If you want to talk about surprises, Scream 4 is it. In no way, was I expecting anything remotely resembling a good movie from Scream 4. To my surprise I was very wrong. I won’t lie to you, I have not seen Scream 2 or Scream 3, but I do love the first Scream. I was just never that interested to go out of my way to see the sequels when I’ve heard nothing but bad comments on them. By happen stance though, I was bored and decided just for the hell of it, to get some friends and see the fourth Scream. I had a blast.

In order to get any enjoyment at all out of Scream 4, you have to except it for what it is. Like the first Scream, it is not a frightening film, it doesn’t go out of its way to literally attempt to scare or creep you out like The Shining or The Exorcist, it does offer cheap thrills that might make you jump, but no it is not a scary movie. It’s merely a, dare I say brilliant, commentary on the horror (more so sub-genre, slasher) genre in general.

Over the past years, we’ve gotten many horror movies and aside from a few worth mentioning most don’t even come close to what the genre use to be. This is a time period of remakes, sequels and films that try to make you throw up instead of jumping out of your skin. Scream 4 puts a mirror in the face of this generation of horror and says , look what you’ve done. Scream 4 did for this generation of horror films what the original Scream did for its generation of horror films. And since I grew up in this generation I might just have to say that Scream 4 was actually even more enjoyable.

With Scream 4, you’ve got a delightful batch of the same old characters (or should I say suspects) who you get to watch taken out one by one, while attempting, with your friends and a bucket of popcorn, to decipher the who and the why. It’s fun, it’s entertaining, it’s expected and that’s the point. Scream 4 is exactly the movie it should be, nothing more, nothing less. Is it a perfect movie? No. It is however a perfect Scream 4.

Grade: B+