On this episode of History of the ’90s, Scream, the movie directed by legendary director Wes Craven gave new life to the horror genre and inspired a generation of teen movies. In the mid 90’s, the horror movie genre was almost dead, thanks in part to a slew of badly received sequels to iconic franchise like Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. Then Scream, with its “Ghostface” serial killer, slashed its way into theaters. Scream was like no other horror movie before because it wasn’t just terrifying, it was also incredibly self-aware. From the opening scene when Drew Barrymore is asked, “What’s your favorite scary movie?” it was pretty clear this wasn’t what we were used to.  Scream was unique. The characters knew about slasher movies and ironically recognized they were in the middle of one. This episode looks back at how Scream came to be, including the little-known story of its inspiration. Also did you know that scream was originally called Scary Movie? But studio execs thought it was too on the nose so they suggested Scream…which was the name of a hugely popular song and video released in 1994 starring Michael Jackson and his sister Janet. We’ll cover all this and we’ll try to understand why it became the most successful slasher movie franchise in history and how it continues to influence horror movies over 20 years later. If you enjoy History of the ’90s, please take a minute to rate it, tell us what you think and share the show with your friends. Contact: Twitter: @1990shistory Facebook: @1990shistory Instagram: @that90spodcast Email: [email protected] Guests: John Kenneth Muir author of Horror Movies of the 1990s http://reflectionsonfilmandtelevision.blogspot.com/ Twitter: @JKMuir