11 Years and We're Still Screaming For Scream 4

I don’t go to the movies all that often these days but when it comes to a good horror franchise I just can’t pass it up. I consider the Scream franchise one of the best in horror over the last couple of decades so Marko and I headed to the theater on opening weekend to check this one out.

I was not a huge fan of the third entrance into this series (that’s the one where Sydney has a random brother that we’ve never met who wants to kill her) so I was a little bit worried about this one. Typically in a horror franchise, once you get to the third or fourth in a series the content REALLY starts to go downhill (A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors being the most obvious exception to this rule). I’m happy to say that Scream 4 bucks that trend with flying colors. I can’t say that it’s better than or on par with the original, but it’s definitely better than the previous entry in the series and I’d put it equal with the second film (which I really enjoyed).

Returning characters are Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox). After 10 years there has been very little activity of the Ghost Face Killer but his memory has been kept alive in a slew of Stab (the fictitious slasher movies based on the events of the first Scream film) sequels. Naturally, the killer starts to torment Sydney again and we’re off to the races for another “whodunnit” entry into this franchise. The new cast members hold up their end of the bargain with special shout out to Hayden Panettiere for looking SUPER fine.

One of the thing that I loved about the original Scream was how “smart” it was. I’m thrilled to report that this entry is back to being very smart and clever. There’s also some super innovative kills which is always nice to see in a horror movie. While the ending is a bit contrived I have to say that I didn’t see it coming which again is a good thing. If I’m ranking the entries in this franchise I’d have to put this one behind the original, on par with the second and above the third. Let me know what you think!