In 1996, Wes Craven made the audience laugh and, you guessed it, scream. Believe it or not, Craven had dabbled in the self-referential horror genre before with 1994?s New Nightmare, the film that made Freddy Kreuger scary again. But that’s not what this review is about. Ghostface is an iconic killer in the slasher genre, and no one wants to get the call, where the first words you hear are, “What’s your favorite scary movie?” Less than a year later, Scream 2 was released, and it was actually better than the original. It seemed like Scream was an unbreakable franchise. But three years later, in 2000, Scream 3 came along and many lost faith in the franchise’s consistency. Now, 11 years later, Scream 4 has been released to much buzz and anticipation from critics and fans alike. Bringing back the original cast from the first three movies (Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott, David Arquette as Dewey Riley, and Courtney Cox as Gale Weathers, excuse me, Gale Riley) and boasts an impressive new cast of bodies, I mean, characters. As implied above, Dewey and Gale have gotten married, Dewey is Sheriff of Woodsboro, and Gale has become a full-time writer. Sidney is in town promoting her new book, a self-help guide to lead those in darkness to light. This is when the killings start.

Scream 4 is a return to form for Craven and writer Kevin Williamson. Screenwriter of Scream 3, Ehren Kruger only gets an Executive Producer credit on this one thankfully, and it’s evident what Williamson wanted to do here. I honestly don’t know why he didn’t write Scream 3, as it showed some promise, but no one knows how to handle the original “Slash Pack” like he does. This film is one definitely made for people like me, a fan of the original Scream since childhood, but can also open the doors to viewers still not familiar with the franchise. Combine that with Scream 4 also being the bloodiest entry in the Scream series, and you’ve got a hit. Contradictory to the just as good Insidious which had relatively no violence at all, Scream 4 gives all the horror junkies plenty of gore to be talking about for weeks, with some of the best kills in the series. Give Scream 4 a chance, 2011 so far has shown a lot of promising 3rd and 4th sequels, this is no exception.

Grade: B+