Top 10 Horror Movies That Break the Fourth Wall

A love letter from Stephen King and George Romero to 1950s EC horror comics, “Creepshow” presents itself in the style of a comic book. Each segment of the anthology gets an intro that looks like something out of a “Tales from the Crypt” comic. Within that framing device, the Creep, a robed grim reaper-type figure, addresses the audience like a narrator, as if we were reading the comic. The wraparound where a kid gets revenge on his father for getting rid of his comic book is even revealed to be part of the comic itself.

In this film produced by Hammer Studios, a young lawyer played by Daniel Radcliffe comes across a malevolent spirit that is responsible for the deaths of several children around the village. Radcliffe’s character learns of the eponymous Woman in Black and tries to stop her from claiming more innocent lives. At first, it appears as though the movie has a bittersweet ending with Radcliffe’s character being welcomed into the afterlife by his dead wife. But in the final shot, the rug is pulled out from under us. The Woman in Black appears and looks directly at the audience, as if she’s going to haunt us next.

This early 80s parody poked fun at contemporary slashers such as “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th,” featuring a serial killer known as “The Breather.” Take a guess how he got that name. The satire gets surreal, with captions that label things they want the audience to pick up on. This movie deconstructed the tropes that were associated with horror films at the time. One of the most prominent ways “Student Bodies” broke the fourth wall was by having a random character swear explicitly with the goal of earning the movie an “R-rating.”

This supernatural thriller has one of the most depressing endings in horror history. A child, who has been corrupted by the demon Bughuul, murders her entire family. As the final shot pulls out, it’s followed by an effective jumpscare where Bughuul pops out of nowhere. The demonic figure had just victimized Ethan Hawke’s character and his family after he got done watching all the Super 8 films left by the monster. And since we have seen the same tapes, the film implies that Bughuul has set his sights on us.

An adaptation of a broadway musical that is heavily reliant on audience participation is obviously going to bring down the fourth wall. A criminologist interrupts the film to provide a monologue to the audience, and Dr. Scott turns to address the audience during the dinner scene. Tim Curry as Dr. Frank-N-Furter makes a few gestures that heavily imply he knows the audience is there, adding to a delightfully shameless performance. Fourth wall breaks are usually associated with comedies that have a lighter tone. “Rocky Horror” is very much a horror comedy, so those breaks suit it perfectly.

In this satirical slasher, Patrick Bateman tells the audience about who he is and what his values are in voiceover narration. Through this internal monologue, we get an inside track into Bateman’s mind we would not have gotten otherwise. One notable example is the business card scene. Bateman feels such pressure to put on a mask to conform to society’s expectations that this fourth wall break is really the only way to get a sense of who he is. At least that would be the case, if not for the fact that he’s a psychopath who may have actually lied about committing all those crimes. So he’s a bit of an unreliable narrator.

Another satire that pokes fun at horror movie tropes, “The Cabin in the Woods” has plenty of nods to the audience with a script co-written by Joss Whedon. It makes a point of using classic stock characters such as the jock, the virgin, and the stoner. There are also plenty of Easter eggs littered throughout the film, particularly among the monsters set loose in the underground facility. Though the film never explicitly breaks the fourth wall, it does flirt with it. The people operating the controls behind the scenes even make some ironic comments that reference the audience watching.

For the last “Elm Street” sequel before “Freddy vs. Jason,” Wes Craven decided to shake things up with Freddy Krueger. “New Nightmare” blurs the lines between reality and horror with appearances from people associated with the “Elm Street” franchise, including Robert Englund, producer Robert Shaye, and Wes Craven himself. The film pulls back the curtain to recreate a production behind the scenes, which was a pretty unique take before the “Scream” franchise came along. The plot – in which the only way to contain the entity of Freddy Krueger is to make a new movie – is so “meta” it’s like a snake eating its own tail.

A home invasion thriller where two adolescent boys terrorize a vacationing family, “Funny Games” is as disturbing as it is unconventional. For both the original 1997 film and the 2007 American remake, the fourth wall is broken a handful of times in effective ways. One of the villains addresses the audience to make a bet with them. He also deconstructs typical movie plots to gauge the audience’s expectations. And we can’t forget that wink that the young man makes to the camera at the very end of the original film, right before he starts to terrorize a new family.

The script from Kevin Williamson is full of references to the horror genre and moments of irony. One of the most memorable examples is the scene where Randy yells at Jamie Lee Curtis to “look behind you” while failing to do so himself. Randy comes the closest to figuring out that they’re all in a movie, but it could just be a delusion resulting from his obsession with films. The “Scream” series continues to get more self-referential once the “Stab” movies are introduced within its universe, and the sequels get to comment on themselves.

What do you think about fourth wall breaks in horror movies? Have they ever creeped you out, or do they take you out of the movie? Let us know in the comments.