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Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere ... see more see more... , Rory Culkin , Adam Brody , Anthony Anderson , Anna Paquin , Mary McDonnell , Kristen Bell , Marley Shelton , Erik Knudsen , Nico Tortorella , Marielle Jaffe , Lucy Kate Hale , Shenae Grimes , Aimee Teegarden , Brittany Robertson , Dane Farwell , Alison Brie , Heather Graham , Gordon Michaels , John Lepard , Mark Aaron Buerkle , Justin Brandt , Alex Punch , Nancy O'Dell , Julia Ho , Kim Adams , Devin Scillian , Glenda Lewis , William Spencer , Tim Doty , Peter Carey , Roger Jackson

In Scream 4, Sidney Prescott, now the author of a self-help book, returns home to Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. There she reconnects with Sheriff Dewey and Gale, who are now married, as... read more read more... well as her cousin Jill (played by Emma Roberts) and her Aunt Kate (Mary McDonnell). Unfortunately Sidney's appearance also brings about the return of Ghostface, putting Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, along with Jill, her friends, and the whole town of Woodsboro in danger. -- (C) Dimension

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56% liked it

68,443 ratings

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58% liked it

166 critics

R, 1 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: Wes Craven

Release Date: April 15, 2011

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DVD Release Date: October 4, 2011

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Stats: 8,183 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (8,183)

  • FilmFanatik
    February 22, 2012
    FilmFanatik
    What could have been just a trilogy became a quadrilogy... and possibly more if they don't leave it alone. Scream 4 (or Scre4m) covers much of the same territory as the previous films. To me just it's slightly better than the second film while also being so much better than the t... read morehird. Not that the film is perfect, but it's actually the best sequel. I have problems with it, of course. There are several character dynamics that are hinted at but never explored, or paid off if you will. The main one is that Dewey might have a possible romantic attachment to his deputy and in one scene in particular, to Sidney. In the latter, they share this very longing look at each other before uncomfortably seperating, and it's never mentioned or explored again afterwards, which is a shame. The movie's also full of extraneous characters that don't really go anywhere and act merely as red herrings to the plot. The acting is ok, but Emma Roberts is absolutely atrocious, and I couldn't get past her terrible line delivery. As for the leads, Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox seemed to be bored and don't seem to have very much to do. David Arquette's character actually has a little more depth, probably more so than any of them. He started out as a bumbling deputy in the original but is now a take-charge sheriff who you can no longer laugh at. I like that, and it gives at least one returning character a reason to be here. Personally, I think this could have been made without Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers, as neither of them add any real value to the plotline and are simply here because the series demands it. They do almost nothing in the film until the third act and the focus is on the new characters and not them. I would've actually like to have seen them go in a different direction with the series and just started out fresh with just the new characters. It might've worked, and even if it didn't, it would at least be a little more interesting and didn't feel like it was recycling old ideas (another Woodsborough murders book???). Scream fans will enjoy it, I'm sure, but I'm not a die-hard fan of this series and even though I enjoyed it for the most part, it's plagued with problems and feels tired.
  • TheGame90
    January 24, 2012
    TheGame90
    Wes haven't missed a beat. But if you didn't like the first 3...you're not gonna like this. And if you like them and not this...I don't know what you were watching...I'm usually not a fan of movies that involves facebook and stuff like that in to the story. But the scream series ... read moredoes that...it's very present...It was in the 90's...and it still is today. Emma Roberts did a good job. And congratulations to Hayden for your Martin Award
  • liquidchick76
    December 18, 2011
    liquidchick76
    Not too shabby- definitely better than than the third installment.
  • deano
    November 8, 2011
    deano
    Ten years after the events of Scream 3, in which Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox return to Woodsboro to be stalked, once again, by Ghostface, that was good to see the old cast reunited again like in the memories of their old characters.
    This sets up a new c... read moreast (standous are Hayden Panettiere's gorgeous geek, and Emma Roberts, as Campbell's intense cousin), and there some bunkum about new rules. However, that's speedily dumped so that Wes Craven can have tons of fun with new kills.
    The final 25 minutes is killer, with an "oh no, not that character!" death to rival Randy in Scream 2. Plus, the most interesting Ghostface thus far is on show, and Scream 4 also is the funniest of the series, by a mile. Shame it flopped - Scream 5 could have been interesting.
  • kenstachnik
    November 1, 2011
    kenstachnik
    The best since the original, but that's not saying much. Scream 4 trys WAY to hard to be clever and ends up being very silly. And for the record Thirteen Women (1932), The Lodger (1927) and And Then There Were None (1939) all pre-date Peeping Tom as the first slasher.

