Scream 4

Like the films that preceded it, Scream 4 is pretty tricky to talk about without giving away most of the story. But if you're a Scream fan you already know the basics – super-squeaky-clean suburban gal Sidney Prescott is again menaced by Ghostface, a knife-wielding killer whose identity – and motivation – change from film to film, but who's always determined to make her life as miserable as possible. Sid's few fellow survivors – Deputy (now Sheriff) Dewey Riley and his girlfriend (now wife), news reporter (now struggling writer) Gale Weathers – join her in trying to stop a new string of murders that erupt, this time when our heroine returns to her home town of Woodsboro, a stop on a tour promoting her new self-help book inspired by the events of the first three Scream films. So what can I talk about? Well...
The above premise isn't exactly clever, but it's a good enough way to reintroduce Sidney (and actress Neve Campbell) to the Scream saga, and to a potentially new audience of filmgoers. Of course there are also a lot of fresh faces to draw in the kids. Hayden Panettiere, Lucy Hale, Anna Paquin, Kristin Bell, and my personal favorite, the endlessly watchable Alison Brie (as Sid's hilariously cutthroat publicist) all do their part to reinvigorate the franchise. (There are probably a half dozen other photogenic newcomers that teens will squee over, but, since I rarely watch CW or the Disney Channel, they remain nameless to me.) The standout performance, however, comes from Emma Roberts, Sidney's teenage niece, who seems destined to inherit her aunt's title as Least Lucky Girl in Woodsboro. Roberts isn't given much to do in Scream 4's early scenes. But as the film unfolds, her role expands, and by the end she's proven she's capable of a lot more than Nancy Drew.
Scream 4's strongest moments are in its opening scenes, which poke fun at the self-referential craze in horror that the first Scream launched (the film also takes knowing jabs at some of the fright-film trends that followed), and its glorious finale, which, again, is damn near impossible to describe without spoiling the surprises. So I'll just leave you with this bit of hyperbole – the last twenty minutes of Scream 4 are the most fun I've had watching a mainstream horror movie so far this year. Really. Oh, they may not be the scariest, or even the most suspenseful. But with that ending director Wes Craven proves he's still got what it takes to jolt us out of the vanilla everyday and into the kind of black-as-night batshit craziness that's been missing from the multiplex ever since Hollywood decided to stop producing R-rated horror. Scream 4's ending alone is worth the price of admission. And it's enough to make me pray that someone finds a way to coax both Craven and writer Kevin Williamson (who left the project early) back for at least two more Screams.