10 Best Fake Horror Movies Within Horror Movies

10 fake horror movies we wish were real! Scream's Stab franchise, Edgar Wright's Don't & More

Scream 2 Heather Graham
Miramax

If there's one thing that virtually all filmmakers, whether arthouse or blockbuster, seem to love it's that moment where their characters are either watching, making or starring in a fake film within the confines of their real one. Invariably the fake film is amusingly generic, partly as this allows the real film's director to make their own film look more sophisticated in comparison. Under these circumstances horror movies are invariably the fake film of choice, whether the real film around them is itself a horror or not.

Horror enjoys numerous sub-genres, each with their instantly recognisable tropes and character types. Often embracing these tropes can make a cheaply thrown together horror remain entertaining and there may even come a point watching film characters watching these that you almost wish it was the fake film that you were in front of.

The makers of the commercially unsuccessful Grindhouse certainly thought as much as the fake trailer for Robert Rodriguez's ridiculous Mexploitation actioner Machete was defictionalised in a movie that earned more than its parent film on a significantly smaller budget.

After Machete's success, who's to say that these ten fake horrors would not be more plausible hits than the real films in which they are seen?

Contributor
Contributor

Loves ghost stories, mysteries and giant ape movies