10 Most Hysterical Characters In Horror Movie History

Everyone's favourite po-mo slasher series, Scream, is rife with characters who, despite their better interests (and, frequently, their insider knowledge of horror movie tropes), manage to run hysterically into the gaping maw of danger.

And that danger comes in the form of a Munch-faced reaper with a penchant for prank kills and a love of sharp knives. Surprisingly, the most hysterical character of the series is not a victim, but Ghostface himself: Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard). Sharing the villain's mantle with Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich), Stu provides the wacky, out-of-control counterpoint to Billy's calculated, psychotic mastermind.

While Stu seems like just another OTT high-schooler for the bulk of Scream, he really comes unstuck in its final act, going from 0-60 quicker than you can say "boo". Seemingly completely incapable of controlling his emotions, Stu pinwheels from cold calculation, to scenery-chewing laughter, to wailing faux-repentance in just a few short minutes. Even at death's door, he seems more concerned that Billy hit him with the phone, and that his mum and dad are going to be mad at him, than the fact that he's bleeding out on the kitchen counter.

Raised on TV and '80s/'90s pop culture, he is a reflection of the malleability of Gen X and Millennial culture, and how permeated it is with advertising, pinging jarringly from one influence to the next. Fittingly, then, Sidney (Neve Campbell) ends him with a TV to the head.