‘Scream 4’ Is Back, and on Tape

Scream 4 exists in kind of an odd place in the franchise. The first three are essentially a trilogy, capped off by Scream 3‘s splattery Hollywood satire in 2000. Then, Scream 5 (released as Scream) rebooted the series in 2022 and has since spawned its own sequels, for better and worse. Scream 4, which hit theaters in 2011, is almost a standalone entry.

Sure, it’s packed with Scream icons; it was directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Williamson and stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette. But it also introduces a cast of younger characters in Woodsboro headed up by Emma Roberts, who plays Jill, the teenaged cousin of Campbell’s resilient final girl, Sidney Prescott.

Jill’s obsession with Sidney’s ordeal becomes important as the movie’s body count rises, as does this new generation’s fixation on horror films, with a “Stab-a-Thon” viewing party (Stab being Scream‘s in-world slasher series inspired by the Ghostface murders) as a central setting. The rest of the cast includes Adam Brody, Hayden Panettiere, Anthony Anderson, Rory Culkin, Mary McDonnell, Marley Shelton, Alison Brie, Kristen Bell, and Anna Paquin.

And now, this underrated Scream installment is getting the home release it deserves, in 4K. It’s also getting a release collectors will love: on VHS tape—so dust off that VCR so you can properly relive your Blockbuster memories.