Scream 4

Coming more than a decade since the last franchise entry, Scream 4 again mixes murder, mystery and self-awareness, to adequate if not exceptional effect. A meta horror entry which reteams writer Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven, the film introduces a fresh crop of victims and suspects, blending them together with old characters and past grudges, and succeeds on its own carefully prescribed terms as a piece of diversionary puzzlebox entertainment, but isn’t really very scary and doesn’t pack the wallop of the best moments of its forebears. For the full, original review, from Screen International, click here. (Dimension, R, 110 minutes)