When Scream returned again in 2022 with its fifth movie, it brought back what is arguably the most popular meta-horror movie franchise. After more than a decade of slasher movies dominating the genre, Wes Craven changed everything with the first movie in the series where the killer referenced horror movies and the victims knew all the tropes to look out for when Ghostface began taking them out one by one.
While Scream ushered in a plethora of copycat meta-horror movies, it wasn't the first of its kind. There had actually been meta-horror movies for decades before Craven brought the world his new vision of horror movies. It wasn't even Crqaven's first attempt at a meta-horror movie, making a similar story just two years before introducing Ghostface to the world.
Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994)
Streaming On HBO Max
Before Wes Craven directed Scream and started the entire meta-horror craze, he directed a movie in the Nightmare on Elm Street series that did the exact same thing. In his 1994 movie, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, the story took place in the real world, with the actors who starred in the first movie returning as fictional versions of themselves.
This included bringing in Robert Englund, as the actor who played Freddy Krueger. It even starred Craven himself as the director and writer of the movie. However, the movie then showed that Kruger was real and had slipped into Craven's nightmares, manipulating him to bring him back from the dead. It was completely unique and two years ahead of its time.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986)
Streaming On Prime Video
Many fans and critics consider the first Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie to be a masterpiece in horror cinema. It roared into theaters in 1974 and delivered something fans had not seen before, a down and dirty slasher movie with a cannibal family slaughtering kids. However, the sequel shook everything up, and while it took many by surprise, it stood the test of time as a meta-horror classic.
Leaving behind the disturbing horror that left many fans traumatized, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was a black comedy slasher movie. The movie was still violent, but it was campy and came across more as a parody than a legit horror movie. With the over-the-top gore and Dennis Hopper's role as the police lieutenant going way over the line, this is a movie that knows exactly what it is.
Peeping Tom (1960)
Stream On Roku & Tubi
Meta-horror movies are nothing new and some might even consider the classic horror-comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein to be close to one. However, the 1960 horror classic, Peeping Tom, takes it one step further. The movie is about a serial killer who uses his video camera to record his victim's final moments.
This is as meta as a horror movie can get. The movie is a direct exploration between violence and cinema and pays tribute to one of the best thriller directors of that era, Alfred Hitchcock. The movie was one of the most shocking movies of the 1960s and even received a Criterion Collection release.
Man Bites Dog (1992)
Stream On HBO Max & The Criterion Channel
Man Bites Dog is another critically acclaimed meta-horror movie that received a Criterion Collection release. This was a low-budget independent Belgian movie that arrived in 1992 that took the form of a mockumentary. In the movie, a camera crew decided to make a documentary about a serial killer and followed him on his spree.
What they didn't expect was that they were going to be one of his next targets. The movie bears a similarity to a later movie called Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, except that movie was more lighthearted and this one was as dark as it could get, meant to disturb.
The Monster Squad (1987)
Stream On Starz
In 1987, the family horror movie The Monster Squad hit theaters. In this movie, a group of kids idolizes the classic Universal Horror Monsters and the stars of the movies, including Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi. However, things go bad when they accidentally open a wormhole and bring the monsters to life.
The classic Universal Monsters arrive, first with Dracula and then The Mummy, Gil-Man, and The Wolf Man. Luckily, the kids are able to get Frankenstein's Monster on their side showing him kindness, a great twist to the original story where people's fear caused him to go bad. This entire movie wears its love for the Universal horror era on its sleeve.
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
Stream On HBO Max
The first Gremlins movie was a horror-comedy about cute little creatures who turned into menacing monsters if they got wet or ate after midnight. However, it kept the horror mostly straight and ended up as a beloved classic. The sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch was a different story.
The sequel was a meta-horror movie that winked at the audience every chance it got. There was a moment when a Gremlin flew out of the window and left the Batman symbol in its wake. There was an even bigger meta moment when the movie stopped and showed people watching it in a theater - one of which turned out to be Hulk Hogan.
Waxwork (1988)
Stream On Roku & Vudu
Waxwork is a cult-favorite horror movie from 1988 that wears its love for horror movies on its sleeve. Directed by Anthony Hickox, the movie is about a wax museum that pops up suddenly in a town and the six high school friends who decide to visit it. What they don't know is the horrific wax figures will come to life and threaten the end of the world.
Fans who saw the movie The Cabin in the Woods will likely know what to expect with this one, but even this movie makes that later effort look like it was holding back, with werewolves, mummies, zombies, and the Marquis de Sade attacking the kids.
Friday The 13th Part VI: Jason Lives (1986)
Stream On Pluto TV
The first few Friday the 13th movies were straight-up slasher movies and the entire point was watching the kills. However, after the franchise killed off Jason and replaced him with an imposter in the fifth movie, fans rebelled. This caused the producers to find a way to bring him back and they did it by basically making him a zombie.
This happened in the sixth Friday the 13th movie, and this was the first in the series to really become self-aware. This was an intentionally funny slasher movie at points and was the first in the franchise not to take itself seriously. While Jason was still deadly serious, the victims shared a lot in common with the kids from Scream, at least until he started killing them all.
In The Mouth Of Madness (1994)
Stream On AMC+ & Shudder
John Carpenter has directed some of the horror genre's best movies, including Halloween and The Thing. In 1994, he released In the Mouth of Madness, a movie that ended up as a cult meta-horror classic. The movie stars Sam Neill as an insurance investigator looking into the disappearance of a famous horror author.
Carpenter took aim at obsessive fan culture and how it can destroy even the greatest of fandoms. The movie really went meta when the missing author was writing a book called In the Mouth of Madness at the time of his disappearance. When the investigator began to question if he was real or part of a work of fiction, Carpenter stuck the landing.
Creepshow (1982)
Stream On Kanopy
While it isn't necessarily meta-horror in its individual stories, the format of Creepshow makes it a meta-horror movie when taken as a whole. Directed by George Romero, Creepshow is an anthology movie that is based on the old EC Horror Comics that told all manner of wicked morality tales.
Romero created a movie that knew what it was, with each short film morphing into what looked like EC comic panels before flipping to the next page and the next short began. With the overly cheesy mood of the individual stories and the callback to pulp comics, Romero created a minor masterpiece that inspired two sequels and a TV show.