Nancy Loomis

"My motive isn't as 90s as Mickey's. Mine is just good, old-fashioned revenge. You killed my son! And now I kill you, and I can't think of anything more rational!"

- Nancy Loomis

Nancy Loomis is the main antagonist of Scream 2, where she used the alias Debbie Salt. She was played by future Academy Award-nominee Laurie Metcalf. She posed as a local reporter to seek revenge against those responsible for killing her son, Billy.

Under the false persona of a reporter, "Debbie Salt", she orchestrated the copycat killing spree with the assistance of psychopathic film student Mickey Altieri. However, Mickey and Mrs. Loomis themselves were both ultimately killed in the process.

Backstory
Nancy Loomis abandoned her son, Billy Loomis, after she discovered, that her husband, Hank Loomis, had been having an affair with fellow Woodsboro resident, Maureen Prescott. Coincidentally, Maureen's daughter was Sidney Prescott, Billy's girlfriend. Billy and his best friend, Stu Macher, killed Maureen while framing Cotton Weary. A year later, they had continued on their killing spree, but Billy and Stu were ultimately killed by Sidney.

Mrs. Loomis is stricken with grief after her son's death. She had a makeover and meets a psychopath film student Mickey Altieri on a website. He agreed to execute a copycat killing spree of the original Woodsboro murders in exchange for guidance, tuition expenses, and to become famous from the trial. What he did not know was her intention of killing him afterward to conceal her identity and frame Mickey for all the murders. She then creates the alias Debbie Salt, a reporter for the local newspaper who is a massive fan of reporter, author and Woodsboro survivor, Gale Weathers.

Scream 2
Mrs. Loomis assists Mickey in the first two murders of their copycat killing spree, Windsor College students Phil Stevens and Maureen Evans. Phil and Maureen go to a premiere of the new horror movie "Stab", an adaption of the novel Gale wrote on the Woodsboro Murders. Mrs. Loomis hides in a toilet stall awaiting Phil, where she then stabs lethally Phil with a six-inch knife through the stall in Phil's ear as Phil had placed his head against the wall to hear a woman's voice, they left Phil's body in the bathroom and Mickey stole his leather jacket. Mickey murders Maureen while the audience thinks it's part of the movie premiere. The following day, Mrs. Loomis arrives at Windsor College under the alias "Debbie Salt" where she introduces herself to a slightly annoyed Gale. That same night, Mickey and Mrs. Loomis prepare to claim their third victim, the film student Cici Cooper, who was chosen due to having a similar first name to the third victim of the Woodsboro murders, Casey Becker. Mrs. Loomis calls Cici, taunting her at first then poses as her boyfriend, Ted, to distract Cici and her sorority sister, Dawnie, while Mickey sneaks into the house through the open front door.

After Dawnie leaves, Mickey reveals he is not be Ted and scares Cici into closing her front door and setting the alarm. When Cici answers the phone the second time, confused at first by why it's ringing, when she didn't hang up, Mrs. Loomis leaps out from under the staircase and chases Cici up the stairs. Cici is chased to the very top floor of the house and after hitting Mrs. Loomis posing as Ghostface with a flowerpot and a bicycle, Cici hesitates when she reaches a glass door. Mrs. Loomis takes advantage of this by grabbing Cici, smashing her through the glass door and stabbing her in the back twice, as she tries to get up. Then Cici is grabbed and thrown off the balcony from three stories high, with the fall killing her upon impact with the ground. Mrs. Loomis later reappears as Debbie Salt in front of the sober house, where it has now become an official crime scene after the discovery of Cici's lifeless body. She briefly encounters Gale before leaving, letting her know the generic of the who the victim was, before leaving to call Sidney over at her sorority house the party was at. There is a brief verbal encounter where Sidney says, "Then why don't you show your face, you fucking coward?" Mrs. Loomis posing as Ghostface attacks Sidney as soon as she hangs up the phone. After a mild intervention by Derek Feldman, Mrs. Loomis is unable to inflict any damage on Sidney and manages to get away. Woodsboro survivor, Dewey Riley, arrives at the scene and investigates the inside of the house after being told by Sidney that's where the killer is. Dewey doesn't find the killer but does find Derek, with his arm slashed. Derek sustains no serious damage from his wound, as the blade "conveniently missed every major vein and artery" according to Randy. This only aroused suspicion onto Derek by Dewey and Randy Meeks, fellow Woodsboro survivor and film geek. Mrs. Loomis later calls Randy's cell phone while Gale, Dewey, Randy and Gale's cameraman Joel Jones were having a discussion in the middle of the park of Windsor College campus in broad daylight.