    And if yo... read moreu want to argue that the "modern slasher" was popularized by Peeping Tom, well you'd also be wrong. Peeping Tom was released for only a few short weeks in 1960 in the UK and was promptly banned. It didn't see the light of day again until the 70's. Psycho was released in 1960 and was a world wide sensation. Way to do your research Kevin!
  • scottgreen96
    October 29, 2011
    scottgreen96
    Horrifically eerie, tense, and sent me through the roof, well when I wasn't cowering away behind the chair in front, so, Wes, mission accomplished.
  • LWOODS04
    October 16, 2011
    LWOODS04
    Cast: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Anthony Anderson, Alison Brie, Adam Brody, Anna Paquin, Lucy Hale, Kristen Bell

    Director: Wes Craven

    Summary: Perennial survivor Sidney Prescott, now a successful self-help author, returns... read more to her home town of Woodsboro in the fourth act of director Wes Craven's Scream franchise. Sidney's homecoming, however, coincides with a slew of unsettling new murders.

    My Thoughts: "The film has the same feel of the previous three. It was like time hadn't passed. I enjoyed the story but was a bit disappointed. Where were the scares, the jumps, the 'screams'. I enjoyed it for what it was and the story was really interesting but I missed the anticipation of being scared. I was expecting to be scared not predict every scare. I will admit the twist in the film is pretty great. In the end I think they did a good job with bringing the series back. I'm looking forward to a much better 5Th installment."
  • mrbungle7821
    October 14, 2011
    mrbungle7821
    What do you do when your satiric self-aware take on pop culture becomes the MO for a generation? Back in 1996, Scream was a breath of fresh air by sending up dusty horror staples and having highly literate characters, with exceptional vocabularies, deconstruct genre elements whil... read moree ironically falling victim to them as well. In 2011, Scream 4, an obvious paycheck grab, is showing its age. After a rather nifty series of opening fake-outs, which gave me hope that returning writer Kevin Williamson was going to finely skewer the conventions of horror since Scream last went dormant in 2000, I realized sadly this is not the case. "New decade, new rules," one character says, but it's all so much of the same. People run, they get stabbed, only the locations are truly different. There are a few witty jabs about the obsession with reboots and remakes, and Williamson does secretly work a crafty symmetry to the first film as far as characters go. The body count is much higher but the scare quotient is low. And then brining back the original cast (Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox) seems like a waste if they cede almost all screen time to a bunch of fresh-faced high school kids who were learning to walk when Campbell was learning to run for her life. The satirical elements feel so lazy; if you're going to introduce technology-obsessed characters and the narcissism of social media, then do something with it. Don't introduce an element like a webcam and then barely use it. The scares are about as flimsy as the commentary. The reveal of the killer(s) is stupid enough, as is the cracked motivation, but the ending just piles one absurdity onto another. It doesn't know when to stop, and Scream 4 flirts with some daring possibilities to wrap up its bloodshed. Scream 4 is a drifting vehicle, wasting potential at every opportunity. The weight of all those red herrings, genre riffs, ironic twists, and self-aware characters has gotten to be too much. The Scream franchise has morphed into what it once parodied.

    Nate's Grade: C
  • lewiskendell
    October 11, 2011
    lewiskendell
    "You can't save them. All you can do is watch."

    Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns to Woodsboro to promote her new book, and to absolutely no one's surprise, there's a new killer waiting there for her. This new Ghostface seems intent on "remaking" the original Woodsboro Mur... read moreders and topping them in every way.

    Scream 4 is my favorite of the bunch. Keep in mind, this isn't coming from a Scream mega-fan. I've only seen the series for the first time in the past year. But to me, the fourth one is the movie that best works as both a slasher and a clever look at the current state of the genre.

