Post by FireStar on Apr 22, 2011 22:46:34 GMT -5
Scream 4 is the long awaited fourth film in the series, which for the last decade stood as a rare trilogy in the horror genre. Directed once again by Wes Craven and starring returning actors Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courtney Cox Arquette.
Since this is a new release and the Scream movies are known for their twists in plot, I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum here.
The film is set in a real time line as it is now 15 years since the release of the original Scream and the movie revolves around the 15th anniversary of the original murders. After 10 years Sidney Prescott is returning to Woodsboro to promote her book about her life as a victim. Yet as the signing gets under way two familiar faces show up, first to appear is Gale Weathers (now Gale Riley). She and Sid share a moment that indicates their hostility may have been cooled by time. After this tender moment, the pace picks up as Dewey rushes in, now sheriff and Gale's husband of 10 years. He quickly explains that two brutal murders have taken place and a missing phone from the scene has been traced to the book shop. Calling the number, Dewey and the crowd are drawn outside to the trunk of Sidney's rental car. The trunk is opened and contains the phone, a bloody knife, and blood smeared all over posters of Sidney. From there the bloodbath begins with the ghostface killer taunting Sidney at every turn while slowly picking off her cousin's friends one by one. It all leads up to one night where in typical Scream fashion nothing is as it seems and the killer's motive is never simple.
Overall I was impressed with this installment. Going in I was afraid that having ten years between movies, it may have lost the intention of the original and might go the more plastic horror route of many new horror films made today. For the most part this was not the case. Having the three returning actors reprising their roles did alot to anchor this cast, especially since they were clearly the most talented of the bunch. A big theme of this film was poking fun at all the horror remakes, even going so far as to assume the killer is remaking the original murders with a twist of the new generation, the killer is filming the murders thus making his own movie. Yet on the other side of this coin, with all the talk about remakes and everything, several scenes were obviously lifted from the original including part of the iconic opening scene, here worked into the final chase, these lifted scenes made it hard sometimes to pick out if it was the killers in the movie doing the remaking or if it was more that the filmmakers wanted to do a remake of the original Scream. The only other complaint I can find with this installment is the comedy. I am one that likes very little comedy mixed with my horror and this movie while not overly heavy on the comedy by any means did still have some more elements of the ridiculous. In addition, they lacked the black humor of Ghostface that was present in the other films, which was something I really missed.
The killer's motive and reasoning seems somewhat more outlandish than in the previous three films, the killers in those films killed for some kind of vengeance/retribution. Yet in this film, the reason behind the murders seemed more superficial on the part of the character even though it does give a great stab (pun intended) to the current teenage generation and its sense of entitlement.
Overall, this installment definitely lives up to being the fourth in a horror series. I would definitely recommend a viewing, if for nothing else than to catch up with Ghostface and a new generation of horror smart characters.
Since this is a new release and the Scream movies are known for their twists in plot, I will try to keep spoilers to a minimum here.
The film is set in a real time line as it is now 15 years since the release of the original Scream and the movie revolves around the 15th anniversary of the original murders. After 10 years Sidney Prescott is returning to Woodsboro to promote her book about her life as a victim. Yet as the signing gets under way two familiar faces show up, first to appear is Gale Weathers (now Gale Riley). She and Sid share a moment that indicates their hostility may have been cooled by time. After this tender moment, the pace picks up as Dewey rushes in, now sheriff and Gale's husband of 10 years. He quickly explains that two brutal murders have taken place and a missing phone from the scene has been traced to the book shop. Calling the number, Dewey and the crowd are drawn outside to the trunk of Sidney's rental car. The trunk is opened and contains the phone, a bloody knife, and blood smeared all over posters of Sidney. From there the bloodbath begins with the ghostface killer taunting Sidney at every turn while slowly picking off her cousin's friends one by one. It all leads up to one night where in typical Scream fashion nothing is as it seems and the killer's motive is never simple.
Overall I was impressed with this installment. Going in I was afraid that having ten years between movies, it may have lost the intention of the original and might go the more plastic horror route of many new horror films made today. For the most part this was not the case. Having the three returning actors reprising their roles did alot to anchor this cast, especially since they were clearly the most talented of the bunch. A big theme of this film was poking fun at all the horror remakes, even going so far as to assume the killer is remaking the original murders with a twist of the new generation, the killer is filming the murders thus making his own movie. Yet on the other side of this coin, with all the talk about remakes and everything, several scenes were obviously lifted from the original including part of the iconic opening scene, here worked into the final chase, these lifted scenes made it hard sometimes to pick out if it was the killers in the movie doing the remaking or if it was more that the filmmakers wanted to do a remake of the original Scream. The only other complaint I can find with this installment is the comedy. I am one that likes very little comedy mixed with my horror and this movie while not overly heavy on the comedy by any means did still have some more elements of the ridiculous. In addition, they lacked the black humor of Ghostface that was present in the other films, which was something I really missed.
The killer's motive and reasoning seems somewhat more outlandish than in the previous three films, the killers in those films killed for some kind of vengeance/retribution. Yet in this film, the reason behind the murders seemed more superficial on the part of the character even though it does give a great stab (pun intended) to the current teenage generation and its sense of entitlement.
Overall, this installment definitely lives up to being the fourth in a horror series. I would definitely recommend a viewing, if for nothing else than to catch up with Ghostface and a new generation of horror smart characters.