8 Best Misdirections In Horror Movies

Wes Craven's Scream reinvented the horror genre in the most splendid of ways.

By the time of that film's release in 1996, horror had become stale, formulaic, and often served as a parody of itself. Taking that into account, the legendary Craven - along with screenwriter Kevin Williamson - served up a film that managed to both poke fun at the overplayed tropes of the genre, yet still be an engaging, terrifying movie that was the launching point for a new horror icon in the form of Ghostface.

One particular horror trope that Craven looked to squash straight from the get-go, was the fact that the main attraction of the film was always guaranteed to make it through to one final act clash with the bad guy or gal who'd been slicing 'n' dicing throughout the picture.

Going in to Scream, the audience didn't even have need to question whether or not Drew Barrymore's Casey Becker was here for the duration. We all knew that Casey was the classic 'final girl' who would make it through to battle Ghostface to the death in the film's closing moments.

Only she didn't.

Instead, the film completely spun this overplayed formula on its head and offed Barrymore's character in a barnstorming opening scene that set the tone for what lay ahead - both in this film and the subsequent follow-ups.

At the time of Scream's release, all of the artwork and promotional material had Drew Barrymore front-and-centre, with her name taking top billing on the film's initial posters.

Truth be told, the early days of post-production on Scream did have Drew in the movie's main role of Sidney Prescott, before scheduling conflicts meant that she could no longer commit to the film. Using this to his advantage, this is when Was Craven utilised her in the brief but pivotal role of Casey Becker.