Screa4m is a 2011 US horror by Wes Craven.
Notably it is the first in the Scream series to qualify for a BBFC 15 cinema rating rather than the usual 18 rating. Hopefully a result of the BBFC trend to more realistic ratings rather than any watering down of content.
In the US, the cinema release is R Rated which generally covers both UK 15 and 18 horror film ratings.
The BBFC offered the consumer advice: Contains strong violence, gore and language and further explained:
Screa4m is the fourth instalment in the popular series of horror films, in which the masked killer returns to the town of Woodsboro. The film was classified 15 for strong violence, gore and language.
Like the previous instalments, SCRE4M is steeped in a deliberate awareness of its own history and that of the horror genre in general, with characters regularly commenting on modern horror films. This invests the action with a knowingly comic and ironic edge. The BBFC’s Guidelines at 15 state Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised and Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. The attacks on victims are preceded by tense and terrifying set-ups, which carry a strong sense of menace and which contain the kind of jump moments that are a staple of the horror genre. However, this sense of threat and menace includes no significantly sexualised elements and nor does the violence itself, which is mainly executed by the masked character of Ghostface. Stabbings and slashings have bloody consequences, with injuries seen on faces, bodies, and on the walls and floors of various domestic settings. However, the attacks have a frenzied nature and are rapidly-paced with no undue dwelling on their gory results, nor any strong sense of sadism in the violence.
The film also contains multiple uses of strong language. At 15 the Guidelines state There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’).
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this is stupid if you ask me the other three films prior are 18 and share the same graphic content so why don’t they recall the other three films and rate them 15 as well I mean could you imagine a 15 year old going into a store and purchasing scream 4 along with the other three films prior to scream 4 “oh er sorry we can’t sell you these three films but its alright we can sell you scream 4 this is totally nuts the bbfc are the comic relief they need to get their act together i mean what is going on if scream 4 is a 15 then what makes the other 3 films before this one an 18. What is the point in giving this film a 15 rating so presumably its aimed at a 15 year old to see this how many have even seen the previous 3 films prior to this film could you imagine the cinema’s/ theaters having a special showing of these films the usher emerges “okay we are going to show the other 3 films first before scream 4 so can we please have the 18+ year olds in first then when we get round to showing scream 4 we will come back for the 15+ year olds they will be totally lost with scream 4 as they wont have seen the other 3 films prior to this. I don’t know what the world is coming to i have noticed other horror films given a 15 rating when i was a kid these types of genre were given an X rating (18 rating).
its as though oh its alright now its alright it doesn’t matter
The film might have been rated a 15, but this is just how the BBFC have chosen to rate it, regardless of the films that came before it, even if that is what they have stated. Horror films such as this are generally aimed at young adults, so 18+, and it just so happens that this film was rated at a 15. In the US, all of the films were given an R rating. It is likely that whilst the violence is not necessarily okay, it is just as more extreme sub genres of horror (think Saw) come out, those films that are tamer are given lower ratings.