Scream

“Movies don’t create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative!” Few horror films have embodied that idea, espoused by Billy Loomis more cleverly than Scream. Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson’s thriller was startlingly original when it premiered and remains just as fresh today. At a time when the slasher genre had become stale, Scream reinvented the formula. Characters discuss the “rules” of horror films even as they find themselves trapped inside one. Those rules are subverted against them in twist after twist. Scream follows Sidney Prescott as a masked killer known as Ghostface begins terrorizing her friend circle. The film constantly plays with audience expectations, beginning with its legendary opening sequence. Spoiler alert (after 30 years all spoiler alerts probably should be considered expired) the movie’s biggest star, Drew Barrymore, is eviscerated gruesomely in the first scene. From there, Scream never stops surprising. — Seth Dodson

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