The tanklike endurance of the horror movie bad guy was a plot staple long before Scream made it a running joke. As the unmasked killer lies on the floor at the end—having been stabbed, shot, and even speared with an umbrella tip—video store clerk Randy cautions survivors huddling close to the body: “Careful, this is the moment when the supposedly dead killer comes back to life, for one last scare.” (Spoiler alert: He does.) It’s funny, as they say, because it’s true. Since serial murder became a form of celluloid entertainment—somewhere between 1960?s Peeping Tom and 1978?s Halloween—its busiest bogeymen have shown a talent for regeneration. Whether brushing off a tumble down three flights of stairs or surviving multiple gunshot wounds, unkillable killers always seem to rise for one last “Boo!” Or one more sequel; nothing wakes the dead like the smell of box office returns.

Photos: Everett