Scream 4 | Youthink
Image credit:  Gemma La Mana/ Dimension Films | Courteney Cox in the Wes Craven film SCREAM 4.

Scream 4

by Steven Roste - Killarney Secondary, Vancouver BC May 4, 2011
4 stars
 
Rating: 14A
Stars: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettierre.

Wes Craven brings back the Scream franchise for a fourth scare.

What's the story?
On the fifteenth anniversary of the first slaughter, Sidney Prescott (Campbell) returns to Woodsboro for the final stop on her new self-help book tour. Shortly after her return, she faces her worst fears and ultimately gets trapped in yet another Woodsboro bloodbath. She’s soon reunited with Gale Weathers Riley (Cox) and Dewey Riley (Arquette), who inform her that she’s a suspect and must remain in Woodsboro until things get settled.
 

Why see it?
In the fourth installment of the Scream franchise, you’d think the films would start getting redundant... and you are correct. However, it seems the key to their brilliance is the redundancy. The cinematically self-aware shtick that’s been driving these films for the past 15 years proves to still be relevant and effective. But there is one main difference that sets Scream 4 apart from the first three movies - this Ghostface takes the murders to a whole new level!

Problems?
Scream 4 lacks the bond between Sidney, Gale and Dewey that we’ve seen in the last three films as we see little interaction between the three of them. Also, Sidney seemed strangely robbed of her emotion. This may have been caused by ten years of self-help therapy, but I felt myself pining for her to break down into tears, which would have been truer to what we’ve seen from her in the past.

All in all:
A great fourth installment that stays true to the Scream franchise.
 

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