Scream 4 - Great to see a franchise return so strong

I will admit to loving Scream 4, although, apparently opinion was certainly divided upon its release. Some even went as far as to say that it `flopped' due to it not making as much as Scream 3. But, it did make its money back and a respectful profit, which isn't bad for a franchise which existed in the nineties and who's original audience has probably grown up and doesn't attend the cinema as much as they used to.

It's unlikely that many people will watch this without knowing about its predecessors, but, if you have no idea what the `Scream' saga entails, it's about a killer (wearing a ghostly `scream' mask) who runs around murdering people, until he/she/they are finally unmasked in the final act.

Scream 4 is more of the same. Some people say that's its major flaw - that it doesn't offer anything new enough to warrant a whole new film. And they may be right. It is basically the same beast as the previous three, just with new `expendable' characters who you won't know if they're the killers until they find themselves the wrong end of a blood-stained knife.

However, Scream wasn't successful for a reason. It was actually very good. Therefore, all the following films stuck to its winning formula, so, although it is more of the same, is that necessarily a bad thing? My vote is: no, it's not. With all the rubbish horror/slasher films out there, it's nice to see one with decent characters and that's well written.

All the principal/surviving characters return for number 4, which gives it a familiar feel, plus they're all decent actors, meaning you don't have to put up with a gaggle of teenage nobodies for an hour and a half.

Basically, if you liked the previous three Scream movies and you don't mind that this is simply more of the same, then give it a go. I think it's an oasis of horror in a barren genre.

8/10 The Force is definitely strong with this one