ODE TO THE FINAL GIRL

Scream (1996) brilliantly revitalized the stagnant slasher genre by mixing genuine suspense with clever, self-aware humor. Featuring characters who actually know the "rules" and clichés of horror films and talk about them out loud; it hooks you from the famous first scene; breaking those normal movie rules right away, and creating instant shock value while setting a tense, unpredictable tone where, instead of just running from a monster and being a run-of-the-mill slasher, the story carefully morphs into a clever mystery where anyone could be the killer behind the Ghostface mask.