Scream 4

I only semi-recently started to familiarize myself with the Scream franchise, but I loved it instantly. Creating genuine scares by avoiding all the clichés of horror movies, and turning the genre on its head with its self-mocking humor, and also by turning the killer not into a born psychopath with an elaborate back story or a supernatural, but someone dressed in a mask and robe, who uses his love of horror movies as his weapon against his victims. This helped create the mystery factor for the films, leaving you guessing til the end.

Unfortunately, as great as the franchise as a whole is, the sequels that followed the superb original did not live up to the same revelation in the end. The killer(s) was/were, if not predictable, then just the opposite to the point where you realize they didn't build up to it at all, leaving it to be a bit anti-climactic.

I'm happy to report that this is not the case with Scream 4. Even after an eleven year absence, Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson prove that they are still at the top of their game, and intelligent and original horror can still exist, even in these dark times full of repetitive sequels and remakes, something that the film comments on heavily.

The basic premise of the film is that Sidney Prescott returns to Woodsboro after ten years to publicize her new book on her experience with the killer. As soon as she returns, the killings begin again, and her cousin Jill begins to step into Sidney's shoes.

Where Scream 2 and 3 fail, this one succeeds. While I appreciated how they tried to put the premise of the first film in a different environment, it mostly felt like they were trying to live off the original, rather than build off it. While Scream 4 is constantly aware that it is repeating aspects from the original, making this impossible to be seen as a standalone, it does what any good sequel should do. It manages to take the premise of the original, and up the ante. Speaking of which, another thing that is upped besides the stakes is the body count and gore level. While the deaths for the most part are not nearly as elaborate as the original, they don't feel like the repetitive stab cycles in the 2 and 3. They are more brutal, and certainly show that violence in horror films has certainly gone up.

If there was any one weak aspect in this film, it would be the character development, or lack thereof. The three veteran actors from the trilogy, Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courtney Cox reprising their roles as Sidney, Dewey, and Gale Weathers respectively, play their roles very well, even amongst all the younger stars who more often then not, are in the spotlight, and it feels like they've definitely changed since the events in Scream 3. However, in this film itself, it felt as if they were just there as devices to the plot, and given no real character arcs. However at the same time, there wasn't much they could really do, since a lot of the focus had to be on the younger cast members, who actually put up some pretty good performances, though cannot be compared the cast of the original, but still fare a mile better than the characters introduced in the previous sequels.

I really liked how the actors from the two generations interacted, adding to the commentary on how not just horror movies have changed over the years, but our culture as well. With all that said, I suppose this is more of a character based movie than a character development one. Interesting how that works.

I felt this was the only one of the sequels to truly stay with the spirit of the original, while still making it work for today's audiences. The best example of it having the impact of the original has got to be the ending, which I will not elaborate on. All I'll say is that this is the only one since the original where the revelation of the killer(s) surprised me, as opposed to the "it was I, the butler!" conclusions of 2 and 3.

To sum it up, no fans of Scream or horror films could be disappointed.

I'm 23 years old. 12 years ago, I watched the original "Scream" (1996) and it was the first horror movie I enjoyed. It was a landmark in the puberty years of many movie-buffs-to-be who grew up in the late 1990's (good times!). SCREAM 2 & 3 were released in 1997 and 2000, respectively, and although entertaining, didn't hold a candle to the original (which is fine, most sequels don't). "Scream 3", in particular, lacked Kevin Williamson behind the script, and not even Wes Craven could turn what Ehren Kruger wrote into gold (meaning, a good flick; it did make a lot of money, though, and Parker Posey made it hilarious at moments).

So, eleven years later, a new SCREAM movie comes out, reuniting the original director, writer and the three survivors of the franchise, heroine Sidney Prescott (my first movie crush, Neve Campbell, still naturally beautiful and always a competent actress), Dewey (David Arquette) and Gale (Courteney Cox). Die hard fans, like me, have been waiting for this for a decade, and it paid off. Actually, it works so well because it was made 11 years after the last installment. The movie is far from perfect, obviously, but stands as the best of the sequels; "Scream 2" was above the average but came way too soon, and the third one was a wasted opportunity.

The tongue-in-cheek humor works for the most part, and Williamson knows how to parody a trend that he (re)created himself, including the ridiculousness of torture porn from the likes of SAW and its annual sequels - "movies with no character development, in which you don't care who lives or dies". That is the strongest link in this franchise: we've come to care about Sidney, Dewey and Gale, making the SCREAM movies work equally as slashers and satires. Whether or not SCREAM 5 & 6 will be made, it all depends on how much money this will make; I'm satisfied with this 4th chapter, although I won't deny I will still see another one if Craven, Williamson, and Campbell are involved. That said, it was a nostalgic flick that made me feel like I'm a preteen again. It may be a "new generation with new rules", but the iPhone generation oughtta know: "The first rule of remakes: you don't f*** with the original". Bravo, Sidney!

I literally just came back from a midnight screening of this and I had an amazing time. Craven's managed to reclaim the franchise with a worthy instalment that's a fantastic sequel as well as a quality slasher film in its own right. Honestly speaking, there aren't too many surprises to be had in Scream 4. No matter how mordantly self-aware the movies are (and believe me, Scream 4 gets a little tediously indulgent in its postmodern cleverness), there's an inevitable predictability to some of the proceedings but anybody who's a genre-savvy horror fan will appreciate how brilliantly everything is executed. The opening sequences, for example, are one of the best parts of the movie and are a perfect reintroduction to the franchise and while the bulk of the story lags a little, it's redeemed by the ballsy ending.

The acting is great with the core trio (Campbell, Arquette and Cox) delivering their usual, strong performances and the rest of the cast, however limited their respective roles, are just as entertaining. All you TV buffs there will get a kick out of seeing actors from Heroes, Veronica Mars, True Blood, Mad Men and Community share the silver screen and camp it up. More importantly, the film is hilarious and just a whole lot of ridiculous fun. Craven isn't afraid to take the story to some beautifully insane places and the ending was, to me, perfect.

All in all, it's a great, irreverent slice of horror that's hilarious and true to the franchise. Highly recommended.

THIS REVIEW IS SPOILER FREE: READ ON FOR MY REVIEW ON SCREAM 4 (2011) I was pleasantly surprised. This was a great movie, especially for fans of the original. It makes up for the awfulness of Scream 3, and includes many very talented new actors and actresses. I was very surprised to walk into the screening theater and see a fantastic horror film. As soon as the Dimension logo appeared on screen, my heart began to race. The opening scene was brutal and hilarious, and it was great to see all of the original characters back on the screen again. I found the Wes Craven cameo, and was laughing as I spotted it out. This movie was great to watch, even though there were some things that needed to be fixed. Very minor problems though. There were some parts in the dialogue that seemed unrealistic (Ehren Kruger re-writes), but it wasn't a huge deal. Also, the ending was kinda long, but it was also very suspenseful. I would most definitely recommend this to a friend in search of a good horror movie.

If you liked the first 3 movies you will like this one too. It has the same feel as the other Scream movies, but i don't want to spoil any story so i won't say anything about that.

I am a fan of the scream movies but not a HUGE fan that is why i would rate it an 8. Story wise (like every horror movie) it could sometimes be a bit better, but I found this story better then the typical horror movie. The kills were more realistic and the gore levels were appropriate in the scenes in my opinion.

If your a fan of horror movies i would really recommend it though. And if your a fan of Scream movies go see it!