Stu Macher is one of the greatest villains in horror, being a fan favorite and Billy’s accomplice in the Woodsboro murders featured in Scream 1996. Yet, there isn’t much information out there about him. In Scream, the focus is usually on Billy Loomis, with Billy often being credited for the murders, while Stu is often treated as more of an afterthought. This article will dive into what we do know about Stu’s character.

Friend Group

We first see Stu at the beginning of the movie when Sidney and her friends are sitting around the water fountain, acting like seemingly normal teenagers and talking about the recent murders in their town. Stu is introduced as a humorous and eccentric member of the group.

Stu’s friend group consists of Sidney Prescott, Billy Loomis, Randy Meeks, and his girlfriend Tatum Riley. The characters that Stu interacts with the most (aside from Sidney) are Billy, Randy, and Tatum. In the movie, Stu seems to have a somewhat strange but mostly lighthearted friendship with Randy. This is particularly evident in the scene where Stu (dressed as Ghostface) approaches Randy with a knife while he is watching Halloween, nearly killing him but ultimately deciding against it. Audience members could have gained more insight into Randy and Stu’s relationship in a deleted scene where, instead of the iconic party scene with multiple guests, the scene featured just Stu, Randy, Tatum, Sidney, and Billy. In this original scene, Randy was simply explaining the horror movie rules to Stu, not an entire party full of people.

Love Life

Stu’s girlfriend in the story was Tatum Riley. Throughout the movie, Stu and Tatum appeared to have a healthy relationship, with some great moments together. This makes viewers wonder why Tatum was killed in the first place. Since Billy was the one who killed Tatum, it’s more likely that Billy felt she was hindering his plan. After all, throughout the movie, Tatum was a protective and supportive friend to Sidney. Some theorists believe that Stu wasn’t aware that Tatum was going to die.

Stu’s ex-girlfriend, who was killed in the opening scene of the movie, was Casey Becker. Stu claims that he only dated Casey “for two seconds.” Casey and Stu probably got together due to their shared love of horror movies. Stu killed Casey because “she dumped him for Steve.” Director Wes Craven also stated that Casey was killed off for the simple reason that she sat next to Sidney.

Family

Although Stu’s parents are never really mentioned or shown, there is a small clue in the movie that could give viewers some insight into them. In the kitchen, there’s a note written on a whiteboard. The board is hard to see, but from the information gathered, it presumably says, “Hi Stu, sorry we missed your bday, we’ll be back Sunday. Be good! Love, Mom and Dad.” From this note, we can assume that Stu’s parents aren’t around as much as they should be. We can also infer that they are somewhat aware of Stu’s shenanigans. Another thing to consider is that, despite the curfew due to the murders, Stu still had a party in his huge house, with no parents in sight.

Motive

Stu says that his motive for helping Billy was “peer pressure.” He also mentions that he used to have a “thing” for Sidney. A few theories suggest that Stu helped Billy due to their close relationship. This theory seems valid because, if Stu’s parents were truly absent, he may have used Billy to fill that void. Stu obviously seemed to care about his parents’ opinion when he got caught, stating, “My mom and dad are going to be so mad at me.”

It is unlikely that Stu simply committed the murders because of “peer pressure.” He clearly seemed to enjoy carrying out the killings with Billy. In the scene where Sidney is being chased by Ghostface around Stu’s house, she runs into a dark room that is fairly cluttered. Within the clutter, there are three visible dolls around the room, each mimicking the victims’ deaths.

“It’s also important to note that when Billy reveals his true motive to Sidney—blaming her mother for the downfall of his family—Stu looks shocked. The script even states that ‘Stu looks surprised, this wasn’t anything he knew!'”

Conclusion

Scream fans have tried their hardest to find more information about Stu Macher, yet the character still remains somewhat of a mystery. Fans have theorized that this will change in the newest installment of the franchise Scream 7 (coming out February 7th, 2026), and that the mystery of Stu will finally be solved. Until then fans can only hope and wait.

Works Cited:

• Wes, Craven 1996 Scream Production company Miramax Films
• Fandom.com Stu Macher | Scream Wiki | Fandom
• Beyond The Mask – YouTube