, despite how many times Maureen was unfaithful to him, he just smiled at Sidney and stated there were good times.
This hinted that he had forgiven his wife a long time ago and may have still loved her as his voice was never spiteful in speaking of her.
In absentia
Over a decade later, he is no longer living in Woodsboro, California and remains unmentioned. Much of Sidney's personal life is unaccounted for when she returns to Woodsboro, including her residence and father. Sidney stays with her maternal aunt and cousin amid the new killing spree. When Jill asks Sidney how she copes with her fame and the "stares", Sidney says she has people she cares about that she focuses on instead, possibly alluding to her father among others.
When Ghostface calls Sidney, he asks "What good's it to be a survivor in this little drama if everyone close to you is dead?" It is unknown if this is an exaggeration to taunt Sidney about her close losses or alluding to Neil's passing. Within the same decade, Neil gained a son-in-law named Mark and became a grandparent.
Relationships
Family
Allies |
Enemies
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Trivia
- He was described as "late 40s, a severe presence. A distracted man, nervous and pre-occupied" in the script.
- He is unmentioned after the third film, and does not appear to be living in Woodsboro due to his absence at Sidney's book tour as well as her decision to stay at the Roberts residence, leaving his fate unknown.
- In the fourth film, his outfit and red herring role in the original is paid tribute to with the teenage character, Trevor Sheldon. Unlike Trevor, Neil survives these events. Similarly this occurs in the fifth film, with Tara fulfilling this role. Unlike Trevor, both Neil and Tara survive.
- In Michael T. Kennedy's spec submission to the Weinstein Company for Scream 4 before Kevin Williamson became involved, Neil was one of two killers.
- Uncertain fate: In a non-canon deleted scene for Scream 4, Dewey mentions he died. Before Scream 4's theatrical release, director Wes Craven also stated Neil died between the third and fourth films when asked about him. Due to reshoots and re-writes shortly prior and franchise ownership changes following Craven's death and the Weinsteins' departure, it is unknown whether this idea will be introduced into on-screen canon in a future Scream film.
- Randy Meeks, ever the horror movie expert, knew Neil couldn't be the killer because it was too obvious. He deduced Neil would pop up dead in the final reel, which was Ghostface's plan.
- Presumably, Neil didn't learn about Maureen's affairs until Billy and Stu revealed that they killed her. He seemed to still love Maureen when talking about her a few years later, but didn't seem to know how to talk about her secrets.
- It is unknown who played him in the Stab franchise.
Appearances
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 3 Characters | ||
| Principal Characters | Sidney Prescott • Gale Weathers • Dewey Riley • Ghostface | |
| Recurring Supporting Characters | Randy Meeks • Cotton Weary | |
| Supporting Characters | Angelina Tyler • Christine Hamilton • Jennifer Jolie • John Milton • Mark Kincaid • Martha Meeks • Roman Bridger • Sarah Darling • Steven Stone • Tom Prinze • Tyson Fox | |
| Recurring Minor Characters | Neil Prescott • Maureen Prescott • Hank Loomis | |
| Ghostface | Roman Bridger | |