After 15 years of lurid bloodbaths in Woodsboro USA, one would think that the "Scream" franchise would be dead as a doornail.
Well, horror fans. Wes Craven's wry slasher series isn't bound for the city morgue just yet.
In "Scream 4," the latest entry into the $500 million franchise, director Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson revive some of their favourite characters from the past, blend in some new faces, and make this latest entry a snarky whodunit.
As expected, the masked madman Ghostface returns and neither time nor the weight of his body count has slowed this fiend down.
Old "Scream" faves are reunited, including Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette) -- the last three survivors from the 1996 original.
There's also a new crop of photogenic teens, every one of them armed with iPhones and apps, webcams and other accoutrements of the social networking age.
This combination produces some noteworthy laughs, particularly in "Scream 4's" opening minutes which begin as a film within a film within film. Don't come late. You'll miss the fun.
Craven goes heavy on the eye candy here, positioning Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell and other young starlets in front of their TVs as they watch slasher films and give their own play-by-play.
In every instance the phone rings. Ghostface's familiar voice taunts these know-it-alls, driving them into the throes of hysteria.
It's a hoot to watch and definitely raises moviegoers' expectations for much more cheek to come.
But even with horror master Craven at the helm, "Scream 4's" promising winks and nods to its blood-soaked past get bogged down with predictable clichés.
"Scream 4" isn't the worst franchise entry
The "real" action actually begins as Sidney returns to Woodsboro, now as a famous author accompanied by a ruthless young publicist (Alison Brie).
Just as Sidney thrills the locals with a reading from her bone-chilling memoir, the town's doltish sheriff (Arquette) and his deputies come crashing into the book store.
"There's been another murder!" the lawman blurts out.
From that point on, "Scream 4" turns into a cat-and-mouse game that leaves bodies strewn about the streets of Woodsboro like soiled party confetti.
Craven tries to up the emotional ante in this instalment, making Sidney's cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) and the girl's friend Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) new targets for the elusive Ghostface. But even that touch can't keep "Scream 4" from feeling dead and departed at times.
Panettiere and Roberts certainly add some new spunk to this story. That, plus the star-power of Cox and Campbell, generates enough steam to power this bloodbath along.
But the "big," "scary" surprises that Craven tosses our way ultimately wear very thin, very fast.
One thing that does make an impression is Craven's commentary on today's fame-culture.
Without giving too much away, let's just say that there are some forces at work in "Scream 4" that make Ghostface's usual reasons for slicing up his victims seem lame by comparison.
As sweet-faced Roberts points out, "People don't care about achievement anymore. They care about seeing people doing f***ked-up s**t on YouTube."
That observation may be the biggest horror of all in "Scream 4."
Two stars out of four.
