Scream 4

Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts, Marielle Jaffe, Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell, Alison Brie, Rory Culkin, Nico Tortorella, Anthony Anderson, Adam Brody, Mary McDonnell
Directed by: Wes Craven
Rating: R
Genre: Horror
2011

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Ten years later, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns to Woodsboro to promote her new book. When young victims start being murdered, Sidney realizes a new killer is in town, and it's only a matter of time before he comes after her.

Review:

Tim: I'm actually a bit surprised that this movie even got made. Scream 3 came out in 2000, and it had been 11 years since that last entry. The end of the trilogy wrapped up the story quite effectively. There didn't seem to be a creative, story-driven reason for this movie to exist. I also didn't exactly hear people clamoring for another film. Why this movie was made, I'm not entirely sure. And yet, I couldn't be too hard on the film. I've always been a big fan of the Scream franchise, even when I didn't always care for the quality of the product. The original is still one of my all time favorite horror movies, and I love the characters. Despite all the concerns, I was still looking forward to this film.

Unfortunately, the movie is about what you expect. It's not a film that necessarily needed to be made. The story is okay, but nothing special. Audiences seemed to agree- the movie made $51 million less than the next lowest Scream, even with 11 years of inflation to help it. Audiences definitely stayed away from this film. I was shocked at how poorly it did at the box office.

The movie itself is pretty low quality. That being said, I am way too forgiving of this movie. Despite the fact that this movie doesn't even get close to approaching the quality of the original, I still like the characters and am always game for another go around with Ghostface. I love the meta approach Scream takes to the horror genre, and it was fun to see what they would do with a "reboot" a decade later.

I thought the movie did a good enough job introducing new characters to the mix. It felt fairly organic and like an extension of the story. It makes sense why Sidney Prescott would be back in town, and I liked how the characters still centered around the Prescott family with the introduction of Jill Roberts, Sidney's cousin (played by Emma Roberts). In many ways, the Scream franchise has always been about the Prescott family, so it's nice to see that continue.

It was also great seeing David Arquette and Courteney Cox back as Dewey and Gale. They are fun characters and it was interesting to see them back after a decade. I was also glad to see Neve Campbell reprise her role as Sidney. These three actors are the Scream franchise and I can't imagine a movie in this franchise without them.

The new characters were fine, although I didn't love any of them. Emma Roberts was decent as Sidney's cousin. Hayden Panettiere was fine as her best friend, although she was rocking a pretty bad haircut (not quite as bad as Cox in Scream 3, but bad). I really liked Alison Brie, but I wish she had a better role. Rory Culkin was fine.

The biggest complaint I had with this film was the killers. Besides the original film (which is close to flawless, in my opinion), the identity of the killers at the end of the films has always been a mix of coolness and silliness. I've gone along with the killers in the past, even if it defied logic a bit. Unfortunately, the revelation of the killers here goes beyond the limits of logic. It's just far too unbelievable to be any good. It's kind of cool, but mostly absurd. This greatly hurts the movie.

Despite the fact that this film is of lower quality than some previous entries, I have to admit one of the great strengths of this film is that four films into a horror movie franchise, we still care about the characters and want them to live. How many other horror movie franchises can claim that? It's pretty amazing, and it definitely helps set this franchise apart. Even a "bad" Scream movie is better than most other horror sequels.

In conclusion, Scream 4 is a disappointing, mostly unnecessary sequel. While unwarranted, I still care enough about this franchise to have been somewhat interested in seeing this film. I still liked the characters, even though the story got a bit old. This isn't a good movie, but compared to most horror sequels, this is still superior.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scary Movie, Scary Movie 2