Scream 4

Scream 4 (or Scre4m), released in 2011, the third sequel to Scream, brought the action back to Woodsboro, dealt with the legacy of the original trilogy, and parodied the various trends in horror that have cropped up in the decade since the last Scream movie -- namely, the recent surge of remakes and reboots of classic horror series.

While it was decently received by critics and fans, its disappointing box office returns may have short-circuited its attempt to restart the franchise with a new trilogy.


 * Actor Allusion: Gale and Rebecca's conversation has Rebecca bring up how surprised she is that Gale and Dewey's marriage worked as well in real life as it did in the Stab movies. The actors who play Gale and Dewey, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, are married. Also becomes Harsher in Hindsight when one remembers that the two of them separated not long after filming on Scream 4 was wrapped -- and that the main thrust of Dewey and Gale's story is that their marriage is falling apart.
 * Anyone Can Die: The marketing has strongly teased the possibility of series regulars getting killed off.
 * Ax Crazy:  Perhaps more so than any of the previous Ghostfaces.
 * Bond One-Liner
 * Bond One-Liner
 * Bond One-Liner

""Does that mean I'm not gonna live as long as these two?""
 * Casting Gag: Erik Knudsen not only was in the second chapter of the Saw saga, though the forth chapter is mocked in the the Stab openings, but also starred in the CBS TV show Jericho the lead of which was none other than Skeet Ulrich, who played Billy Loomis in the first Scream. And even more surprising or by sheer coincidence, his name in Scream 4 is named Robbie Mercer, which sounds a lot like the name of the character (Bobby Mercer) in Four Brothers who was played by Mark Wahlberg and who is the brother of Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block fame who played Knudsen's father in the second Saw film and is Mark's brother.
 * Cash Cow Franchise: While Stab was entering this with the third installment (the first not based on real life murders), the fact that it got to 7 installments - one of which has time travel - shows it went down the "grab a quick buck" path rather easily.
 * Continuity Nod:.
 * The Danza: Emma Roberts' character is named Jill Roberts.
 * Death by Sex: Apparently, averted. The trailer states that "the rules have changed. Virgins can die now." In the trailer, this is then promptly used by Kirby for a Take That at the girls sitting next to her:
 * Death by Sex: Apparently, averted. The trailer states that "the rules have changed. Virgins can die now." In the trailer, this is then promptly used by Kirby for a Take That at the girls sitting next to her:

