10 Best High School Horror Movies

Kevin Williamson's finest script (initially titled Scary Movie) revitalised both the horror genre and its director, Wes Craven. The post-modernist take on dumb 80s slashers is among the wittiest, most satirical movies out there.

With a cast of high schoolers who've watched enough TV to know all the tropes, the film bucks traditional killer movie trends. The crackling dialogue feels like the critical ramblings of audiences fed up with characters dumb enough to check the noise outside.

Inspired by the Gainesville Ripper murders, the mysterious Ghostface gives an air of 'whodunit' mystery to the knife-wielding madness. Despite the humour, the film still delivers the goods as a straightforward horror with ample set pieces and slayings throughout. A case of having one's cake and eating it too, Scream boasts the gaudy material of its predecessors whilst maintaining its parodic humour.

To top it all off, the cast are brilliant. Leads Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich have sizzling chemistry, David Arquette is charmingly geeky and Courtney Cox is convincing as an unscrupulous reporter. Clever, complex and inspired, Scream is the quintessential high school horror movie.