Warning: The following review has information about who survives the first three Scream films.
Scream 4 is unlike any other high-number sequel. The opening minutes set the tone for the movie: bloody, hilarious and completely self-aware. It knows it’s a number four, a new generation. But where the original trilogy prided itself on the “rules” of the genre, Scream 4 has a different concept: 21st-century horror.
It’s been 15 years since the first Scream, and 11 years since Scream 3. The trio of Sidney Prescott, Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers, now Gale Riley (Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courtney Cox-Arquette), have had 10 years to move on from the massacres in their past. But now, upon Sidney’s return to her home of Woodsboro, the killings have started again. Personality-wise, they remain unchanged: Dewey is still bumbling, Gale is still bitchy and Sidney is still a kickass survivor. Joining the horror veterans is a huge cast of likable and attractive young blood, including Emma Roberts as Sidney’s cousin. And the bigger the cast, the bigger the body count: It has double the deaths of the first and second Screams.
Though nothing can beat the terrifying genius of the first Scream’s girl-in-a-cat-door-crushed-by-a-garage-door death, the newest installment, which sticks to classic stabbing deaths, has enough gore to go around. In general, I don’t like to be scared and I hate gore, but I’ve always loved the Scream series because the scares and blood serve a greater story.
Having teens gleefully slashed moments after they denounce the “torture porn” genre (see the million Saw movies) is surprisingly entertaining. Horror fans and horror-phobes alike can enjoy Scream 4.
Directed by Wes Craven and written by “Dawson’s Creek” scribe Kevin Williamson, the movie is self-referential and smart, and the script is original and fun. Yes, I did just say original – because even though the series is founded on rehashing and playing with clichés, it always uses them in an interesting way. Don’t get me wrong; Scream 4 is not a perfect film. It probably isn’t even a great film. But in the context of the series, Scream 4 is a fantastic continuation of Sidney, Dewey and Gale. Because, as Wes Craven knows, when making a sequel, you never mess with the originals.
