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C&G Reviews: Scream 4

C&G writes:
Scream was a big kick in the ass for the horror industry in 1996. Not only was it one of the most successful genre outings of all time bringing in almost $200 million worldwide, but the film added a layer of self-conscious humor to the genre which allowed it to be both a loving parody of slasher movies and a surprisingly effective scare factory in its own right. By mocking slasher movies, the film inadvertently caused a slasher movie resurgence (I Know What You Did Last Summer, etc.) and also turned into a self-cannibalizing and repetitive franchise itself. Scream 2 had some amusing jokes about horror sequels, but by the time Scream 3 rolled around the franchise was dragged down by mythology no one cared about and endless meta-horror jokes that had gone out of style. Though widely successful at the box office, the Scream franchise ultimately hurt the reputation of Scream the movie, which should be regarded as classic horror masterpiece, but is instead remembered as a good film in a dated franchise. Why anyone was convinced making another Scream movie ten years after the previous film was a good idea remains a mystery. The good news is that Scream 4 is definitely a better series capper than Scream 3. The bad news is that’s not saying much. If Wes Craven took a crap on camera while wearing a ghostface mask that also would have been better than Scream 3.