"David Arquette is an actor, writer, director and producer whose unique sensibility makes him one of the most versatile talents working in the entertainment industry today, able to segue from comedy to drama with extraordinary ease. This makes David Arquette extremely uncomfortable, because of the fact that he is writing this bio himself and it seems arrogant to boast about his incredible talents in such a way while also referring to himself in the third person."
 * Distaff Counterpart: Kirby, for Randy from the original.
 * Drinking Game: At the Stabathon.
 * Evil Is Hammy:
 * Evil Plan: The events of the film were all planned out by . The Moral Event Horizon is crossed when
 * Executive Meddling: It apparently underwent a lot of this from the Weinsteins before its release, including most of the script changes.
 * Fan Service: Putting Lucy Hale, Shenae Grimes, Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell, Aimee Teegarden, Brittany Robertson, Alison Brie, Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts, Marley Shelton and a still-sexy Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox in the same movie defines the term, even if many of them are bumped off before (and in  case, during) the finale. The only survivors, other than guess who, are Kristen (who was actually in the movie within the movie),
 * And as for Emma Roberts and Hayden Panettiere sharing a bed, thank you.
 * Fan Disservice: Subverted. Just before  is killed off she undresses and is seen in her underwear. However she puts a baggy sweater on thus eliminating the Disservice element.
 * Fifteen Minutes of Fame:
 * Film Within A Film: Stab 6 within Stab 7 within Scream 4, with a reappearance of Stab 1 halfway through the film.
 * Apparently Stab 3 did get made, and it was based off of Scream 3. So it was about the original actors, played be new actors, trying to make Stab 3 and dying, while Sid, Gale, and Dewey, all played by new actors, investigated the deaths. It was a movie within a movie within a movie. And it couldn't have made much sense.
 * Stab 5 was the worst, with all that time travel stuff.
 * Groin Attack:
 * Groundhog Day Loop: It has got to start feeling that way to poor Sid. The sad part is
 * It Runs in The Family: One of the killers,
 * As of this movie, might also be the case in-universe with the family. Both  turn out to be psychopathic murderers.
 * The Ladette: Kirby, a brash, snarky, tomboyish horror buff who makes the first move on a timid boy she's into.
 * Made of Iron: Holy crap, probably the toughest killer yet.
 * Moment Killer: Oh, Trevor, why did you interrupt the geek getting the girl?
 * Eucatastrophe:
 * No Export for You: You want to hear more of Wes Craven, Hayden Panettiere and/or Emma Roberts? Luckily they're on the DVD Commentary track (as is Neve Campbell, who literally phones in her contribution)... what's that? You live in the UK? And it's not included on the Region 2 release, either on the DVD or blu-ray? Well, if you don't have a multiregion player...
 * Not Quite Dead: Wild Mass Guessing also claims that  may have survived. There also seems to be hope for.
 * Offhand Backhand:
 * Oh Crap: Gale and Dewey upon realizing that.
 * : were this. Unfortunately for him,
 * Playing Against Type:
 * Plot Armor: Discussed in regards to Sidney.
 * Police Are Useless: Hoss and Perkins are nowhere to be found while  Really, any cop in this series not named Dewey is pretty much hopeless.
 * They even note that police in horror films tend to be worthless, and die.
 * Polish the Turd: Parodied in the cast/crew section on the film's website, where all of the actors' bios are heavily glowing, praising their careers. When you read the one for David Arquette, however, you realize that the whole thing's a joke.
 * Plot Armor: Discussed in regards to Sidney.
 * Police Are Useless: Hoss and Perkins are nowhere to be found while  Really, any cop in this series not named Dewey is pretty much hopeless.
 * They even note that police in horror films tend to be worthless, and die.
 * Polish the Turd: Parodied in the cast/crew section on the film's website, where all of the actors' bios are heavily glowing, praising their careers. When you read the one for David Arquette, however, you realize that the whole thing's a joke.


 * Red Herring: The movie likes to hint at ..
 * Sacrificial Lion:
 * Sequel Gap: It came 11 years after its predecessor (which incidentally is longer than the time it took to make and release all three previous films) and thus takes shots at basically everything that happened to horror films in-between.
 * Shout-Out: One of the characters is named after Anthony Perkins, who played Norman Bates in Psycho.
 * Something Only the Culprit Would Know:
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Subverted like there's no tomorrow. Characters are thrown at us as being replacements for the characters of the original film, but, the apparent Sidney replacement , and we even get a Billy replacement who.
 * Hell, the entire new cast is built up as a counterpart to someone from the original:
 * Jill: Sidney
 * Kirby: Tatum
 * Trevor: Billy
 * Robbie: Randy
 * Charlie: Stu
 * Judy: Dewey
 * Rebecca: Gale
 * Those Two Guys: Deputies Anthony Perkins and Ross Hoss fall under this.
 * Too Dumb to Live:  After Ghostface appears on the  Take a guess as to how well that turns out.
 * gets self killed, along with, by choosing to joke around.
 * Trailers Always Spoil: The trailer makes it look like they're spoiling.
 * It also makes it appear as if It did, however, spoil.
 * Trilogy Creep
 * True Companions: Sidney, Gale, Dewey and Randy. Sidney and Gale are a particularly good example in that despite their long history together they never really become friends -- but have saved each others lives numerous times and know they can count on each other.
 * Vasquez Always Dies: . It's worth noting that this is the only time this trope was featured in the Scream franchise.
 * Villainous Breakdown: Arguably  in the end after   and basically turns to Taking You with Me.
 * Where It All Began: Woodsboro.
 * Wounded Gazelle Gambit:
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
 * Where It All Began: Woodsboro.
 * Wounded Gazelle Gambit:
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness:
 * You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: