Scream - 35MM

The slasher cycle was all but dead in 1996 when Wes Craven saw fit to resurrect it with his blockbuster franchise starter Scream. Armed with a brilliantly post-modern script by TV creator and secret horror buff Kevin Williamson, the tale of teens being hunted by a ghost-faced killer in a suburban town dragged genre tropes out into the open, acknowledging them with the character’s voices, adding a running film commentary to the mayhem (best exemplified by Jamie Kennedy’s endearing movie geek character). But though the story is told with a knowing wink, Craven brings his full horror mastery to bore, keeping the kills, the suspense, and the scares coming. The young cast is uniformly great, featuring star-making turns from 90s favorites Neve Campbell, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, Matthew Lillard, David Arquette and future wife Courteney Cox.