    The surviving members of the cast return, and they're joined by a young cast of potential knife fodder like Alison Brie, Lucy Hale, Hayden Panettiere and Emma Roberts. I thought Panettiere was the best new addition, with her horror buff character taking a similar role to what Jaime Kennedy's character played in previous Scream's.

    With all that said, Scream 4 almost completely falls apart at the end. Dear Lord, what a ham-fisted finale. I was enjoying the ride up until then, but wow did things go downhill fast in the last 20 minutes or so. I won't say that the entirety of the movie was ruined by how it ended, and I understand what was being attempted, but my suspension of disbelief was stretched about as far as it can go.

    Still, Scream 4 was better than I expected. Your mileage may vary, I thought it was a good time.
  • axadntpron
    October 10, 2011
    axadntpron
    This franchise was on life support. What a shame Craven tried to resuscitate it. The outcome is depressing to watch.

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Critic Reviews

James Berardinelli
April 17, 2011
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Scream's brand of horror, which lampooned the slasher genre while simultaneously embracing it, was fun and breezy in 1996. In 2011, it's about as fresh as the whiff of something stale and rank from a ... Full Review

Dana Stevens
April 15, 2011
Dana Stevens, Slate

Craven guides us expertly down a series of blind, bloody alleys, a journey that's more pleasurable than frustrating. On account of his steady hand, the last act is as good as could be expected: skillf... Full Review

Tom Long
April 15, 2011
Tom Long, Detroit News

Scream 4 is a total hoot. Assuming you can find the humor in knife stabbings. Full Review

Lisa Kennedy
April 15, 2011
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

Compared with so many of the rebooted slasher flicks, Scream 4 remains a cut above. No, that is not an intended pun. Full Review

Richard Corliss
April 15, 2011
Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

On its own terms, Scre4m is pretty good. Full Review

Laremy Legel
April 15, 2011
Laremy Legel, Film.com

A perfectly acceptable Friday night, Scream 4 delivers plenty of scares without consequences, murder without depth, and a flood of legacy laughs. Full Review

Peter Travers
April 15, 2011
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Between a diabolically funny start and a surprise climax, Scream 4 offers nothing more than a series of gory deaths that grow tiresome with repetition. Full Review

Rick Groen
April 15, 2011
Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

Not even the smug irony endures -- it's hard to congratulate yourself for being in on a stale joke. Full Review

Stephen Whitty
April 15, 2011
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

"Scream" always made fun of itself even as it was frightening us - and that hasn't changed a bit. Full Review

Elizabeth Weitzman
April 15, 2011
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

Relying on obvious clichés doesn't seem ironic anymore, just easy. And though there are several genuine jolts, poor pacing leaves too much time between the silliness and scares. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Robbie Mercer: You can't kill me. There are rules! I mean, I'm gay, you know... If that helps....
    • Gale Weathers: Dewey what's going on?
    • Deputy Judy Hicks: Gale this is a police business if you can just let us handle this...
    • Gale Weathers-Riley: I'm talking to my husband Deputy Judy...
    • Gale Weathers: Hicks you're alive?
    • Deputy Judy Hicks: Wear the vest, save your chest. [fainted]
    • Gale Weathers-Riley: [to Judy] The lemon squares taste like ass... [walks away]
    • Dewey Riley: They don't, they really don't...
    • Deputy Judy Hicks: [starts to smile] Thank you sir...
    • Ghostface: Hello... who is this?
    • Marnie Cooper: Marnie, who's this?
    • Ghostface: This is the last person you'll ever gonna see alive...
    • Marnie Cooper: [scared]
    • Jenny Randall: [Jenny laughs] I'm sorry, I had too...
    • Gale Weathers: Okay, okay.... what about the book?
    • Jill: Looks like all I have to write it myself.
Submit a Fact | View All

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Scream 4 Trivia

  • Which of the following movies have not been spoofed in Scary Movie 4?  Answer »
  • What film coined the following 6 rules of Surviving A Horror Movie?: 1. You will not survive if you have sex 2. You will not survive if you drink or do drugs 3. Never say "I'll be right back" 4. Everyone is a suspect. 5. Never ask "Who's there?" 6. Never go out to investigate a strange noise.  Answer »
  • Who plays Chloe is Scream 4?  Answer »
  • Which "Twilight" actress was originally considered for the role of Jill Roberts in the horror film "Scream 4?"  Answer »
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