Opens: Friday 4/15
Us Rating: ***
“I still got it!” Courteney Cox proclaims in this “screamake” of the popular ’90s slasher series. And she does! The sitcom star is the main attraction as Gale, aggressive ex-newswoman, bored wife of plodding sheriff Dewey (a comically sad-sack David Arquette) and bestselling chronicler of those gruesome Woodsboro massacres. On the anniversary of the slayings, victim turned self-help author Sidney (a sharp Neve Campbell) returns to the scene of the crime for a book signing.
She reunites with her cousin (Emma Roberts) — one of an entirely new generation of quick-witted potential targets. As nemesis Ghostface shishkebabs cops, teens and bystanders in rapid succession, Sidney must reboot her inner survivor and overcome her why-me-again self pity. The series was once considered cutting-edge: ironic about horror-movie conventions yet jump-in-your-seat scary. The only nod to the passage of time seems to be the addition of texts, tweets and webcams. But the entertaining Scream formula still works: When there’s a big shiny knife, the action never gets dull.
