10 Horror Movies That Mock You For Paying Attention
8. Wes Craven's Totally Ridiculous Cameo - Scream
Wes Craven's Scream ushered in a new era of self-aware, trope-savvy slasher films, but also smartly operated as a genuinely suspenseful and well-crafted horror film no matter your own genre literacy.
But there is one gag in the film which, for anyone in the know, is so outrageously on-the-nose as to pull them out of the movie entirely. Of course, we're talking about Craven's cameo appearance as the janitor at Woodsboro High School.
In addition to being named Fred, Craven's character also wears a striped jumper similar to that of Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street, a movie Craven also wrote and directed.
It's an "Easter egg" so hilariously obvious that it basically derails the horror fan's suspension-of-disbelief, practically begging them not to break out into hysterical laughter at the sheer ballsy daring of something so staggeringly self-indulgent.
It's a nod to fans which transcends mere cutesiness to become a genuine provocation in its own right.