Scream 4 [SCRE4M] ** (2011, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Hayden Panettiere, Anthony Anderson, Alison Brie, Adam Brody, Rory Culkin) – Classic Movie Review 13,864

The Scream franchise is revived after a decade, with Scream 4 [SCRE4M] arriving in 2011, still with Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, and once more made by Wes Craven and again written by Kevin Williamson.

Scream 3 (2000) turned out not to be the final chapter after all, with the American slasher film Scream 4 [SCRE4M] arriving in 2011, still with Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, and once more made by Wes Craven and again written by Kevin Williamson.

On the 15th anniversary of the Woodsboro murders in Scream (1996), Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns to the town after ten years to promote her new book about surviving trauma, when masked slasher Ghostface once again begins killing students from Woodsboro High. She reconnects with Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), who are now married.

Scream 4 is lacking in freshness or originality, though it avoids being stale or dull. The cast and handling are fine, very brisk, competent and professional, but Kevin Williamson’s script wobbles and is strained. It builds in enough entertaining dark comedy, but there are too few exciting horror shocks and too many repetitions of hackneyed ideas, previously and better used. But affection for the franchise, characters, actors and ideas wins the day.

Scream 3, released on 4 February 2000, was intended as the concluding chapter of the series, but 11 years later, the franchise was revived with Scream 4, released on 15 April 2011, starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, and also Hayden Panettiere, Anthony Anderson, Alison Brie, Adam Brody, Rory Culkin, Marielle Jaffe, Erik Knudsen, Mary McDonnell, Marley Shelton and Nico Tortorella.

It is produced by Outerbanks Entertainment and distributed by Dimension Films.

It grossed $97 million worldwide against a budget of $40 million, the lowest-grossing film in the franchise.

It is the final film to be directed by Wes Craven before his death in 2015. 

The Scream franchise

Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), Scream 3 (2000), Scream 4 (2011), Scream (2022), Scream VI (2023), Scream 7 (2026).

© Derek Winnert 2026 – Classic Movie Review 13,864

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