I have a confession to make: I’ve never seen Scream 2 or Scream 3. If you think that invalidates my opinion about this fourth entry in the franchise, I won’t begrudge you that opinion. But I look at it like this: since I haven’t seen those earlier films, I’m not bringing the baggage of those movies with me into my experience here, thereby allowing me to look at Scre4m a bit more objectively and measure its merits as a standalone movie. So does Wes Craven’s latest work as a horror film, or is it a bit too meta for its own good? Read on to find out.

This film is all about redefining our expectations for the franchise. After all, it’s been more than ten years since Ghostface last slashed his (or her!) way across theater screens. Ten long years, leaving behind a cinematic landscape littered with horror parodies and countless regurgitations of genre variations we’ve seen a hundred times before. But, as the tagline for Scre4m says, “New decade. New rules.” I’ve got a rule of my own: Any movie in which the characters call attention to being “meta” is probably trying a little too hard.

Because this movie is so overly self-referential, it sacrifices a lot of the fun we’re supposed to be having. The film takes itself way too seriously, attempting to dupe the audience at every turn; it goes so far out of its way to circumvent our assumptions that A) when the killer is finally revealed, it feels like a bit of a cheat, and B) it wears the audience down to the point of abuse, blindsiding our notions of what’s about to happen, and then instantly blindsiding the blindside just to keep us off balance. Nothing ever feels earned. All the scares are cheap jump scares, and Craven seems content with mining recycled content.

Much like the way Boondock Saints II: All Saint’s Day was nearly a carbon copy of its predecessor – even down to featuring some identical scenes - Scre4m feels like an imitation of the original Scream. Just because characters address the fact that similar events are happening in this movie as they did to Sidney back in the first film isn’t quite enough to justify this movie’s existence. As much as it wants to be about progress and reshaping our thoughts moving forward, this movie (and especially its older characters) are all stuck in the past. Sidney (Neve Campbell) has written a best-selling book about moving on with her life, but she can’t resist returning to Woodsboro on the anniversary of the original deaths. From the moment we see her in Scre4m, she’s caught in the past: Rebecca, Sidney’s publicist (played by Alison Brie) asks Sidney what she thinks of a display case in the bookstore window, but Sidney is captivated by a Ghostface mask hanging from a streetlamp nearby. Gale (Courteney Cox), who has stretched Sidney’s trauma into seven books that provide the basis for the Stab movie series within the film, has come down with writer’s block. But as soon as Ghostface returns, Gale perks up at the chance to return to solving the case. “This is what I’m good at,” she tells her husband, the lovable sheriff Dewey (played by Cox’s real-life husband, David Arquette).

Writer Kevin Williamson (who also wrote the original) desperately tries to infuse the story with a modern spin by including multiple opening scenes (one of the only times the “subverting audience expectations” method was actually well-executed) and featuring a character that is constantly broadcasting his every move via a webcam attached to his head. That entire character screams (no pun intended) executive decision, and no – I’m not talking about the Kurt Russell movie. What I mean is that no kid wears a freaking webcam on his head all day long; that kind of broad generalization of “what teens are into” seems like a decision borne from a conference room discussion rather than the writer’s creative muse. The new class – Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, etc. – seem tacked on to give the movie some youthful exuberance, but since they’re just spewing genre tropes and not contributing anything that ever feels important to the story, time spent with them seems like time wasted until we return to Sidney’s exploits on screen.

There are a scant few fun moments in the movie, but they’re spread very thin, crippling the film’s effectiveness as a whole. None of the performances stand out, with perhaps the lone exception of supporting actress Marley Shelton, who adds yet another strange role to her resume. I suppose this is worth seeing for the completionists among you, and fans of the series will see it without regard to any review, but I honestly didn’t find anything interesting about the movie and therefore can’t recommend seeing it. Wes Craven would do better to return to making small confined thrillers like Red Eye than cashing a paycheck for another in this franchise. What’s my favorite scary movie? Tough call, but this one’s nowhere close. Until next time…

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Yahoo! has debuted a new poster for Scream 4 which contains pretty much the same design Dimension Films used for the Scream 3 poster back in 2000. Laziness, or nostalgia?

Check the full poster out below!

Director Wes Craven said that part of the story will focus on Sidney (Neve Campbell) who has “kind of put her life back together in the course of these 10 years. But, certainly, there would be no Scream without Ghostface, so she has to confront him again, but now as a woman who has really come out the darkness of her past.”

Scream 4 will be released April 15th 2011 and sees the return of Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette, along with newcomers Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Adam Brody and Rory Culkin. Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell also make a special appearance.

