Scream 4
Usually in this day and age, horror franchises receive the
remake treatment if they’ve lain dormant for almost a decade. Halloween
and Friday the 13th have
gotten their reboots within the last few years, but director Wes Craven and
writer Kevin Williamson are breaking the mold. Rather than handing the rights
to another aspiring filmmakers, the two have reunited to bring audiences yet
another sequel in Scream 4.
Plot Synopsis:
Ten years have passed since Sidney Prescott was last terrorized by the
Ghostface killings, and in that time she has written a book about her three
encounters with the masked killers (since there are different killers in each
movie). The last stop on her book tour leads her back to her hometown of
Woodsboro, which has become almost immortalized by the events that occurred in
the first movie, but almost as soon as she arrives, the murders begin again and
this time with a new set of rules to play by.
The hallmark of the Scream
series has always been its Williamson’s clever premise of poking fun at horror
movies while at the same time existing in one. Given that the last decade of
horror movies have brought about new trends in the genre, Scream 4 finds ways to make both small and big jokes to poke fun at
them. Japanese ghost girl stories and the Saw
series get light jabs here and there, but Williamson’s main target here is
definitely remakes.
So while Scream 4
is technically a sequel, the plot plays with the notion of remakes in ways that
extend to its story development. The movie has many nods and similar scenes to
ones that happened in the original, but with twists that play out differently
than before. Now when the killer(s) was revealed, my initial reaction was
disappointment, but Williamson keeps running with it and gradually allows the
reveal to get better before landing a wonderful punch line.
It was also nice to see Neve Campbell (Sidney), Courtney Cox
(Gale), and David Arquette (Dewey) return to the roles that they played three
times before with ease.
There are also a plethora of new actors to contend with, the
best being Hayden Panettiere (Kirby) as the horror movie loving best friend of
Sidney’s cousin Jill. Emma Roberts is fine as Jill, although they could’ve
gotten a more convincing actress for the role. The problem with the new cast is
that for the most part they don’t stack up to the old-timers, and that is
because there is just too many of them to get equal screen time and
development.
Additionally, director Craven can’t quite reign in the same
level of balance between comedy and horror that made the original so well done,
with an emphasis more on comedy. That said, being that this is the third sequel
in a horror series, maybe focusing on comedy was a smart move. It’s hard to
scare audiences if they’ve seen it three times before, but he still manages to
wrangle an admirable level of tension and suspense out of the situations. And
Roger L. Jackson’s creepy voice remains the reason why Ghostface still manages
to be a great villain, even though Ghostface is just a guise for the real
villains to wear.
While the remake theme remained strong throughout, I feel
like the movie could’ve gone into more detail on the other trends it touches on
(like how the “filming the murders” rule feels perfunctory and unnecessary).
The pacing’s also a bit of a mess, with an almost reckless need to throw in
winking jokes or death scenes with rapid succession. Even with those flaws, Scream 4 is so much better than it had
any right to be, given how horror sequels have a dismal track record. Fans of
the original three should be satisfied and newcomers now have a reason to
discover the original and then follow that up with a worthy sequel.
3/4 Rating Criteria
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