#27. Scream
Released in September 1997, Scream is one of the most famous slasher films. Screenwriter Kevin Williamson was partially inspired by a real-life series of student murders in Gainesville, Florida in 1990, perpetrated by killer Danny Harold Rolling who was later dubbed “The Gainesville Ripper”. Williams was also inspired by John Carpenter’s 1978 horror classic, Halloween, his favorite movie.
When actor Matthew Lillard, who plays the role of Stu, discovered that the gun was missing from the house, he ad-libbed the line “Ah…Houston, we have a problem”. That line was not scripted, but the director felt that it fitted the scene perfectly, and decided to keep it.