Review of Scream 4 (2011) by Darren C — 25 May 2012

By all rights, Scre4m should never have worked at all. It literally has everything working against it: the fact that it's a third sequel in a horror series and they rarely work, the story is normally terrible, forgettable or predictable, the characters are one-dimensional and it's overall mostly a cash-in that doesn't show any love or attention. However, Scre4m is the total opposite of those points given and works brilliantly. The reason why it works so brilliantly is because Craven and Williamson go back to the roots of how Scream used to be and what it was all about. Ten years have passed, and Sidney Prescott, who has put herself back together thanks in part to her writing, is visited by the Ghostface Killer. Kevin Williamson really delivers when it comes to writing the story of Scre4m as, just like Scream; it's clever and witty with the right blend of comedy, horror and suspense. Not only did the story fit in nicely with the movie series but it was also nice to see the main characters back together again along with some new characters as well. It was great seeing the trio again, it was like seeing old friends but the characters have changed quite a bit and in some cases, not in a good way. Sidney Prescott is more or less the same as she was in the series except for she's more tougher and doesn't take any nonsense, which is a great thing to see. However, the same can not be said for Dewey and Gale as they have both completely changed. Dewey doesn't get involved as much in investigating the murders like he did in the first trilogy and doesn't get much screen time either. Gale Weathers hasn't changed much and proves that she's still got the bitch attitude but she seems a lot more tame and, just like Dewey, she doesn't get a lot of screen time. However, to make up for this are the new teenagers who surprisingly all have great personalities and fall under the stereotypical horror characters, which in Scre4m's case, is actually a good thing.

The acting was great as we see Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette return to our screens after eleven years like they've never left. They prove they haven't lost it as their characters as we see Neve Campbell perform brilliantly as Sidney Prescott, our tough-as-nails heroine. David Arquette and Courtney Cox return as Dewey and Gale Riley and do a great job. However, it does come to something when the newcomers, those of which includes Heroes star Hayden Panettiere, manage to outshine the old cast. Kevin Williamson is back after Ehren Kruger penned the third Scream and, let's face it, it wasn't the same without Williamson's touch to the series. The script is clever, the story is great and yet again, he manages to make a horror movie that pokes fun out of the horror genre, only this time, it pokes fun of recent horror movies. This time, Williamson sets his targets on the amount of horror sequels and endless remakes there have been recently and, after Kirby's scene, you realise there's quite a few. Wes Craven yet again dons the director's chair and stays faithful to the Scream movies, answering the many prayers of Scream fans to make Scre4m how the movies used to be. There were so many references to Scream, horror sequels and horror remakes that you wouldn't have been able to spot them all in one watch and it is a lot of fun to find them. Craven and Williamson have not only set the standards of recent horror sequels, proving that they can be just as good as the first movie but they have also brought the Scream series back from where Scream 3 brought it down. Overall, the body counts are higher, the kills are more gruesome and gory and the story and characters are clever and so it gives me great pleasure to say that Craven and Williamson manage to make Scre4m one of the best in the series.

I can't tell you how happy I am that Scre4m manages to bring the series back up to a high after Scream 3 dragged the series down a little. It not only reminds us that horror sequels can be just as good as the first but it also reminds us that Craven and Williamson have still got it. Scre4m is a great slasher movie with the right blend of horror and comedy along with suspense and mystery. If you are a fan of the Scream trilogy, this will please you and even if you haven't seen the other Scream movies, this one is friendly enough to fill you in on what happened. Scre4m is clever, witty, funny and suspenseful and if this will be the end of the Scream series, it ends on a brilliant high.