Its gimmicks haven't grown up, although its older fan base has.

| Original Score: C | Sep 8, 2017

[They've] taken the ideas of the first film and twisted them in on themselves, using the technological advances of the last decade and society's celebrity-obsessed culture to give the series an invigorating kick.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 29, 2011

There is such a thing as too much meta and, contrary to popular belief, irony is not always good for the bloodshed.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 22, 2011

"Scream 4" lacks the qualities that would make it a masterpiece, but it testifies to the cyclical nature of commercial storytelling in sharp, nearly timeless fashion.

Full Review | Apr 19, 2011

Scream 4 is fun, but more clever-clever than fiendishly ingenious.

| Apr 17, 2011

The only real problem with Scream 4 - which won't be an issue for series fans - is that it's a bit too Screamy for its own good.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 16, 2011

Craven and Williamson can't let go of the original stars, whose sullen characters and cruise control performances add a layer of dullness on top of the by-the-numbers scares.

| Apr 16, 2011

If you like the tricks and the jolts and the jokes of the Scream series, you'll have fun at Scream 4, which immediately plunges the audience into a funhouse-mirror of suspense mixed with self-reflexive humor and doesn't let up.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 15, 2011

Craven guides us expertly down a series of blind, bloody alleys, a journey that's more pleasurable than frustrating. On account of his steady hand, the last act is as good as could be expected: skillfully conceived and entertaining in its preposterousness

| Apr 15, 2011

Scream 4 is a total hoot. Assuming you can find the humor in knife stabbings.

| Original Score: B | Apr 15, 2011

Compared with so many of the rebooted slasher flicks, Scream 4 remains a cut above. No, that is not an intended pun.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 15, 2011

On its own terms, Scre4m is pretty good.

| Apr 15, 2011

A perfectly acceptable Friday night, Scream 4 delivers plenty of scares without consequences, murder without depth, and a flood of legacy laughs.

| Original Score: B- | Apr 15, 2011

Between a diabolically funny start and a surprise climax, Scream 4 offers nothing more than a series of gory deaths that grow tiresome with repetition.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 15, 2011

Not even the smug irony endures -- it's hard to congratulate yourself for being in on a stale joke.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Apr 15, 2011

If this proves to be the last in the series, it's a bloody shame it ended not with a Scream but a whimper.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 15, 2011

Relying on obvious clichés doesn't seem ironic anymore, just easy. And though there are several genuine jolts, poor pacing leaves too much time between the silliness and scares.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 15, 2011

The problem is, the movie doesn't really care if we are laughing with it or at it.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Apr 15, 2011

The body count is high, as is Craven's determination to make us smile occasionally as the blood spurts.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 15, 2011

The "Scream 4" (I refuse to write it the other way anymore) drinking game: Take a slug every time someone on-screen remarks how meta it all is.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 15, 2011