Movies
BD Review: A Final Look at Craven’s ‘Scream 4’ — Write Your Review Now!!
Another Scream 4 review? How about another TWO!?
Now in theaters everywhere, by clicking here you’ll now find reviews of Wes Craven’s slasher sequel from Mr. Disgusting, David Harley, and even THEoDEAD.
In addition, beyond the break you’ll find a fourth review by Maria Lewis that gives a positive spin to the latest “Scooby-Doo” adventure.
But more importantly, user reviews are NOW OPEN! Click here to write your own and tell all of Bloody Disgusting what YOU thought. I personally am dying to know…
Spoiler Warning
What’s your favorite scary movie? After sitting through Scream 4, you may have found it. A big statement, I know, but after a decade of remakes Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson have done what no one dared think possible; made a reboot of the genre defying franchise that is just as witty, original, self-aware and arguably smarter than the originals.
The Scream movies are known for their literally killer openings and without spoiling it, number four delivers a double knockout in that category with a layered first act that will leave you laughing, gasping and, if your audience was anything like mine, shouting with approval come the opening title. Our heroine Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) happens to return to Woodsboro to promote her new book during the aftermath of the introductory murders, which also occur on the 10-year anniversary of the original Woodsboro massacre. Barney Fife, sorry, I mean Dewey Riley (David Arquette) is now sheriff and the once fiery Gale Weathers is now Mrs Riley (Courtney Cox), resigned to small town married life. The original trio are again at the centre of a spree of vicious murders by the Ghostface killer/s who’s also interested in a bevy of hot young things led by Sidney’s niece Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts), the spunky Kirby (Hayden Panettierre), babe Olivia (Marielle Jaffe), Jill’s creepy ex Trevor (Nico Tortorella) and film geeks Robbie (Erik Knudsen) and Charlie (Rory Culkin), proving it takes twice the effort to make up for Randy. With the veterans and the new generation working together, they begin to decipher the killer/s key medium and establish some new rules. For instance, the unexpected is the new cliché and, most importantly, for the killer to take it into the next generation they need to film their kills and stream live.
In the Scream 4 production notes Wes Craven said the only way he would come back to the franchise was if Scream and Scream 2 scribe Williamson wrote a script that was worth coming back for. Well, congratulations Wes because although My Soul To Take mightn’t have been worth it, this certainly is. As horror buffs, we think we know the genre better than the insides of a teenage babysitter, but Craven and Williamson succeed in providing an abundance of plot twists and creative kills. Gore hounds be excited, because they certainly up the entrail-ante in what is easily the most gruesome Scream flick yet. The series is infamous for being self-aware and Williamson has done a brilliant job of turning this expectation on the audience, diffusing the element with gags so far in cheek you expect a tongue to come out the other side. It could have backfired terribly, but they pull it off. Just.
The performances too are solid, with the leading trio doing what they do best and standout turns from Panettierre and Roberts especially. Culkin is amiable as a Hanson-haired movie buff, but there’s something about those Culkin siblings that makes me think they’d be good as a nerd in anything. A lot of the supporting cast’s appearances are fleeting, but Marley Shelton leaves a lasting impression as a female version of Dewey aka Deputy Judy Hicks.
Scream 4 marks a return to the quality of the first film (and the first two thirds of the second) by achieving a rare feat; it doesn’t rehash old territory or repeat tired formulas, it makes a pun about them then boldly carves its way into new territory. This is largely thanks to the Planet Captain-esque combined powers of Craven and Williamson. The former knows how to make a contemporary horror classic that looks the part, while the latter knows how to write one. Williamson’s pen is sharper than Ghostface’s blade, integrating social media, pop-culture, film and serial killer references all within a single conversation. But his most powerful message is in the faux final act where, through a villain, he provides his most poignant commentary on a generation who will do anything for their 15 minutes of fame, as long as they don’t have to work for it. More interested in fans than friends, it’s a generation ofKardashian and Jersey Shore worshippers who I’m now convinced are all serial killers in waiting. Come one, like you didn’t think that already? Although the filmmakers are willing to point out the rule of remakes through Sidney – “don’t fuck with the original” – Scream 4 proves that you can fool around with a classic and conceive something altogether new and relevant.
P.S. Keep an eye out for the Robert Rodriguez shout-out in Stab’s opening credits.
4/5 Skulls
This week’s new releases offer everything from giant monsters to Spielberg aliens to ass-kicking martial artists and even an ash-eating medical student. Do we have your interest?
Here’s all the new genre movies that released on Friday, June 12, 2026!
These aren’t all HORROR movies, but we want you to be aware of them all the same…
Norwegian creature feature Kraken is now available on Digital.
The film was also unleashed in select theaters. Check your local listings.
In the monster movie Kraken, “unnatural behavior in wild salmon, followed by inexplicable deaths in Norway’s deepest fjord, points to the mythical Kraken. The ancient, multi-armed monster has awakened, ready to crush everything that moves or makes a sound.”
Pål Øie (The Tunnel) directs Samuel Goldwyn Films’ Kraken from a script by Vilde Eide, Kjersti Jelen Rasmussen, and Natasha Arthur. Sara Khorami, Mikkel Bratt Silset, Øyvind Brandtzæg, Jenny Evensen, Ingvild Holthe Bygdnes, Jon Erik Myre, Hans Morten Hansen, Steinar Klouman Hallert, and Filip Bargee Ramberg star.
An all girls trip into the desert for escapism fun instead implodes in violence in the revenge thriller Find Your Friends, now streaming only on Shudder.
In the film, “Amber and her four best friends flee Los Angeles for a girls’ trip in Joshua Tree, only to find themselves unwelcome in a desert town simmering with quiet hostility. As isolation sets in and encounters with aggressive locals grow more threatening, festering resentments within the group begin to surface.
