Scream 4 - 8 stars out of 10

Scream 4 - 8 stars out of 10

"SCRE4M" is a fresh, successful reboot of one of the scariest villains in the slasher genre.  After a 10+ year hiatus from the screen, Sidney Prescott returns to Woodsboro on the eve of the killings' 15th anniversary.  Although I felt that the plot justified making another film, this version tries too hard to be funny.  There is place for humor in these series as a result of tuning previous plots to stereotype a sequel or the end of a trilogy; however, Scream 4 adds confused humor during several brutal murders and I am not sure why.  That being said, I loved the humor during the first sequence of the film, completely mocking terrible sequels through recognizeable actresses and films-within-a-film.  The majority of characters in this film (aside from the aging trio from the previous 3 films) are attractive young women.  This is not a complaint - I just find it interesting that there are so many more attractive female characters to draw the male eye but consequently, many more characters that can be killed.  Despite a certain expectation as a slasher film, TOO MANY people die.  1. The film loses realism if everybody in the town is killed. 2. Each murder is less effective when there are so many.  This is what seperates the first film from the rest - the first is a plot-driven portrayal of what would realistically happen with a serial killer on the loose in a small town.  The rest have decent plots... but their main focus is creating a lot of death scenes.  The highlight of the film is Emma Roberts who has stepped out of her squeaky clean stereotype (Nancy Drew, Aquamarine) and proven herself as a real, dramatic actress.  Hayden Panettiere's hair was bad but her acting was good, and I particularly liked Marley Shelton in her few moments of screen time.  The other standout actress was Alison Brie whose big eyes and sassy disposition was a nice contrast to the calm and collected Campbell.  This film was enjoyable and had two of the most shocking twists I've ever seen (my jaw literally dropped).  I recommend it but I fear that if the writers continue to include humor at inappropriate moments, future Scream films could become as laughable as the terrible sequels that they mock.