Scream 4 (4½ Stars)

The Scream trilogy was complete. Nicely rounded off. A film trilogy that will stand for all time as a classic. Then 11 years passed. And now... a new film? What's it about? The trilogy has become a tetralogy? Or it's the first film in a second trilogy? See "Star Wars". I'm not sure. I haven't heard anything about a "Scream 5" being planned, but anything is possible.

The film continues in the same vein as the previous films. Sidney Prescott, no longer a teenager, is being stalked by an interchangeable serial killer. In every film a different person puts on the mask of "Ghostface" to spread his revenge. And as in all films the characters claim they are in a horror film and have to follow the rules of horror films if they want to survive. The movie buffs in the film use the word "reboot" to describe the film a few times, but it's not really a reboot. To be a reboot it would have to be new actors playing the old characters.

Is the film good? I missed "Scream 4" in the cinemas, and I read a lot of reviews before finally watching the film. Most of the reviews were negative. "Nothing new", "the same old story", etc. Well duh! That's the whole point. The film is deliberately rehashing the old plots. Each new incarnation of Ghostface is a copycat killer, that's the whole premise of the film series. And the characters in this film are looking at the old killings (which have been filmed as the "Stab" films within the films) and expecting the killer to make the same moves. "Nothing new" is the film's strength. So whatever anyone else says, I love it.

Click here to view the trailer.