Scream 4 (4½ Stars)

When I wrote about "Scream 3" in December I said that there should never have been a fourth instalment. I need to take that back. It's true, the first three Scream films do build a neat little trilogy, complete in itself, but there's room for a continuation. There isn't just room for a continuation, there's a need for one. "Scream 3" was released in 2000. After that the teen slasher genre fizzled out. It's true, there were a few films in the genre, such as "Valentine" in 2001, but none come close to the quality. "Scream 4" might not be quite up to the level of the first three films, but it's still the best teen slasher film made in the last 15 years.

I don't think that the Scream franchise fits the format of a television series. I've watched a few episodes, and although I enjoy the series it's not "Scream". The body count is too low. There ought to be at least two people killed every episode. The problem is that in a TV series characters are developed over the weeks, and it wouldn't be fitting to keep killing off the main characters.

We need teen slasher films. The mixture of high school angst and horror is so delicious. Maybe we can add another two films to make a second Scream trilogy. Maybe we can start a completely new franchise. This might be difficult after Wes Craven's death, but someone somewhere needs to make teen slasher films. Not just one, we need dozens of them. Who's up to the challenge?

Am I the only person who finds Courteney Cox more attractive in "Scream 4" than in the previous three films? In the original trilogy she looked plain, but look at her now. For a 47-year-old woman she's smoking hot!