Neil Prescott

Neil Prescott is a character in Scream (1996) and Scream 3 (2000). He is the father of protagonist/heroine, Sidney Prescott and the widower of Maureen Prescott. As a businessman providing for his family, he was often out of town, leaving Sidney to have a strong bond with her mother.

Almost one year after his wife's murder, he is abducted by Stu Macher and Billy Loomis inside his own home. He survives the Woodsboro Murders and subsequently relocated out of the country for business by Scream 2. He is last seen visiting his daughter, who is living in hiding. By Scream 4, he left Woodsboro and sold his house.

Background
Neil met his future wife, 20-year-old Maureen, in Woodsboro, California, sometime in 1972.

Two years before he met his wife, she lived in Hollywood for two years, aged 18 to 20. Though she did not mention this to him or her daughter.

The newly weds moved into 34 Elm and had a daughter, Sidney in 1979. As a workaholic businessman, he was often busy and away from home, leaving his wife lonely.

Films
In Scream (1996), he hears screaming in Sidney' s room (from Billy sneaking in to see Sidney) and makes light of it to Sidney, who acts naive. He tells her he is hitting the sack and will not be back until Sunday. Shortly after this, he goes missing. Sheriff Burke tries to get in contact with him but is unable to do so.

Burke later informs Deputy Riley that the calls were traced back to Neil's cellular device, and he made those calls, killing teenagers, Casey and Steve, as well as attacking his own daughter. Deputy Riley and reporter, Gale Weathers later find his abandoned vehicle near 261 Turner Lane.

However, it is revealed Billy, his daughter's boyfriend, had actually been at Sidney's to abduct him with best friend, Stu and the pair plan to frame him for the murders, stating he began a maniacal rampage on the anniversary of his wife's murder caused by Cotton Weary. They are unsuccessful, as Sidney kills both and frees her father.

In Scream 2 (1997), it is revealed he started going international with his business trips, while Sidney attends college at Windsor. Mrs. Loomis attempts to plant suspicion on him in the copycat killings.

In Scream 3 (2000), Neil visits Sidney in hiding up in the mountains of Monterey, providing groceries. He proposes Cotton's killer might not be connected to them, as he had a lot of enemies. Sidney asks Neil if he ever thinks about her mother, and that "none of this would have happened if she hadn't...", and Neil stops her, telling her that it is about time she came home. He states his worries for her. Sidney then says, "That's the idea. Psychos can't kill what they can't find".

In Scream 4 (2011), Neil subsequently moved out of Woodsboro in the eleven year time jump, as Sidney chooses to stay with Kate and Jill upon being implicated as a suspect in Jenny and Marnie's murders. It is unknown who he sold 34 Elm Street to.

Trivia

 * Different scripts included Neil returning or being mentioned in the fourth film, before he was outright ignored in the final product.
 * In one script penned by Michael T. Kennedy, he was the killer.
 * Upon Williamson's involvement, he wrote Trevor as his handyman to help renovate the house.
 * Rewrites streamline Sidney's re-introduction with her maternal family. At one point, Neil's death was the cause for why she chose to stay with the estranged Roberts clan, rather than the Prescott house, 34 Elm. A deleted scene was filmed where Dewey mentions his passing to Gale, but it never made the final cut, out of fear of overcomplicating the story.