Scream 4 – Film Review

It has been many years since the Ghostface Killer cut a deadly path through the town of Woodsboro. In order to get over the trauma of those horrific events, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has written a self-help book. She returns to Woodsboro for her book tour and reconnects with old friends Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Sheriff Dewey (David Arquette). However, Sidney’s arrival also sparks the return of Ghostface, putting Sidney and everyone she loves in danger.

You forgot the first rule of remakes. Don’t fuck with the original!

Wes Craven returns to the directors’ chair once again in Scream 4, which is without a doubt the best in the entire franchise since the first. Although the third installment suffered from Kevin Williamson not being writer, he gratefully returns for this fourth installment and boy does it ever show. Seeing as how the gap between the third and fourth film was eleven years, it’s clear that Williamson had plenty of time to churn some meta slasher comedy in his brain.

This is essentially the David Gordon Green 2018 Halloween sequel for the Scream franchise – maybe it’ll be more so the case with the upcoming fifth Scream movie, but this film does a wonderful job at blending fan favorites such as Neve Campbell and David Arquette with brand new faces such as Emma Roberts and Hayden Panettiere. Sometimes, the film can be a little messy and it clearly has way too many ideas on display, but when Scream 4 works, it works in spades.

The fourth entry is probably the funniest of the entire series. There were tons of moments in the film that had me laughing consistently and smiling from ear-to-ear throughout. Williamson is such an underrated writer – he finds brilliant ways to poke fun at horror tropes while also being able to tell a legitimately fun and spooky story along the way. Not many writers would be able to pull that off in a solid way, but Williamson makes it look easy. His lack of involvement with the upcoming fifth Scream film genuinely has me worried. The last time Williamson departed the series, we got the weakest entry in the series, so let’s hope that’s not the case with the fifth film.

Scream 4 also has the most entertaining kills on display and also, seemingly the highest kill count as well. For those who simply want to turn on a movie and see some fun slasher goodness, this fourth entry is definitely your best bet because there are plenty of clever kills abound. Neve Campbell is once again terrific as Sidney Prescott, as expected. They still don’t give her as much depth as I would’ve liked, but for the character she portrays, she does a fantastic job as does David Arquette as Dewey Riley as always.

Series newcomers Emma Roberts and Hayden Panettiere are also quite brilliant in the roles they are given here. The film’s script constantly finds entertaining and smart ways to make their characters feel interesting. It’s also the best-looking film in the franchise to date, shot masterfully by Peter Deming, who clearly knows what he’s doing. This isn’t his first rodeo in the horror genre, and it certainly won’t be his last.

Scream 4 isn’t quite as good as the original, but it’s ultimately an incredibly entertaining entry that focuses on humor and the bloody goodness fans have come to expect.