Ten years have passed, and Sidney Prescott, who has put herself back together thanks in part to her writing, is visited by the Ghostface Killer.
Running Time: 1 Hour & 51 Minutes
Cast:
Neve Campbell-Sidney Prescott
Courteney Cox-Gale Weathers-Riley
David Arquette-Sheriff Dwight ‘Dewey’ Riley
Emma Roberts-Jill Roberts
Hayden Panettiere-Kirby Reed
Rory Culkin-Charlie Walker
Erik Knudsen-Robbie Mercer
Marielle Jaffe-Olivia Morris
Nico Tortorella-Trevor Sheldon
Alison Brie-Rebecca Walters
Mary McDonnell-Kate Roberts
Marley Shelton-Deputy Judy Hicks
Anthony Anderson-Deputy Anthony Perkins
Adam Brody-Deputy Ross Hoss
Aimee Teegarden-Jenny Randall
Brittany Robertson-Marnie Cooper
Lucy Hale-Sherrie
Shenae Grimes-Trudie
Anna Paquin-Rachel
Kristen Bell-Chloe
Roger L. Jackson (voice)-Ghostface
Directed by Wes Craven
Wow, has it been that long? Eleven years after the release of “Scream 3,” director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson team-up once more to revitalize a franchise that had long since worn out its welcome with “Scream 4.” When the original “Scream” was released fifteen years ago in 1996, it was a breath of fresh air for the slasher subgenre, which had so mired itself in formulaic plots and never-ending sequels. “Scream” embraced these clichés with a wink-and-a-nod, thrilling audiences with jump scares and chases even as it lampooned its own genre. Craven kept up the momentum with the sequel, but by the time “Scream 3” rolled into theaters in 2000, the whole affair just felt tired as it had fallen victim to the very thing the series had gleefully mocked. So when a fourth film was announced in mid-2008, fans met the news with skepticism. Craven’s recent work left much to be desired (with the exception of 2005’s “Red Eye”) and his much-touted return to horror with last year’s “My Soul to Take” in disastrous 3D was met with universal negative reviews and was a major flop at the box office with only $21 million worldwide. Reviving a decade-old series reeked of desperation but fortunately, Craven has brought his A-game. “Scream 4” lacks the freshness of the original (it is number four after all) but it offers enough of a mixture of old and new, plus a few twists in-between, to make it a worthy addition of the franchise.
“Scream 4” opens with a rather clever prologue before we return to the small town of Woodsboro ten years after the events of the third film, where the original murders have now become the stuff of legend. Dwight ‘Dewey’ Riley (David Arquette) is now the town sheriff, happily married to former tabloid news reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). Sole survivor Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has returned to her hometown promoting her new self-help book Out of Darkness, which chronicles her ordeal about the killings and how she overcame them. Two students of Woodsboro High School are bloodily stabbed to death upon Sidney’s return and she is prevented from leaving until the investigation is over because of circumstantial evidence found in her rent-a-car. In the meantime, she is given a place to stay by her aunt, Kate Roberts (Mary McDonnell) and cousin, Jill (Emma Roberts). The killings begin to escalate and it soon becomes harder to ignore the truth: Ghostface has returned to terrorize Woodsboro once more.
As expected, “Scream 4” does not stray too far from the formula established by its predecessors, which is disappointing as it squanders an opportunity to shake things up. Fortunately, the series’ trademark self-parody has remained intact as it wastes no time in mocking the current trends in horror, from the popularity of the torture porn subgenre to Hollywood’s obsession with reboots and remakes. In fact, that is the main crux to “Scream 4”, as the characters come to the realization that the killer is concerned with doing a real-life ‘remake’ of the events in the original film. I won’t reveal more, but the film ends with a clever truism on how remakes never exceed that of the originals. Like the first two films, there’s some nice social commentary thrown in and it’s about our current generation’s narcissistic obsession with the media and fame, creating a much more cynical film. The killer actually records the murders in the hopes of creating a snuff film. It feels relevant given the amount of attention certain celebrities receive when they have done absolutely nothing to deserve it…but I digress. The film has a bit of a disjointed feel as it has to juggle two sets of main characters. Much of the focus is on the new, younger cast while the original cast is pushed into more of a supporting role. The gore has also been amped up to compete with films like “Saw” and we’re treated to grisly stabbings and even one where the victim’s intestines are hanging out with an abundance of blood covering the walls. The series was never particularly scary to begin with and “Scream 4” continues this trend, but the cat-and-mouse chase scenes are polished to maximum effect and crackle with energy thanks to Marco Beltrami, who returns to scoring duties.
The acting is good with a few standouts, but nothing to write home about. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette slip into their old roles easily as if no time had passed at all and while it’s great seeing them all back together, their characters don’t have much to do. Well, Cox’s Gale Weathers does try to get back into her journalism groove by ‘going rogue’, but it is clear that Craven favors the new cast to carry the film. All of them are actually playing analogues to the original cast and it fits in with the film’s remake angle. Emma Roberts is fine as Jill, but much of the sharp dialogue is provided by Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin, and Erik Knudsen with their gleeful horror movie references. You’re actually unsure whether if they’ll even bite the dust as Craven goes to great lengths to flesh these characters out.
“Scream 4” was released into theaters on April 15, 2011 to mixed reviews with 57% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics agreed that it was ‘undeniably an improvement over its predecessor, with just enough meta-humor and clever kills’ but found the franchise showing its age and bringing nothing overtly new to the table. However, the film disappointed at the box office with its $18 million debut, coming in at #2 and far behind the animated flick “Rio.” Of course, we do have to take into account that this has been a down year for movies, with the only successes being animated or family films. So far it has made $69 million worldwide so I’m not sure if we’ll see a “Scream 5” given the lukewarm response from moviegoers. My advice is to stop here before its reputation becomes tarnished as this one ends on a strong note. “Scream 4” is a fun ride, an improvement over the last film since Craven is actually putting in the effort and not going through the motions, but there’s only so much he can do. While there are some nice twists and the satirical elements combined with Williamson’s snappy dialogue are funny, the formula remains unchanged and that’s a shame given its boastful tagline. It’s a worthy sequel but mostly same-old, same-old.
Final Rating: 3.5 out of 5
“You forgot the first rule of remakes: DON’T F*CK WITH THE ORIGINAL!”
Check Out the Trailer:
