Take a good look folks. Those of you that remember the original trilogy and have been waiting for Scream 4, well the long gestating fourth installment will be here in April. But until then, let’s get by with looking through the trailer for clues about the film.

The rules are back. It’s good that they’re staying loyal to somewhat of a formula for these.

But first, the obvious: the cameo-kill. Fans of the first three will know the films usually kill off a high profile cameo actor first. In Scream, Drew Barrymore was the first to go (reigniting her then stagnant career). In the second installment, Omar Epps and Jada Pinkett Smith were the first dispatched. And in Scream 3, Liev Schriber reprised his role from the first two films, only to die in the opening scene.

So for this film, that looks to be Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars, Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Anna Paquin (True Blood). Also featured are Shenae Grimes (Degrassi, 90210) and Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) who look pretty damn scared at :27. Now we don’t know these four are going to die, but they’re not the stars of the films. So that’s not a good sign. Craven could be sticking them in for other cameos–or as a red herring for the cameo death(s), but Scream 4, that screams 4 cameo deaths.

A few months ago, one popular theory was the Sidney Prescott was going to die in this one. Some feared Neve Campbell only joined the film at the last minute, because her character may be dispatched in the opening scene, as the cameo death. Not so. The trailer and photos from the film show the actress in several scenes, and many outfits. So, no promises that she may live, but she ain’t dying early.

ONE CONFIRMED DEATH: Alison Brie (Mad Men, Community). She plays Sidney’s personal assistant. We see a female fall to the van at :38 in the trailer. If you pause it, you can see she’s wearing a yellow overcoat–the same one a terrified Alison Brie can be seen running in at 1:02. Not surprising the she would die. Someone close to Sid’s gotta go, and a newly introduced and thus easily disposable assistant meets the criteria.

The trailer also has some interesting Gale (Courteney Cox) moments. Almost all of her shots are set in the same scene, in some kind of a barn, with an eery red light. Now, there are two major moments in the trailer. First, and perhaps most shocking–she’s held down by Ghostface, daring him to kill her, and it looks like he does at :58 seconds. Wow…it figures that the main three (Dewey, Gale, Sidney) can’t all survive again right? So maybe her character is the one to go. However, there’s some confusion–we see her take the mask off at 1:09. She’s also the figure in the Ghostface mask placing cameras in the barn at :50-51. If you look closely, that’s her jacket. So that looks like it may come before…the moment that looks like her death.

Here’s some theories on this one: We don’t know he’s going to stab her at :58. We’ve seen this same kind of shot in trailers for the previous three, and it turned out he punches the character. After all, these psychos seem to want to keep everyone around to the end. Or she could be dead. Another theory…the plot synopsis that’s been circulating for the film, and the comments Cox has been making about her character always call her bored with her life. Is it possible Gale has a hand in this, just to get her story again, to get her going? They always portrayed her as somewhat ruthless, but this ruthless? It’s a stretch.

But who knows, perhaps she was part of a killer duo or something. Since Saw will clearly be satirized here, look for some of that psychological babel it pulls to show up somewhere.

The trailer shows that this film is possibly setting up a new story as well. There seems to be a lot of focus on the high school, and characters such as Hayden Panettiere and Emma Roberts seem pivotal. Oh, and look, there’s Mary McDonnell playing Sidney’s aunt. She’s so sweet, I hope she doesn’t die. McDonnell replaced Lauren Graham on the film, who was busy with Parenthood. Probably for the best, because she’s too young to be Sidney’s aunt, and it would have been sad seeing her dispatched as well.

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Jason Woods is a Blast staff writer

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