'Scream 4' keeps up with the original

“What’s your favorite scary movie?”

It’s been 15 years — and four “Scary Movie” spoofs later — since the first “Scream” installment posed the now-infamous question and redefined the slasher genre. It spawned two sequels, the last surfacing just 11 years ago. The year was 2000, and we were embedded in the new millennium. Technology was just coming to the forefront — cell phones were still in the hands of only a select few. Blogs and Webcasts were virtually unheard of. And Facebook and Twitter wouldn’t come about for at least another five years.

Unfortunately for all those involved with the newest installment — “Scream 4,” which came out last Friday — they’ll learn that a new decade and ever-changing world of technology mean new rules for horror films. And those rules mean that this time, all bets are off.

Especially for our protagonist, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who has fought her way through three movies worth of Ghostfaces. Sidney is now a published author with a debut self-help book “Out of Darkness: A True Story of Survival.” She decides to return to Woodsboro — her hometown where the original “Scream” murders took place — to provide a fitting ending to her book tour. It is here that Ghostface decides to resurface for yet another slew of murders.

Joining her will be the other two parts to the movies’ survival trio, now-married Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and retired anchor woman Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). For the pair, it’s all about struggle this time around. Dewey struggles to keep his job and home lives separate, Gale struggles with writers block, and both struggle with their marriage (sounds like a bit of real-life foreshadowing, hmm). In the end, both must learn to put aside their differences and work together to survive and solve this round of Ghostface killings.

There are plenty of newbies to keep up with in “Scream 4.” Sidney’s return to Woodsboro has her staying at her aunt’s house with cousin, Jill (Emma Roberts), a high-schooler tagged for life with the fact that she is related to the one-and-only Sidney Prescott. Along with her BFFs, Kirby (Hayden Panettiere on her game) and Olivia (Marielle Jaffe), film club geeks Charlie (Rory Culkin) and Robbie (Erik Knudsen), and ex-boyfriend Trevor (Nico Tortorella), these kids provide a lot of the fresh meat for Ghostface.

For comic relief, there are also three new bumbling cops (Adam Brody, Marley Shelton and Anthony Anderson), a book publicist (Alison Brie), and Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell even make brief cameos. It seems everyone wanted a bit of the franchise.

So which of these fine folks is behind all the gruesome murders? And what is the reason behind the resurrection of Ghostface?

That I won’t spoil for you. I mean, that is what Director Wes Craven and Screenwriter Kevin Williamson are good at. Providing us with a didn’t-see-it-coming ending each and every time. And they managed to yet again provide us with a twist of an ending, despite how easily technology could have screwed that up for them. Both in the real world (Twitter provides instant spoiler alerts) and in the film (scary phone calls can now be easily tracked with Caller ID and GPS is imbedded in most cell phones). Which begs us to ask: Why is it so hard to catch this crazy stalker?

Well, technology also helps the killer, who can now broadcast his doings live on Webcasts for all the world to see. Or simply download an app to produce the infamous Ghostface voice. Thanks to technology, Ghostface could be anywhere at any time as anybody. Everything is way more elaborate and everyone is a suspect.

What also makes “Scream 4” work 15 years after the original is that it has no problem making fun of itself, while still being just as suspenseful and scary as the originals. Even the opening scene — typically a blood-bath of a murder to get the ball rolling — is a mockery of itself, but it still made me jump out of my seat.

Craven and Williamson are both aware that sequel after sequel after sequel could easily make for a laughing matter (ahem, SAW), which is why they waited as long as they did for the next installment, but they also know that if done well — and done right — a sequel could be more of a remake, if you will, and that’s exactly what they play off in “Scream 4.”

It’s all about doing it bigger and better than the original. And they sure did. Enough so that there is already talk about a “Scream 5” and “Scream 6.” As much I hate to see them overdo it, it’s always original, hip and provides for some good chuckles among all the gore, so I say keep ‘em comin’. After all, you gotta keep Neve Campbell employed somehow.