Kristen Bell and Anna Paquin in Scream 4

USA Today r eports that Wes Craven’s $300 million+ horror franchise from the mind of writer Kevin Williamson will continue its legacy of celebrity cameos with the addition of Kristen Bell and Anna Paquin. (Not known if Paquin’s ridiculous Southern accent will be making an appearance, or whether the two ladies will be playing themselves or actual characters.)

Hopefully, the continuing trend of celebrity cameos is not indicative of another trend–the downward spiral this series took following its clever initial entry. Scream 3 was perhaps one of the worst mainstream slasher movies of all time, and that is saying something for a sub-genre void of innovation since the original Black Christmas (1974) and John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978) came along.

While there have been some entertaining films since then–the original Scream being one of them–slasher movies have not exactly set a benchmark in storytelling. And to set a new standard for suckage like the last entry did, I’m not exactly encouraged, but we’ll see if Craven and Williamson have learned anything on April 15, 2011, when this latest installment hits theaters.