I followed the production of Wes Craven’s Scream 4 last year and all the hype about the multiple trailers for its April 2011 release, but when it came time to devote 111 minutes to the stab fest in theaters, I chickened out. After less than stellar reviews and a poor box office turnout, the highly anticipated movie didn’t see any long-lasting accolade.
However, I recently sat down and watched the DVD just to get over any fears that I had about it, thinking that because there is a rampant slew of familiar and famous faces in the movie, the death toll should be pretty high, and pretty funny.
Scream, Scream 2, and Scream 3 survivors Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette return for this forth film that takes place in Woodsboro, the setting where it all began. Sidney Prescott (Campbell) is a writer who has made peace with the headline-worthy on-goings of her trauma-filled life and heads home for a book signing just when Sheriff Dewey Riley (Arquette) meets the aftermath of the famed serial Ghostface killer, who has it in for anyone young, attractive, movie-obsessed, or has any connection to Sidney. Gail Weathers (Cox), Dewey’s displaced wife, is trying to make a comeback by getting the scoop on the vicious slayings, since small-town life doesn’t suit her, thus getting herself into lots of trouble.
Also in tow is Emma Roberts as Sidney’s estranged cousin Jill, along with her high school friends like Hayden Panettiere, Marielle Jaffe, Erik Knudsen, Nico Tortorella, Rory Culkin, Britt Robertson, and Aimee Teegarden. These teenagers talk too much to each other and not enough to their invisible parents. Also, the gabbing continues every time the phone rings and they’re asked the famed question: “What’s your favorite scary movie?”
The unwitting staff of law enforcers under Dewey’s flimsy reign as sheriff include an annoying Marley Shelton, Anthony Anderson, and Adam Brody. Other secondary characters and obvious victims close to Sidney include Mary McDonnell as Sidney’s aunt / Jill’s mother, and Sidney’s publicist Rebecca, played by Alison Brie.
Basically, the movie is wrought with those typical moments where a viewer wants to shout at the character(s) on screen: “Don’t open the door!” “Don’t go upstairs!” and “Don’t go outside!” As a wimp when it comes to scary movies, I did fall victim to the music during those lurking pre-murder scenes, but beyond that, there really wasn’t much to scream over. The cheap thrills are that exactly- cheap at best.
Not only does the story fail to rise to the occasion, the dialogue haplessly repeats the same formula that audiences originally loved from Scream characters like Randy, Stu, and Billy (played by Jamie Kennedy, Matthew Lillard, and Skeet Ulrich respectively). It’s not fresh, memorable, or helpful to move the story from murder-to-murder.
The characters and killer(s) copycat everything right down to the party that they’re not supposed to have by the end since there is a killer on the loose. Craven and original Scream writer Kevin Williamson have certainly worn out a good thing. Since the timeline of the movie reflects all the gismos and gadgets of 2011, the potential to rebrand Ghostface as a digital killer doesn’t seem to go anywhere either.
SPOILER ALERT: Of course we know that in the movie, the initial murders of Woodsboro were turned into a movie, thanks to Gail Weathers’ successful ‘Stab’ series, thus giving us a look at Heather Graham’s bathrobe scene from Scream 2. The movie revisits that, and shows how the ‘Stab’ series has evolved into a bad joke, just like Scream will, with Kristen Bell, Anna Paquin, Shenae Grimes, and Lucy Hale playing victims in a movie within the movie.
Although I couldn’t quite figure out the ending until the very last minute, I was a little surprised at how things turned out when it came to seeing who survived and who was twisted enough to commit all these murders. Something you don’t see very often in movies like this is the aftermath- once the police arrive, the bodies have been bagged, and how the media reports on the hero(es). The movie goes there just when you think you’ve seen it all.
On a quick side note, for anyone who’s seen the first Scream at least a dozen times and really paid attention, you’ll get a chuckle out of a quick shot of the characters at their high school lockers, where you can see off to the side, a bust in honor of Henry Winkler as the late Principal Himbry, who met an early death thanks to Ghostface. END SPOILER!
I do have to say that I liked Panettiere’s performance the best, especially when Ghostface calls her and they have it out with some serious scary movie trivia, putting Drew Barrymore’s opening to Scream to shame- just for a split second. Also, Gale’s feistiness is always worth watching, since we so rarely see Cox play an unlikable character- which is what makes Gale so likable!
I li
ke Roberts as an actress, since she’s shown her chops in It’s Kind of a Funny Story and her back-to-back film projects, but her character’s responsibility weighs more than the performance on screen that deserves a spot on a soap opera at best.
How many times can Sidney tout around, proclaiming that she’s a survivor when it’s technically because of Sidney that so many others are not surviving? She’s quick-thinking when it comes to those chase scenes and jumping through windows in order to outsmart the killer, but she’s not much of a hero since Campbell doesn’t show any growth in the character. Essentially this is because of poor script development.
Graham recently wrote about the possibility of the fifth and sixth installment to Craven’s fear franchise, which does not sound like a good idea at all. In the wake of such gore fests like the Saw series, horror has turned into a messy bloodbath of “torture porn.” Meanwhile, Scream 4 sits among the other outcasts of the horror genre, right beside Scream 2 and Scream 3, lacking in fresh and authentic ways to make the audience scream.
On a personal note, I was in high school when the first film came out, an era before Facebook, Twitter, Skype, or iPads- if you young readers could ever believe that such a time existed. I was invested in these characters fifteen years ago, when my generation was beginning to find a voice in movies and television, which I’d like to think is part of the reason why blogging and social networking today has also created such an identity for young people. If not for Scream, the attitudes and dialogue found in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dawson’s Creek, and now The Vampire Diaries would have never been achieved or celebrated.
However, Craven, the force behind the legendary A Nightmare of Elm Street, should give it a rest or consult with newer, better talent for any future ventures with the franchise.
My rating: 5/10.
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