10 Slasher Movies That Broke All The Rules

10. Scream

The king of subversive slashers, Scream rewrote the same rules that it broke for every flick that followed and its effect on the subgenre remains immeasurable decades later. 1996 saw a spec script titled “Scary Movie”, written by then little-known screenwriter/future Dawson’s Creek creator Kevin Williamson, sold to A Nightmare On Elm Street helmer Wes Craven.

Hot off the critical success of 1994’s strange, self-referential Freddy Krueger reboot, New Nightmare, Craven brought to life a gruesome, brutally violent but also clever, hilariously meta slasher wherein the teenage victims had not only seen Halloween, but were able to name drop Jason Voorhees and chided each other for embodying horror movie clichés.

Aided by a likeable young cast including teen heartthrobs Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich, real-life sweethearts David Arquette and Courtney Cox, and improv-happy serial-scene-stealer Matthew Lillard, the film saw both its killer and their victims deconstruct the formula of slasher movies, adding a layer of believability and meta-comedy to proceedings.

Scream’s success relied on a clever plot which not only avoided clichés, but used familiar slasher tropes against the viewer—most famously, the film cast Drew Barrymore as its first victim, wrongfooting audiences who assumed the star’s fame meant she would be playing the lead role of the final girl.