Scream 4

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Scream 4 takes place 15 years after the events of the first film. Sidney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell) writes a self-help book as a way to put the events of the past behind her. But, in a world of slasher remakes, someone starts trying to recreate the original massacre of the first movie. Kevin Williamson is back writing these characters after Ehren Krueger wrote Scream 3. Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox do good in their respective roles, as usual. The standout in this movie has got to be Hayden Panettiere as Kirky Reed. The character is the most fun and interesting of the new crop, and the actress seems like she's having a ball in the movie. They do explain the rules of surviving a remake. While Rory Culkin and Erik Knudsen do their best, they just don't match up to Jamie Kennedy as the charater of Randy in the previous three films. One of my favorite scenes in the movie actually involves two cops (played by Anthony Anderson and Adam Brody) talking about the rules of being a cop in a movie. This feels closer to what you would expect out of the first two movies. Two of the biggest issues I had with the third movie are done better here, feeling closer to Scream and Scream 2. The first issue was the tone. This feels closer to balancing out the comedy and horror aspects better. The other issue I had with three that I think this one does better is the way the main three characters are handled. Part 4 feels much more like it's Sidney's story, while Dewey and Gale are back to feeling more like supporting players. Without giving too much away, the main villain in this one feels much more memorable than Roman in the third movie. However, the climax of this movie does feel a bit too long. The stuff in the hospital just feels tacked on. The multiple openings are clever, but they also feel a little bit too long. Overall, I feel that Scream 4 is a better movie than the third film, but can't quite measure up to the first two.

7 / 10