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Dimension Films has released our first look at Scream 4 in the form of a teaser trailer. The footage debuted at the Scream Awards a few days ago and various bootlegs found their way onto Youtube, but Yahoo! has now released the trailer in HD.

Watch below:

Earlier this year Craven said that part of the story will focus on Sidney (Neve Campbell) who has “kind of put her life back together in the course of these 10 years. But, certainly, there would be no Scream without Ghostface, so she has to confront him again, but now as a woman who has really come out the darkness of her past.”

Scream 4 will be released April 15th 2011 and sees the return of Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette, along with newcomers Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Adam Brody and Rory Culkin. Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell also make a special appearance.

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Entertainment Tonight received an invitation to the set of Scream 4 and got a behind the scenes look at filming. In the video, which you can watch below, we see franchise regulars Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette talking about their return, along with comments from new addition Emma Roberts.

The clip also shows a few action scenes involving Ghostface chasing people and attempting to murder them on ledges.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRBm2cEu-Dg

Yesterday director Wes Craven tweeted…

It’s the end of the beginning, and the beginning of the end… That’s a wrap on @Scream4!

…which means the film will now enter post-production ready for its April 2011 release. We will probably get a teaser trailer before the end of the year.

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Scream 4 director Wes Craven posted a new behind the scenes image on his official Flickr account which gives us our first look at Ghostface on set.

Earlier this year Craven said that part of the story will focus on Sidney who has “kind of put her life back together in the course of these 10 years. But, certainly, there would be no Scream without Ghostface, so she has to confront him again, but now as a woman who has really come out the darkness of her past.”

Gale (Courteney Cox) and Dewey (David Arquette) will also be returning, and Ghostface will have fresh meat with new additions Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Adam Brody and Rory Culkin.

Specific details on the plot have been kept under-wraps (obviously they don’t want people to work out who the killer is before they see it), however Dimension Films are happy to let everyone know the release date has been set for 15th April 2011.

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About a week ago, we reported that Ashley Greene (Twilight) and Hayden Panettiere (Heroes) were being considered for roles in the upcoming Scream sequel. Variety has now gotten confirmation that while Greene may not end up being involved, Panettiere will be, as will Emma Roberts (Valentine’s Day) and Rory Culkin (Signs).

Roberts will be taking on the role of Sydney’s (Neve Campbell) cousin, Jill, one of the primary protagonists of the film. This was the same role that Greene was set to play, further suggesting that she has indeed dropped out of the project.

Panettiere will be playing Jill’s movie loving best friend, possibly a replacement for the horror movie advice of Jamie Kennedy’s character in the first film, and Culkin will be playing Jill’s potential love interest. Knowing the Scream series, this could very well mean he’s the potential killer.

Also being considered for a role is Lake Bell (It’s Complicated) who if confirmed will be playing a police officer that Sydney (Neve Campbell) knew in high school.

This is all alongside the earlier news that Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette will all be reprising their roles in the series with Wes Craven once again taking on the directoral reigns. Filming is still slated to begin in July with a release date as early as next April.

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According to Heat Vision Twilight actress Ashley Greene and Hayden Panettiere (the cheerleader from Heroes) are in talks to join Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette in Scream 4.

If the deals work out Greene will play Campbell’s cousin Jill, who has been described as the heroine of the movie, and Panettiere will play her best friend who will likely get killed off is a nerdy film geek.

Also in talks are Lake Bell (It’s Complicated) who will play a police officer who knew Sidney (Campbell) from high school, and Rory Culkin (Twelve) who will be a potential love interest for Jill (Greene).

Apparently actors are having a difficult time deciding whether certain roles are for them as director Wes Craven and Dimension Films are not sending the script to agencies in order to protect its secrecy. Scream 4 will be made by the same creative team behind the original trilogy, so if they’ve seen the previous films they should know what to expect.

Filming is expected to begin in July, with a release date set for next April.

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Dolphin activist and Heroes actress Hayden Panettiere has a very important message to share with everyone regarding the upcoming Presidential election. While most of Hollywood is leaning towards Barack Obama, Hayden is standing up and telling the world that she is voting for John McCain. Watch her message below:

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TheBadandUgly.com have posted some new and potentially spoileriffic images from the set of the third season of Heroes. The images show Milo Ventimiglia (Peter Petrelli) and Hayden Panettiere (Claire Bennet) looking rather…different. They also have a set report about how the season starts and an interesting painting of Earth, which again contains spoilers.

Click on the image below to get all the info!

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