Scre4m (2011)

Review: written November 2011

Redundant Sequel – feels dated

The surviving cast members are all back, along with an interesting cast of new faces... Hayden Pannetier, Mary McDonnell, Adam Brody and others threaten to bring fresh perspective 4th time round. Plotwise - well, more of the same, if you've seen the previous 3 you're in for no surprises, and if you haven't seen them, go watch Scream 1 instead of this one..

It does feel as if Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson between them have mis-stepped here. Or more precisely, after stumbling somewhat on Scream 3, this feels more like they've fallen on their faces. There's an apparent emphasis on satisfying fans with references both within and outwith the franchise (the existence of the Saw franchise and its ilk are acknowledged), and seemingly a bit less on scares. That said, a few moments work in an unsurprising sort of way. On the plus side, an introduction satirically shows the absurdity of ever more sequels of the same franchise, and there's a `new and updated' angle on the formula here, revolving around the social networking - YouTube generation. On the down side, this just isn't enough to stop the movie from proceeding to walk through every yawn inducing cliché of the genre, in a singularly unironic way. Sadly, a franchise which was once a refreshingly new angle and breath of fresh air for horror movies, has become oddly dated and irrelevant.

I don't remember hearing a clamour for this sequel.. especially 11 years after the last one. But if you are in the mood for a little nostalgia, you'll perhaps enjoy the routine slashing, and also the familiar faces (albeit with the help of a little more makeup) of Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette. At the end of the day though, with the best will in the world, after years of parodying and new fads in horror coming along, this feels kind of stale straight out of the tin.