Scream 4
Dimension Films | Release Date: April 15, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
17
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallApr 13, 2011
It's about time that another Scream flick came along to gouge the new cliches out of their sockets. Scream 4 does it in grandly Guignol style. Read full review
80
SlateJosh LevinApr 16, 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. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyApr 14, 2011
The kills themselves are both bountiful and bloody, the movie references are brilliant and bloody, the funny is very frequent and very frequently bloody, but to say any more would ruin the boo. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchKevin C. JohnsonApr 15, 2011
Don't be late to this homecoming of director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson's horror series, which begins with a twisty opening sequence that's bloody fun. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 14, 2011
A strange concoction, clever and self-knowing in the extreme and yet operating in primal ways that bypass wit. Something about it feels very modern. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezApr 14, 2011
The film isn't as concerned with terrifying you as it is with showing you a good time, culminating with an over-the-top climax that is simultaneously utterly ridiculous and enjoyable. Read full review
70
TimeRichard CorlissApr 16, 2011
Existing in a self-contained universe, Scream 4 is its own remake (Screamake), sequel (shriekquel), parody and critique. Thus it taunts and pleases audiences, mocks and justifies itself and makes any review redundant. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderBen SachsApr 14, 2011
The burden of creative responsibility feels heavier here than in any of the previous installments, ditto the trauma of seeing teenagers get stabbed to death. As a result this is quite effective as horror filmmaking and more pungent than anything he's done in a while. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumApr 13, 2011
Some of the riffs are really funny and/or expertly scary. Others have the feel of awfully snappy dialogue crafted by middleaged people trying a little too eagerly to sound like the young people from whose mouths the banter flows. Read full review
65
MovielineS.T. VanAirsdale Apr 14, 2011
It would have a very good shot at being entertaining were it not so outwardly concerned with being important. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaApr 14, 2011
For genre geeks, this can be fun - although nothing in Scream 4 is quite as clever as the filmmakers seem to think it is. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsApr 14, 2011
It's fun to see that charming underreactor Neve Campbell, looking about 20 minutes older, back as Sidney Prescott. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyApr 21, 2011
The generational mix of actors works well enough, although Campbell too often seems stranded with little to do until the climax. Read full review
60
SalonAndrew O'HehirApr 14, 2011
It's almost really cool, without quite being really cool. Read full review
60
VarietyDennis HarveyApr 13, 2011
The picture delivers enough of the expected goods, if seldom with the wit or panache of the series' best. Read full review
60
Time OutKeith UhlichApr 12, 2011
Don't go in expecting scares so much as laughs. Scream 4 is a better "Scary Movie" than any of the "Scary Movies" ever were, from its inventively gut-busting kills (watch out for that mail slot!) to the unintentionally humorous sight of the three leads acting as if they're in three separate films. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliApr 19, 2011
Scream 4 is so obsessed with the self-referential element that made the original Scream unique that it loses the capacity to be genuinely scary or funny. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle SmithApr 15, 2011
Why doesn't anybody just buy a gun? I guess the female characters spent all their money on tight tank tops. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 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. The rating is a hard R, but Craven and Williamson keep it soft at its core. "Scream 1" is still the only keeper. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia PuigApr 14, 2011
It's hard to sustain that cheeky meta humor, and the film seems to just give in and join its slasher brethren, devolving into a string of gruesome, but unoriginal, slayings. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinApr 14, 2011
It's rare for a sequel to extensively acknowledge its own pointlessness, let alone make the unnecessary nature of its existence a recurring theme, the way Scream 4 does. Then again, the Scream franchise has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to deconstructing itself and the rules of the slasher genre. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertApr 14, 2011
All through the movie, Scream 4 lets us know that it knows exactly what it's up to - and then goes right ahead and gets up to it. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisApr 14, 2011
Scream 4 has a smart beginning, featuring Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell, and one well-delivered line at the end that would have brought down the house in a better movie. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 13, 2011
A fast-starting film that quickly piles meta, self-referential elements on top of each other until they no longer make much sense, and the whole thing collapses under the weight of its own coolness. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovApr 21, 2011
Too self-referential for its own good by half. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanApr 15, 2011
After a promising start that uses Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell to perfection, they settle into their old stomping grounds as if they'd never left - and that turns out to be a letdown. Read full review
40
The New York TimesMike HaleApr 14, 2011
The central conceit of the characters' fates being determined by the "rules" of horror movies feels irredeemably tired; a clever idea that was worth one movie. Read full review
40
EmpireDavid HughesApr 14, 2011
A desire to Know What You Did Last Installment is likely to be the biggest draw for Scream number four, but if this proves to be the last in the series, it's a bloody shame it ended not with a Scream but a whimper. Read full review
40
Boxoffice MagazineTodd GilchristApr 13, 2011
If there was ever a horror film that made fans of the genre feel old, it's Scream 4. Read full review
38
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanApr 14, 2011
The problem is, the movie doesn't really care if we are laughing with it or at it. Read full review
38
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreApr 13, 2011
It's a fitfully amusing, not remotely scary slasher picture. Read full review
30
Village VoiceNick PinkertonApr 12, 2011
The enjoyable moments are limited to Alison Brie, funny as Sidney's publicist, and the final recasting of the movie as a backstage diva drama. As ever, the self-reflexive horror stuff is superficial, loveless, and constant-a ladled-on sauce to disguise what you're eating. Read full review
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