If anyone asks me my favourite film I refuse to answer without them narrowing it down to genre. I mean for me it is too hard to compare a comedy with a romance, an action film with a drama or a horror with a sports film. That said I have favourite films for all these genres and whenever anyone asks me about horror I say Scream without hesitation.

Scream came out in 1996 and I had it’s poster on my wall. It changed everything. Before it horror was in the doldrums. The great horror films of the 80s had come and gone. Scream launched a revival of horror that led all the way up till Saw changed the game with the arrival of “torture porn”. Perhaps credit can also go to The Blair Witch Project but Scream in my mind is responsible for the ton of teen horror films that came in the late 90s and the 2000s. It was after all the highest grossing slasher film ever, and the film I regard as the best horror film of all time. The horror film that saved a genre.

What Scream did was to combine a tightly shot and produced horror film with a murder mystery and an angle that had never been used before. It recognised that horror films had almost become parodies of themselves and all followed a strict structure and rules. By using characters that knew these rules it crossed into something more than a simple horror film, adding elements of comedy and constantly toyed with the conventions of the genre. Its been done many times since but Scream really was mind-blowing the first time you saw it. It even had horror legitimacy in being directed by Was Craven, the horror legend of Nightmare on Elm Street fame.

Being so successful it spawned sequels.Of course it did- no film makes that money and just stops. It became a franchise. The ghost face mask became the last recourse of the lazy when Halloween came round. The sequels played on the horror conventions, managed to keep the cast together and by and large were good horror films. 2 is definitely better than 3 but 3 doesn’t really shame itself, and they withstand repeat viewings. Of course once you know who the killer is they aren’t the same, and they have nothing like the impact of Scream but still- good films.

Now we have Scream 4 that came out eleven years later. I guess with Scream 3′s takings and the change in the landscape with Saw, Hostel and a million shit found footage films the producers wanted to hold out. Still they have done a great job of reuniting the cast. Craven and Williamson are back directing and writing. The franchises main 3 characters all return- Campbell from Party of Five, former WCW champion Arquette and Monica from Friends. On top of this the film adds a ton of other semi famous actors in bit part roles. The cheerleader from Heroes, Annie from Community, the daughter from Friday Night Lights, one of the lads from Scott Pilgrim, Macaulay Culkin’s brother, and even fucking Teddy from Hang Time are in this film. Yes Teddy aka the star of Kangaroo Jack (discounting aforementioned kangaroo). It may be the best acting ensemble of all time (fuck you Oceans Eleven) and that’s even without spoiling a couple of guest appearances.

It keeps to the same formula, the mask, the phone calls, the loud noises whenever someone enters the room, and for the most part I have to say I liked it. The film keeps you on your toes with the killers identity, knowing full well that anyone who has seen any of the earlier films is trying to spot who they are. It’s angle this time is to attack Hollywood’s obsession with remakes- but it doesn’t come off so well. It’s like its thrown on top to justify this being a Scream film. Yes its cool to hear the cheerleader read out all the horror remakes made in the last ten years but it serves to take us away from the film rather than adding to it. In the first Scream the dialogue based on horror rules was integrated and coloured the casts’s actions rather than here where it is largely superfluous. On top of this there is a retarded social media angle, like the writers couldn’t decide which way to go, in the end they shoehorn in both and do neither justice.

Even worse it struggles to make you care for the characters in the way the original did. It’s a shame the film attacks torture porn for allowing a disconnect between the viewer and the victim because this is what happens here. Maybe its because of the acting, or the plot with too many characters but I simply didn’t care who lived or who died at all. In this era of basically being able to watch the most horrific things imaginable in the Saw franchise the stabbings of Scream wont stand out. Instead it is critical horror films focus on shocks and connecting with the characters. I just didn’t get that sense with Scream 4.

Saying that I have seen far worse films. The cast line up is awesome, the pacing of the structure is good, the writing is ok if not great and it manages to get a few jumps in. Which is what 90% of the people who watch Scream 4 want. And it reminded me of the original Scream- which is ace.