Scream (1996)

Director Wes Craven’s slyly self-referential shocker follows a group of high school horror film fans in a small California town who are systematically slaughtered by a mysterious masked slasher. Newscaster Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) thinks this killer also did in teenager Sidney Prescott’s (Neve Campbell) mother the year before, even though the supposed murderer is behind bars. Skeet Ulrich, David Arquette, Rose McGowan, Matthew Lillard, and Drew Barrymore co-star. 111 min. C/Rtg: R

Scream 2 (1997)

The ghost-faced killer from the first film is gone, and the survivors are trying to get on with their lives. But when the debut of a horror movie based on the murders called "Stab" is marred by copycat killings, it becomes clear to everyone that a new round of terror is about to begin. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jerry O’Connell, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Jada Pinkett star in this spooky, witty sequel. 120 min. C/Rtg: R

Scream 3 (2000)

The third time is a bloody charm in Wes Craven’s cut-and-cut-up series. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), now a recluse working for a women’s crisis hot-line, travels to Hollywood, where cast members of film-within-a film "Stab 3" are being slaughtered and pictures of Sidney’s mother are being left at the crime scene. Courteney Cox Arquette, David Arquette, Patrick Dempsey, and Parker Posey co-star, with several surprising cameos. 117 min. C/Rtg: R