Review: Scream 4

Emma Roberts looking spooked in Scream 4.

Director: Wes Craven

Release Date: 14 April 2011

Rating:(TBC)

Runtime: 111 mins

The Scream films are, by and large, a credit to Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson (we'd excise Scream 3 from our memory if it weren't so forgettable). One of the only horror films in recent years to incorporate equal portions of humour and gore, Scream set the bar for smart, entertaining horror with whip smart writing, cultural references, and a hip young cast.

Scream 4 represents an absolute return to form, with the most important original cast members reappearing: Sidney (an older, yet more vulnerable Neve Campbell), Dewey (David Arquette), and Gail (Courtney Cox) as well as a batch of fresh blood. Emma Roberts steps in as Jill (Sidney's cousin), Hayden Panettiere as her friend Kirby, and Rory Culkin (yep, same family - those lips don't lie).

Sidney returns on the anniversary of the murders to do publicity for her new book, Out of Darkness. Someone's pretty ticked off about Sid showing her freckled face in this neck of Woodsboro again and promptly turns the terror up to eleven. Everyone's a potential victim and a potential suspect, but serious props have to be handed to the writers for creating real tension and mystery—the red herrings planted in this ensemble are played so masterfully, you'll find it intriguingly difficult to guess who the killer is.

The comments on the genre and the fact that the actual movie takes a decent seven minutes to start due to the movie within a movie within a movie and the killer cameos (hint: the word we uttered upon seeing who was cameoing has two syllables and ends in an -eeehhhhhhh) really just take this to a cut above. Scream 4 will keep you on the edge of your seat, giggling intermitently, until the very last.

What's your favourite scary movie?

****