Randy answers the phone and explains to Dewey and Gale, that it's the killer. Randy keeps Mrs. Loomis on the phone per Dewey's request, while Gale and Dewey search the surrounding area for people with a mobile phone in their hand. While stalling Mrs. Loomis, Randy severely insults Billy and Stu. However, his insults about Billy cause Mrs. Loomis to become "a little knife happy" and pull him into Joel's newsvan, throwing him against the newsvan window, slashing his throat and stabbing him in the chest four times; escaping before the others realize he's missing.

Mrs. Loomis approaches Gale as Debbie Salt after Cotton Weary's interrogation and Sidney's threatening IM messages in a Windsor public library, which finally causes Gale to become fed up of her constant chattering and irritance. Gale insults Debbie and sends her off. That night, Mickey and Mrs. Loomis attack Dewey and Gale inside the Windsor College video archives rooms, where Debbie posing as Ghostface stabs Dewey in the back, almost completely killing him, then attempts to get Gale. However, Ghostface ultimately gives up since the glass is resistant to damage and leaves for turn now to Sidney.

While Mickey reveals his identity to Sidney and murders Derek, he also reveals he's the one who killed Officer Andrews, Officer Richards and Hallie McDaniel. Mrs. Loomis manages to reach Gale and keep her at gun point until they both arrive at the Windsor College theatre where Mickey was keeping Sidney. This is where Mrs. Loomis is revealed as the main Ghostface killer and her true identity as Billy's mother. Mrs. Loomis soon double-crosses and shoots Mickey in the left shoulder once and in the chest twice. As Mickey slumps to the floor, he shoots Gale in the side which causes Gale to fall into the instrumental area next to the stage. Gale is presumed dead. Mickey then drops to the floor, apparently dead. A brief chase ensues between Sidney and Mrs. Loomis which concludes with Mrs. Loomis holding Sidney with a large knife pressed against her throat. Cotton then arrives with a loaded gun in hand. Mrs. Loomis tries to negotiate with Cotton, offering him what his heart desires in an attempt to convince him to shoot Sidney rather than her. Cotton points the gun at Sidney where he mentions that the Diane Sawyer interview mentioned earlier is looking pretty good compared to her other options. Sidney, much to Mrs. Loomis' surprise, agrees to do the interview with Cotton, giving Cotton the opportunity to shoot Mrs. Loomis in the chest. Cotton is surprised by Gale being still alive and only wounded so he helps her out. The three of them are left wondering if Mrs. Loomis is really dead or not, a reference to Randy's line of "the moment when the supposedly dead killer comes back to life for one last scare" from the first movie.

To their surprise, it is Mickey who leaps up screaming - only to be hit by a hailstorm of bullets fired by Sidney and Gale. Sidney then eyes Mrs. Loomis and shoots her in the forehead. Sidney simply exclaims "Just in case!" before dropping the gun and walking away. Sidney, Gale and Cotton leave the theatre grounds.

Murders committed

 * Phil Stevens
 * Maureen Evans
 * Cici Cooper
 * Randy Meeks

Behind the scenes

 * She was described as "a flashy woman - all hair and teeth, thick sunglasses" in the original script. The character became more unassuming in the final version. Her cover story changed from being a Newsweek reporter to working for a local paper.
 * Mrs. Loomis' motives match that of Pamela Voorhees' from the original Friday the 13th. Pamela was mentioned by Ghostface in Scream and Randy in Scream 2.
 * Mrs. Loomis has several similarities to Pamela:
 * Both are mothers to serial killers (Billy Loomis/Jason Voorhees respectively)
 * They kill people to avenge their son's deaths.
 * They use a knife as a weapon.
 * They have a huge influence on their son's actions and fate.

Trivia

 * Nancy was the first female Ghostface.
 * True forename revealed in a Scream 4 draft.
 * She was also the first Ghostface to betray her accomplice.
 * She is the only Ghostface who was appeared (or was mentioned) in a film before the film in which she appears for the first time. In this case, she was mentioned in the original Scream.
 * She is the only Ghostface to be played by an Academy Award-nominee, as Laurie Metcalf would later be nominated for her role in Lady Bird twenty years after acting in Scream 2.