Scream (1996)

Scream is a real slasher first and a comedy second, which is why it belongs here instead of with the parodies it inspired. Wes Craven's opening phone call is among the most frightening sequences of the 1990s. After that, teenagers who have memorized the rules of horror movies discuss those rules while the killer breaks them, and the movie-trivia banter is genuinely funny. Ghostface is clumsy, falls over and gets hit with doors, which makes him more human and somehow more alarming.