Scream (5 Stars)

When this film was made in 1996 director Wes Craven was poking fun not just at himself, but at the whole horror film genre. The "Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise which he had created had become stale after endless sequels. He created a parody called "Scream" in which the characters openly stated that they were in a horror movie and were governed by the rules of horror films. And yet this parody succeeded in evoking more terror than the serious films before it had done. Despite being intended as a parody, "Scream" has become the template for all teen slasher flicks that have followed it.

The killer may have one particular victim in his sights, but anyone can die. Everyone is a suspect. Even when the killer dies he can return, maybe supernaturally, maybe in the guise of a copycat killer. "Scream" revived the serial killer genre, maybe even the whole horror film genre. It will always stand as a landmark film.