18 Directors Who Sneaked In References To Their Own Movies

Often credited with single-handedly reviving the dying horror genre in the late 90s, Scream was the movie that popularised the meta-horror trend. Self-referential and filled to the brim with pop culture references and wry, knowing jabs at horror tropes, it makes perfect sense that such a seasoned horror director as Wes Craven would throw in a couple of nods to one of his own movies.

Just before Henry Winkler’s character Principal Himbry meets a sticky end at the hands of Ghostface, we briefly meet a school janitor going by the name of Fred who’s wearing a fetching red and green striped jumper. That’s actually the late, great Craven himself in a cameo and his outfit an obvious reference to Freddy Krueger’s iconic garb.

There’s another nod in the form of actor Joseph Whipp who played a police sergeant investigating Glen Lantz’s (Johnny Depp) ludicrous death in A Nightmare on Elm Street and teams up with Craven again in Scream in the role of Woodsboro’s Sheriff Burke.