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On a publicity tour to promote her new book “Out of Darkness,” Prescott returns to Woodsboro where she reunites with former tabloid reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette). Weathers and Riley are married and while the former is writing a novel, the latter spends his time as the town sheriff. Even before Prescott starts signing books at a local store, a new killer has already struck. That killer is soon hunting down some of the local teenagers and trying to murder Prescott.  

As I previously noted, I enjoyed the original “Scream” trilogy. Like a lot of horror movies, the series features a lot of violence and gore but the stories are well-told. The trilogy was created to serve a certain audience and they do that well. While “Scream 2” was the best of the original trilogy, “Scream 3” was the weakest. “Scream 4” should be rated beneath the original two “Screams” but above “Scream 3.”

One of the reasons for this distinction is because Kevin Williamson, who wrote the original two “Screams” wrote the screenplay for “Scream 4.” Like the first two films, the newest one features a few solid supporting characters that viewers get to know before some of them are killed. The supporting cast includes the webcast-obsessed Robbie Mercer (Erik Knudsen), the creepy Trevor Sheldon (Nico Tortorella), and the always-perky Deputy Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton). All of these characters are stronger than the supporting cast of “Scream 3,” which featured Jenny McCarthy as a bland actress and the nearly unwatchable Parkey Posey as a Gale Weathers-wannabe.

“Scream 4” pokes fun at the horror genre and some of its newest entries. There are a few nicely-timed jokes about the seemingly-unending “Saw” franchise. (For critics who think the “Scream” franchise has gone on too long, try watching the latest “Saw” movie. It’s nearly unwatchable.)   

“Scream 4,” like its predecessors, also includes some thoughtful ideas. A few of the earlier “Screams” included ideas about media violence and people blaming parents for their children’s misdeeds. “Scream 4″ explores the idea of victimhood and how society often celebrates it. Although Prescott is a real victim, there are side plots in the story about people wanting to be “victims” for publicity. Considering how politically-correct and easily-offended some people can be, it seems like “victimhood” is a timely theme. One prime example of this is Ryan Murphy, the creator of “Glee,” who seemingly claims victimhood when bands reject his show. For a man whose show is a huge hit, one would hope that he would focus more on the people who love his show rather than the few that don’t want their music used on it. 

As with some other horror movies, “Scream 4” has a few weak characters and some terrible dialogue. Nevertheless, it rises above its peers in the genre and proves itself as a film that is worth screaming about.

As a long time fan of the series, I am hoping that “Scream 4” is more like the first two installments rather than the inferior third.

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Scream (1996): I was thirteen-years-old when the first “Scream” was released so I didn’t see it in theaters. However, after hearing about it a few years later, I was excited to watch it and loved its mix of suspense and witty humor. “Scream” starts out with a seemingly innocuous phone call that turns deadly for a high school teen (Drew Barrymore), who is murdered in her own front yard. It is eventually revealed that the killer’s main target is Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell), whose mother had been murdered a year earlier.

If you like slasher films, the first “Scream” is a great one with self-referential humor and characters who understand the horror genre even as they are being hunted by a killer themselves. Henry Winkler has a neat role as a high school principal but the biggest scene-stealer in the movie is Courteney Cox, who appears as the despicable and manipulative television reporter Gale Weathers.

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Scream 2 (1997): “Scream 2” is the rare sequel that eclipses the original. In this story, Prescott is again being hunted by a masked murderer but this time she’s at college where the stakes are even higher. The main cast shows up again and Weathers is as conniving as ever.

This sequel features an intelligent discussion about sequels, violence in the media, and raises some questions about parents being blamed for their the misdeeds of their children. It also features some of the most suspenseful scenes in the series, including a scene where Sydney must crawl over the masked murderer to get out of a police car. She doesn’t know if he’s still alive so the scene is nerve-wracking and extremely suspenseful.

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Scream 3 (2000): This sequel pales in comparison to its predecessors. Writer Ehren Kruger, who replaced Kevin Williamson, makes a lot of bizarre decisions in the story. This time, the murders take place while a cast of actors is filming “Stab 3,” which is based on the murders committed in the earlier films. However, Gale Weathers supposedly dies in “Stab 3,” even though she is still alive in “Scream 3.” How does that make any sense? ”Scream 3″ doesn’t bother to answer that question.

Additionally, Sydney doesn’t arrive in town for a while so she’s missing from the action early on. She’s off isolated in her own home, where she gets visited by the ghost of her dead mother. Randy (Jaime Kennedy), who died in “Scream 2,” also has a strange appearance in “Scream 3″ when a videotape is found of him discussing the rules of horror trilogies. There’s a lot to dislike about “Scream 3″ but I think it’s still worth watching for the three main characters alone. It’s a decent slasher movie. Nothing more.

With over a decade since “Scream 3” arrived in theaters, I’m hoping that “Scream 4” will bring the life back to this series. Kevin Williamson has returned as the writer so I have high expectations for the film. If his script is as good as the first two films, the fourth entry will be worth screaming about.

Yep. This news sent shock waves through my soul, as I could only wonder if a drill bit existed that could extricate Mr. Arquette from the deep, deep hole his mouth dragged him into.

I speak of his interview with Howard Stern a few days ago. In it, Arquette spilled the beans on his marital troubles. He told the world that his wife initiated the separation, quoting her telling him, “I don’t want to be your mother anymore.” He then confessed they didn’t have sex for five months and that after they split up -he had casual sex with “the girl in the paper.” He differentiated sex with her and sex with his wife, in a manner that did him no favors.

You can find what he said, here. 

And so the disarming, goofy actor made the biggest mistake a married man could ever make: he was honest.

You see, people, there all sorts of secret societies: the Freemasons, the Hibernians, the Illuminati, the modern Woodman of America, and of course, the Order of the Fist – which I belonged to until an accident led to a very awkward afternoon in the ER.

But the most secretive group I know are married people, and even if you tried, you could not find a single book or pamphlet which reveals what married life is like for those involved. Instead, we see the courtship, the giant wedding album, the romantic bliss of a honeymoon – and then we wave bye-bye to the couple forever, leaving them on that mysterious island of matrimony.

But for a brief, idiotic moment, Arquette performed a selfless service, and pulled back the curtain of couple-hood for everyone to see –– and by doing so, might have doomed his own marriage.

This pretty much makes up for Scream 2 and Scream 3.

And if you disagree with me, you’re a racist, homophobic, malaxophobe.