10 Horror Movies That Almost Had TERRIBLE Titles

Sometimes, a movie tells you what it is at face value, like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre or Alien. But that matter-of-fact approach can go a little too far at times. The legendary Wes Craven came dangerously close to crossing that line with Scream, which was almost called Scary Movie.

Craven's Scream was a meta-masterpiece that satirized slasher movies by openly addressing the genre's tropes and defying expectations while still delivering a great slasher thriller. To coincide with this self-referential approach, Craven and the scriptwriter Kevin Williamson wanted to give the film a meta name, Scary Movie (as per The Ringer). 

Now, that does tick the self-aware box pretty well, but it'd make an awful name for a legitimate horror franchise. Yes, it works perfectly for the ridiculous Wayans Brothers parody flicks, but as a real scary movie series, it's just too meta. Imagine trying to take a horror called Scary Movie 7 seriously. 

Although, many would argue that the Scream movies have become a parody of themselves anyway, so maybe it should have stuck with the original title.