Scream 4
2011 · Directed by Wes Craven
Original language: English
- horror
- mystery
The story
Fifteen years after the original Woodsboro murders, Sidney Prescott returns home to promote her new book about surviving trauma, only for a new Ghostface killer to emerge, targeting a new group of teens.
What it’s like
Bright, glossy digital photography gives this one the sheen of a 2011 studio thriller: sunny Californian cul-de-sacs, sprinklers and sun-faded lawns by day, then a hard, saturated night when the streets go empty and the Ghostface mask catches porch light. The camera moves briskly, with restless handheld following through hallways and quick cuts that snap between the self-aware banter and sudden stabs of dread. Marco Beltrami's score leans on sharp string stings and pulsing low synths that spike at each jolt. The mood is playful and knowing, a horror-comedy about horror clichés with a thread of grief running underneath. Violence is frequent and sometimes graphic, with stabbings, blood, and a few brutal kills, and there is some self-inflicted injury, but gore is more shock than lingering. It suits a Halloween-season night with friends, or a fan's rewatch when you want something sharp, funny and tense. Recommended for viewers who enjoy genre self-awareness and a slick, fast rhythm, and who can handle a steady run of knife violence.
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