This week on Forgotten Cinema: Lead Up, the Mikes continue their road to "Scream 7" with "Scream 4", Wes Craven’s return to Woodsboro more than a decade after the original trilogy.

Both Mike Butler and Mike Field still enjoy this entry, especially for its strong kills and surprisingly ahead-of-its-time themes about streaming culture, internet fame, and the performance of violence for an audience. The film feels eerily prescient in how it tackles social media obsession before it completely took over the world.

That said, there is a lot of unmined potential here. Butler feels the third act drops the ball slightly with a convenient ending and not doing quite enough with the Ghostface killers in the final stretch. Both Mikes also agree that Hayden Panettiere’s Kirby could have been positioned as the new Final Girl. With her horror movie expertise and charisma, she could have served as a fascinating long-term foil to Ghostface.

The Mikes also dig into the long-standing rumor that "Scream 4" was intended to launch a new trilogy centered on a killer who gets away with it, only to be hunted by new Ghostfaces in future installments. It is an intriguing idea that makes the existing ending feel like a missed opportunity.

Still sharp, still brutal, and more relevant than ever, "Scream 4" stands as a bold attempt to reinvent the franchise, even if it stops just short of fully committing to its most interesting ideas.

So join the Mikes as the go through each film in the "Scream" saga leading up to the release of "Scream 7".

What are your thoughts on this current end of the "Sydney" saga and how it compares to your opinions of 5 and 6? Let us know in the comments!

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0:00 - Introduction

3:45 - Film Facts

10:00 - Film Discussion

32:07 - Reviews

43:16 - Plugs