There's not a lot to criticize about the fifth Scream film. There are impressive performances, great jokes, and the chance to see Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette) again. But there is one thing that is bugging some fans: the decision to include Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) in this movie... as a ghost.
While it definitely works that Sam Carpenter (Melissa Barrera) is Billy's daughter as she is the thread that ties each part of the story together, Billy's character is problematic in Scream (2022), and there are a few reasons why.
When Billy Loomis comes back in Scream (2022), this brings back one of the worst parts of the Scream franchise, as fans don't like when Maureen Prescott's ghost visits Sidney in Scream 3. It's also a big mistake as it means that Billy has become a character who fans can sympathize with and try to understand, which isn't the point at all. Billy is a killer, plain and simple, and he's completely evil and unfeeling. He doesn't care about his victims or what Sidney will think of what he has done. He has a goal and a plan and he's going to do whatever it takes to fulfill that.
Stu is a great Ghostface in Scream because he works with Billy and the two friends are uniquely silly while killing people. It's incredibly horrifying that Billy is one of the killers because he has been acting like he's hopelessly in love with Sidney and like he wants to be with her more than anything else. But the entire time, he has been living a total lie, spying on and murdering people. Sidney is left with a broken heart, knowing that Billy is doing this because of her mother's affair with his dad Hank.
But now that Sam Carpenter is seeing her dad Billy's ghost, she seems to wish that she could have known him and had a relationship with him, and that's tough for fans to deal with. Billy seems to want to help Sam and give her advice from beyond the grave. There is a lot about the Scream horror slasher franchise that is simply enjoyable and cool to watch, and the films have jokes and a goofy tone. But it's too cheesy to see Billy's ghost, especially because Skeet Ulrich is de-aged. It just doesn't feel like this was the correct call or a good way to incorporate Billy into the story.
Skeet Ulrich said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he didn't realize that Scream has a sense of humor. He said, "I think part of it was the mindset of Billy and me getting into that mindset. I saw it as this very serious documentary about two killers in high school and I was researching serial killers and the psychology of them, so I didn't really key into the humor of the story until take one of day one."
The funny vibe of Scream is definitely why fans keep coming back... but there are some real scares, too, and there are some really bad people in this franchise. Billy is one of the darkest and most menacing Ghostface killers because, in comparison to Matthew Lillard's Stu Macher who cries and says his parents will hate him now, Billy acts like he hates Sidney more than anyone he has ever laid eyes on, and he is determined to kill her. Revenge is one of the most powerful and undeniable motivators for a killer in a slasher film, and Billy is on this journey.
But when fans see Billy as a ghost in Scream (2022), it just ruins the entire trajectory of his character. Billy sounds corny all the time, like when he says to Sam "You can't run from who you are, Sam. I'm just trying to help. Hey, when are you going to tell her why all this is happening?" This quote doesn't work that well on a few levels. For one thing, it's strange hearing that Billy wants to be there for his daughter who he never knew, and fans can't forget that he has murdered people and is a terrible person. It would also be possible to show that Sam is Billy's child in another way, from having a photograph saved on her phone to another interesting clue.
It's not a huge surprise when Sam reveals that Billy is her father, as it's pretty obvious to horror fans who are used to tropes and backstories and explanations after watching so many scary stories. And when audiences keep seeing Billy's spirit talking to Sam, especially in the corny scene when she's driving and she sees him, it's hard not to wish that this had been omitted entirely.