Scream

Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson reanimated the slasher in 1996 by handing the genre a mirror. The teens being stalked by the Ghostface mask know the rules of horror movies, name them out loud, and die anyway. That self-aware streak made the original feel dangerous and funny at once.

The sequels turned that commentary into a running argument with itself, taking aim at sequels, trilogies, remakes, and finally the modern reboot cycle, while keeping survivor Sidney Prescott as a real emotional anchor rather than a punchline.

A television series stretched the premise to long-form mystery before the 2022 film pulled the whole thing back to its roots. What holds it together is voice: a horror franchise that genuinely thinks about why we keep watching people get chased through suburban houses with a knife.

The Scream franchise spans 1 series, 7 films in the CrossBinge catalog.