Under the Spotlight: Matthew Lillard’s chillingly humorous performance in ‘Scream’
After the horror boom of the late 1970s and 1980s, the genre was in need of revitalisation in the following decade. There was a serious lack of originality, as many directors were relying on reboots and spin-offs. Thus, Wes Craven, known for movies such as A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Hills Have Eyes, decided to do something about it. The result was Scream, a meta-slasher that blended humour and genuine terror in a whodunnit narrative.
Scream has since become a major box office franchise, but none of the sequels have quite topped the original, which sees Ghostface unmasked as two characters: Billy Loomis and Stu Macher. Billy, played by Skeet Ulrich, is the protagonist Sidney Prescott’s boyfriend. After killing Sidney’s mother, Maureen, due to her affair with his father, Billy becomes Ghostface, embarking on a murderous rampage. Alongside him is Stu, played by Matthew Lillard, his insensitive yet goofy friend with no motive other than fun. Little does he know that Billy has only recruited him in case he needs someone to lay the blame on – Stu is too naive compared to the coldly calculated Billy.
Lillard gives an incredibly underrated performance in the film, constantly leaving the audience questioning whether or not he is the killer through his thoughtless comments and knowing smile. From the moment we meet him, there are warning signs that he could be the killer, yet they seem a little too obvious, subsequently throwing many audiences off the scent. Lillard purposefully exaggerates certain reactions and words to convey Stu’s impulsive and intense nature, yet Lillard also imbues him with enough over-the-top silliness to suggest that he couldn’t possibly be smart enough to kill anybody and get away with it.
The actor’s ability to master this balance between scary and stupid is best displayed during the video store scene, where he discusses with Randy the fact that Ghostface is still out there. Frustrated by the fact that the police haven’t found the killer, suggesting that following horror movie rules and formulas would aid the search, Randy becomes increasingly stressed, shouting, “Everybody is a suspect!!” However, Stu isn’t remotely worried, instead mocking Randy’s concerns with a sinister sense of mocking.
Just as he comes close to convincing us he is responsible for the crimes, Lillard allows his character to fall back into a slacker-esque state, using Randy’s outburst as comic material. At one moment in the scene, Stu snaps from a goofy, tongue-out laugh to stern, menacing coldness with alarming quickness, demonstrating the character’s volatility and lack of reliability.
Later in the film, when Ghostface is finally revealed to be Billy and Stu, Lillard does a fantastic job of conveying someone who slowly realises they’ve gone too far, getting themselves into a mess they won’t be able to walk away from unscathed. While you can see the anger practically rising inside of Billy – he barely laughs – Stu finds the whole thing funny, putting on stupid voices as he and Billy hold Sidney at knife-point. Yet, as Stu and Billy begin to give each other stab wounds to paint themselves as the victims, the over-the-top confidence quickly drains from Stu’s appearance, contorting his face into a dramatic look of anguish as he simultaneously suffers the pain from the knife and the realisation that things have escalated to a point of no return.
Even in these moments of great pain, Stu still provides comic relief, and much of this is down to Lillard’s improvised lines, such as “My parents are going to be so mad at me!” This line reveals so much about Stu’s character, and it is incredible that it wasn’t even in the script. We truly see Stu for who he is – Billy’s “lapdog” (as Randy states in the video store) who has gone along with his plans for the thrill of it. Yet, deep down, he most likely would not have killed anyone without Billy’s influence.
Although Lillard went on to star in cult favourites such as SLC Punk, Scooby-Doo and Twin Peaks: The Return, he is rarely afforded the applause he deserves. Effortlessly moving between the goofiness he would come to embody as Shaggy Rogers and a chilling sense of ruthlessness, his layered performance in Scream is truly a highlight of the movie.
