10 Ballsy Movies That Kill Off A Major Star In The First Act

5. Scream (Drew Barrymore)

Drew Barrymore Scream
Miramax Pictures

You could probably lump Henry Winkler into this if you wanted to, since his school principal character is knocked off right at the tail end of the first act, but it's Barrymore's death that was the big shocker. Especially because she was featured more prominently than any of her other cast members on the posters and DVD cover.

Wes Craven doesn't often get credit for being one of the most clever horror directors of his generation, but with Scream he proved, definitively, that he had a killer knack for subversion.

Scream busted open all of the usual horror movie tropes and played with their insides, while still paying homage to some of the genre's most iconic films. And it started in the opening scene, where he gleefully paid tribute to Psycho by ensuring the supposed star of his movie didn't make it out of the opening credits alive.

Each successive sequel would follow suit, casting the actress de jour - Jada Pinkett Smith, Kelly Rutherford, Anna Paquin - to get horrifically sliced and diced in the opening sequence. But none were as startling or as memorable as Barrymore's brutal gutting.

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Jacob is a part-time contributor for WhatCulture, specializing in music, movies, and really, really dumb humor.