test audience loved the character Dewey so much that Craven  decided to add his survival scene in the final cut. If you watch  closely during the part where Gale (Courtney Cox) is knocked out by  Billy (Skeet Ulrich (qv)), you can see that Dewey is not breathing  when Gale lands on him because Dewey was intended to be dead. Every  time Dewey is shown after he is stabbed before the final scene is  intended to be his dead body, not him lying unconscious.