FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS -- CONTENT REVIEW: SCREAM 4

"SCREAM 4"
(2011) (Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox) (R)

QUICK TAKE:: Horror: A group of adults and high school students must contend with a masked killer replicating murders from the past as well as horror movies based on those incidents.

PLOT:

It's been years since the town of Woodsboro was besieged by a masked madman who went on a killing spree. Now, one of his survivors, Sidney Prescott (NEVE CAMPBELL), has returned home, accompanied by publicist Rebecca Walters (ALISON BRIE), to promote her book about getting over such an ordeal. Of course, she isn't the only one who's written about it for profit, as Gale Weathers-Riley (COURTENEY COX) penned the "Stab" series that then became hit movies and favorites of fan boys such as Robbie Mercer (ERIK KNUDSEN) and Charlie Walker (RORY CULKIN) who now hold an annual "Stabathon" festival.

Gale is married to Dewey Riley (DAVID ARQUETTE) who's now the sheriff and works along with deputy Judy Hicks (MARLEY SHELTON) as well as Deputy Perkins (ANTHONY ANDERSON) and Deputy Hoss (ADAM BRODY). Things are pretty peaceful in Woodsboro, with the only real drama being that Sidney's high-school aged cousin, Jill Roberts (EMMA ROBERTS), wants nothing to do with her ex-boyfriend, Trevor Sheldon (NICO TORTORELLA), and thus has her friends, Kirby Reed (HAYDEN PANETTIERE) and Olivia Morris (MARIELLE JAFFE), run interference for her.

That's quickly overshadowed, however, when it appears that a killer is once again on the loose in the town, complete with wearing the earlier madman's elongated ghost mask. With the body count rising and Sidney once again the ultimate target, Dewey and his team try to find and stop the killer, all while everyone else simply tries to stay alive.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: If they're fans of any of the original "Scream" movies, slasher films in general and/or anyone in the cast, it's a good bet they'll be interested.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For strong bloody violence, language and some teen drinking.

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