Film: Scream 4

GENRE: Horror
RATING: R for strong bloody violence and language
RUNTIME: 1hour and 51 minutes
STARRING: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette Emma Roberts (Nancy Drew), Hayden Panettiere (Heroes)
DIRECTOR: Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street)
WRITER: Kevin Williamson (Screams, Vampire Diaries)
PLOT: Sidney Prescott returns home for a book tour. People get killed by Ghostface. Who is the murder(s)? Same stuff, different decade.

FIVE OBSERVATIONS:
1 The opening sequence is familiar, twisty, entertaining and predictable all at the same time. You have to see it to believe it.
2 I didn’t really connect well with the new cast. Rory Culkin (Signs) looks too weird with his long hair. Erik Knudsen (Scott Pilgrim) was trying too hard to be Jamie Kennedy’s Randy from the first film. Nico Tortorella is too obvious as a red herring. The girls were all fine.
3 I didn’t buy Adam Brody (The OC) as a cop; still too young looking. Marley Shelton (Planet Terror) as Deputy Judy was trying too hard to be suspicious. This police force is so incompetent that they would have overhauled the whole department and fired Sheriff Dewey. I would never feel safe in this town.
4 The story was fine. Nothing beats the first two. It had more gore, more meta references and surprisingly more clichés. Like usual, the killer talks too much, no one checks a pulse, everyone leaves their doors open and run upstairs. When will people learn? But what else do you expect from a horror film?
5 There’s this great moment when the movie could have ended and should of. It would have changed the whole series. Too bad.

RECOMMENDATION: Wait for the DVD
UPCOMING REVIEWS: Thor, Pirates 4