“What begins as fun and reckless escape spirals into a violent struggle for control and survival, as past wounds and present dangers collide in a night that turns their trip into a nightmare.”
Bella Thorne (The Babysitter), Chloe Cherry (“Euphoria”), Helena Howard (I Saw the TV Glow), Sophia Ali (Uncharted), Zion Moreno (“Gossip Girl”), and Chris Bauer (“True Blood”) star in the feature debut by writer/director Izabel Pakzad.
Steven Spielberg is more sure today than he was when he made Close Encounters and ET that aliens are very real, and with Disclosure Day, he aims to make you a believer too.
Okay so it’s not a horror movie, but the sci-fi blockbuster is now playing in theaters.
The vague synopsis for Disclosure Day reads: “If you found out we weren’t alone, if someone showed you, proved it to you, would that frighten you? This summer, the truth belongs to seven billion people. We are coming close to Disclosure Day.”
The film stars SAG winner and Oscar® nominee Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer, A Quiet Place), Emmy and Golden Globe winner Josh O’Connor (Challengers, The Crown), Oscar® winner Colin Firth (The King’s Speech, Kingsman franchise), Eve Hewson (Bad Sisters, The Perfect Couple) and two-time Oscar® nominee Colman Domingo (Sing Sing, Rustin).
Based on a story by Spielberg, the screenplay is by David Koepp, whose previous work with Spielberg includes the scripts for Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, War of the Worlds and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Combined, those films earned more than $3 billion worldwide. Koepp also wrote the script for Jurassic World Rebirth.
Steven Spielberg is of course no stranger to extraterrestrial encounters, directing two of the greatest alien movies of all time: Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977 and E.T. in 1982. It’s an arena he returned to in 2005, directing an adaptation of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds.
Here in 2026, Steven Spielberg sees hope in the existence of aliens. He notes in the final trailer for Disclosure Day, “How will disclosure change us? I believe for the better.”
Another movie that’s not a horror movie but worth mentioning here is the violent martial arts revenge thriller The Furious, which is now playing in theaters from Lionsgate.
Xie Miao (The New Legend of Shaolin) and Joe Taslim (Mortal Kombat) star.
After his daughter is kidnapped by a criminal network and he receives no help from the corrupt police, Wang Wei sets out on a rampage to find her himself.
His only ally is Navin, a relentless journalist whose wife has mysteriously disappeared. Fueled by a furious vengeance, the unlikely duo ruthlessly fights against the kidnappers.
Kenji Tanigaki (Enter the Fat Dragon) directs from a script by Mak Tin Shu (Kung Fu Jungle), Lei Zhilong, Shum Kwan Sin (Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In), and Frank Hui.
A disturbing weight loss craze involving human ashes opens up a haunting world of hurt for a young woman in Saccharine, which is now available on Digital outlets at home.
From writer/director Natalie Erika James (Relic, Apartment 7A), the Australian supernatural body horror film follows lovelorn medical student Hana, who becomes terrorized by a sinister force after taking part in an obscure weight loss craze: eating human ashes.
Midori Francis (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$), and Madeleine Madden (“The Wheel of Time”) star in Natalie Erika James’ latest nightmare.
From directors Arturo Ambriz and Roy Ambriz, I Am Frankelda is billed as the first ever full length stop motion movie from Mexico, and it’s now streaming on Netflix.
The history-making stop-motion film is a dark fantasy set in a world of monsters.
Here’s the synopsis: “In 19th-century Mexico, Frankelda is a gifted writer whose dark tales are ignored and dismissed. Forced to suppress her voice, she refuses to give up, even as many try to silence her. But when she is thrust into her subconscious, the very monsters she created come to life.
“Guided by Herneval, a tormented prince trapped between dreams and nightmares, she must restore balance between fiction and reality before both realms collapse. Meanwhile, the sinister writer Procustes and his conspirators plot to seize control. As Frankelda and Herneval grow closer, their bond becomes both a strength and a curse.
“To rewrite their fate, she must confront a love that defies existence and reclaim her power as a storyteller—before dark forces consume her imagination and reveal horrors beyond her creation.”
The directors said in a joint statement, “As brothers, we grew up inventing worlds together, drawing, playing, imagining. Over time we understood that fictional characters were not only companions but guides. Sometimes they felt closer than the people around us. They provided us courage, wisdom, and solace. We believe fiction is not an escape from reality but a way of understanding it. A way of converting truth into palatable chunks. I Am Frankelda comes from a lifelong love of storytelling.”
Mireya Mendoza, Arturo Mercado Jr., and Luis Leonardo Suarez lead the voice cast.
Meagan Navarro writes in her review for Bloody Disgusting, “Mexico’s first stop-motion animated feature is a macabre beauty.” Meagan also notes in her review, “I Am Frankelda is a gothic fantasy feature whose boundless creativity is matched by its ambition.”
The lines of reality and delusion blur in Time of Death, now available on Digital.
Michael Kelly (“The Penguin,” Dawn of the Dead 2004) stars with Kevin Pollak (End of Days), Mena Suvari (Vampires of the Velvet Lounge), and Dennis Haysbert (Send Help).
In the horror-thriller, “When a prisoner vanishes without a trace, Detective Frank Morley (Michael Kelly) is sent to a decaying prison on the verge of shutdown. What begins as a routine investigation quickly spirals into a dangerous search for answers.”
Will Wernick (Escape Room 2017, Follow Me) directs from a script by Jason Rosen. They also produce alongside Kelly Delson, Jeff Delson, and Kyle David Crosby.
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