Most types of movies are subject the lucrative move from sequel to trilogy ultimately to the golden ticket known as the franchise. One genre that is exceptionally likely to achieve this goal is the horror flick. With movie like ‘Saw’, Halloween’ and ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’, seemingly adding one film after another to the series without an end in sight. One set of movies that has made it to number four and is therefore on the road to franchise is ‘Scream’. This is one of the flagships of a highly popular niche in cinema, the horror comedy. There is nothing new about this combination of popular types of movies. In 1981 ‘Student Bodies’ took aim at the decade defining slasher films that were all the rage. Decades before that in the forties, Universal Studios blended their most successful comedy duo, Abbott and Costello with their signature creature feature stars; ‘Dracula’, ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ and ‘The Wolf-Man’ with exceptionally hysterical results. ‘Scream 4’ suffers from many of the pitfalls inherent to a film placed at this stage of building a franchise. It has to walk the very thin line between retaining the defining elements that made the previous three films hits and adding its own unique twist adding to the continuation of the overall story. One thing that does work in favor of this installment is the originating filmmaker and much of the core cast has returned for this outing. On the other side of the coin this movie tries too hard to recapture the essence of the previous films to such a point where originality is drastically diminished. At least that was my initial reaction after watching the flick for the first time. After that viewing I had a nagging feeling that I might have missed something the filmmaker was attempting to get to; some underlying point he was making. Then it I remembered that this franchise was intended as a parody of slasher flick. Now that ‘Scream is officially a franchise it should be expected that the focus has been redirected to a send up of the overly extended horror film series. In this light it is perfectly acceptable for this movie to fall into self parody, after all many of the most popular slasher flicks series unintentionally go down this path. ‘Scream 4’ is just doing what the original trilogy accomplished; poking fun at the predictability of the horror film franchise.

The underlying premise in this movie is the trend many horror filmmakers have of trying to resurrect a franchise that most fans assumed was finished. Like a lot of horror movies ‘Scream’ was originally intended to conclude as a trilogy. In keeping with this trend the story presented in ‘Scream 4’ picks up on the fifteenth anniversary of the original Woodsboro high school serial killer. The girl at the center of that murder spree, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), has followed the course pursued by many who survived a traumatic experience, she wrote a book about it. Now Sidney has returned to her home town to promote the sensationalistic tome accompanied by her publicist, Rebecca Walters (Alison Brie). In typical fashion the return of an original character heralds the resumption of murder and mayhem. In this instance a new Ghost face killer is dispatching high school students. Evidence is uncovered in Sidney’s car that appears to tie her to the brutal slaying of Jenny Randall (Aimee Teegarden) and Marnie Cooper (Brittany Robertson). This is right out of the ‘reinvention’ playbook turning the original surviving victim into the prime suspect. The authorities demands Sidney refrain from leaving town until she is cleared. The threat level is elevated when Ghost face calls are received by several girls including Sidney’s cousin, Jill (Emma Roberts). Along with her friends, Olivia Morris (Marielle Jaffe) and Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) are questioned by Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and his deputy Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton). The film within a film, ‘Stab’ is now up to ‘Stab 7’, which seems to have imitated a renewed interest in Ghost Face by all concerned. While all this is going on Dewey’ wife, former tele-tabloid journalist and author Gale Weathers-Riley (Courteney Cox) is struggling to cash in with another book but is suffering from chronic writer’s block.

The attempt of inserting freshness to the story is accomplished by the use of a tried and true plot device; the new rule set. This ploy changes the basic governing laws to infuse a degree of unpredictability into the movie. The adherence of the horror film screenwriter to a stringently enforced rule book was the governing premise that permeated the first three films. Here mainstream horror Master Wes Craven once again goes for the very trick maneuver of lampooning horror films within the context of a movie built on its required elements. He does well in stepping back from the individual movie to take on the entire concept of the slasher franchise. this is done on several levels ranging from the offhanded references to a seventh installment of the fictional ‘Stab’ flicks to the reemergence of yet another popular horror trope, the survivor girl. Here, a balance is struck between the queen emeritus survivor girl, Sidney and her wannabe cousin, Jill. The conclusion is played as if it represents a twist ending but true to the form it spoofs the end is clearly telegraphed. It is also necessary to considerably increase the body count and devise even more outlandish ways to kill those pesky teens. This is realized with tongue firmly planted in cheek providing a few laughs along the way.

The movie is a fairly standard popcorn flick that will provide a suitable amount of entertainment. To maximize what you can get from the film you have to position yourself so as to embrace the comic elements while simultaneously giving yourself over to the horror flick components. This is a precarious mindset to achieve but doing so will bring you to having a lot of fun. Apparently ‘Scream’ was originally envisioned ad a trilogy but with ‘Scream 4’ Craven is reportedly embarking on what will become a second set of three films. The next few years will be interesting for ‘Scream fans, that is certain.