What’s your favourite scary movie? Ask the people I was sitting in the cinema with for the Queensland premiere of Scream 4 and I’m pretty sure they’d all say Scream, judging by the people whispering quotes from the first movies under their breath, laughing at all the in-jokes and some even donning full Ghostface apparel. Being a fan of the original trilogy, I was pretty pumped to be seeing this instalment a decade after we last heard from Sidney Prescott and the gang. Sadly, due to the carelessness (or just downright mean-spiritedness) of one reviewer whom I shall not name, I went into the film knowing who the killer was, but that didn’t detract too much from the rest of the stab-happy, self-referential meta-madness that ensued.

Sidney (Neve Campbell) returns to her Woodsboro on the ten-year anniversary of the Ghostface murders (why Sidney? Why?) to promote her new self-help memoir. She’s staying with her Aunt Kate and her cousin Jill (Emma Roberts), who knows Sidney by reputation only. Dewey (David Arquette) and Gail (Courteney Cox) are now married, but having marital issues as Gail needs ideas for a new book and wants to bust some criminal ass, but Dewey, now the sheriff, can’t help her with any information. Lo and behold, no sooner has Sidney hit town, but the bodies start to pile up.

It continues to amaze me that Sidney – after the THREE lots of serial killings she has survived – has not either a) fled the country, b) hired a bodyguard or c) invested in a gun. I mean, they’re legal in the US, right? Lord knows less needy people than her are gun-happy in the suburbs.

It also seems to me that Woodboro’s parental population seem to be among the most neglectful in the country, always disappearing the moment a serial killer comes to town and allowing their children to roam the streets knowing their child’s best friend has just been sliced and diced. While we are on the subject of weirdness, there also seems to be some sort of mystical force field making Woodboroian teens to stay put in the face of the brutal slayings, rather than, I dunno, hightailing it to Mexico. Then there is the fact that the small town is single-handedly keeping the window makers of the world in business, as every house seems to have vast expanses of glass through which to throw people. And, despite the lessons of the past, terrified teens (including SIDNEY for god’s sake) are still running up stairs instead of out front doors, still unlocking lock and slowly stepping outside to investigate a strange noise, still having HUGE parties when they know a killer is on the loose, and STILL answering their goddamn phones. Just ONCE I would like to see what would happen if Ghostface got put through to voicemail.

The film takes all that self-referential meta stuff it's known for to new crazy heights that almost border on Scary Movie ridiculousness (one of the cops is called Anthony Perkins), but pulls itself back before crossing the threshold (JUST). There are still some parts that are just too “clever” for their own good but in the end, Scream 4 actually has some surprisingly intelligent things to say about Gen Y.

So sure, everyone in the film is an idiot and there are more self-referential jokes than you can point a stick (knife?) at, but this is still an enjoyable flick, if only to catch up with the gang and to marvel at the stupidity of others.