Review: Scream 4- I'm not screaming!

Fifteen years ago I was cowering behind a cushion watching as a ghost face killer sliced and diced Drew Barrymoore's character Casey, who was found by her parents hanging from a tree, truly gruesome. Back then Scream 1 was considered  groundbreaking, a movie that terrified a nation of cinema-goers and kick started the trend for the teen horror genre. So I guess you could say that expectations ran high for the forth film. I was even prepared to forgive director Wes Craven for the abmissal Scream 3, a movie within a movie, please. That is until I sat through 111 minutes of footage that was more like a comedy than a horror, with the same old, tried and tested formula, big busted 'helpless' girls screaming and running up the stairs to get away from the ghostface killer, common sense never prevails.

The methods of killings and the scenarios were also unoriginal, a knife through the door, reminiscent of Scream 2, and being followed in an underground car park (Scream 1), so much for a new format and different rules.

Not only this, but the acting was poor, the spark between David Arquette and Courtney Cox gone- chemistry that helped make the first film, the identity of one of the killers was obvious and the ending was drawn out and predictable.

There wasn't one moment that I could say I was frightened by or even jumped at. No surprise considering the fourth film is only a certificate 15, whereas Scream 1,2 and 3 were an 18. Perhaps another problem is that ghost face is no longer scary now that a new generation of horror/thriller flicks such as Saw have raised the bar.

In my opinion Scream 4 was created as a cheap money maker that is in danger of ruining the brand and with it Wes Craven's reputation.