If there is any film, especially in horror, that can go meta-theatrial-over-meta-theatrical, Scream 4 is probably it. If you know the series, someone famous or integral to the plot gets killed in a chilling manner that sets the scene for the rest of the film. This time, the opening actually messed with my head that I kept wondering what events were real and what weren't. For this installment, the plot is centered heavily around horror reboots, remakes, and the so-called "post-modern" aforementioned trends in the last paragraph. The story and script are very clever, with the new teen characters being very self-aware (not bad in the acting department, either). In spite of this, some of them (including the veterans) still fall victim to horror cliches, and the whole film itself features a few glaring examples. My favorites were the cute blonde girl vindicating her credibility to the killer on the phone, by claiming she had a 4.0 GPA, yet, she still flees up the stairs...come on! The other was when Sidney, the main character, witnesses a murder across the street, then enters the house, unarmed, to investigate the scene of the crime. Did she just surrender and snap? Or is she that ballsy? Not very smart, but whatever...
In Scream 4, Sidney, the main survivor of the last three films has carved a niche for herself as a famous author, and returns to her hometown on the 15th anniversary of the first film's murders to promote her new book. The other two are Dewey, who is now the police Sherriff, and his now-wife, Gail, who is itching to become a reporter again after marriage and domesticity have squandered her career. Upon Sidney's arrival, murders start happening again, with Sidney's teenage cousin, Jill, and her friends targeted as victims. In the ten years in between this and the last sequel, Sidney, Dewey and Gail have somehow become semi-legends; the lore of the serial killings has become popularized in a successful slasher series called Stab, and the ubiquity of cellphones, Facebook, YouTube, and blogging have forged a generational gap between the new and veteran characters. The killer knows this, and exploits the new tropes in some exciting and creative ways.
Good sequels are hard to come by, but I feel safe by saying Scream 4 exceeded my expectations by becoming a good enough film to standalone in it's own right. Besides the minor cliches bugging me, I also thought the tone was slightly uneven, early on - mild one minute, then scary the next. The thrills worked, and I was on the edge of my seat for the whole time, but in the beginning, they seemed sort of random. On a more interesting note, I kind of figured out who the killer was, in the middle, but I remained skeptical due to the plethora of red herrings. I'm obviously not going to say who it was, but when the killer was revealed, I felt really disturbed after the killer's motives were explained. Where the first Scream used obsession with horror movies as the catalyst towards the killer's main motives, like a chilling reaction to the spate of school-shootings in the 1990s, the killer in Scream 4 was motivated in a more completely twisted and sadistic way. Just like it's predecessors, Scream 4 manages to make it's own social-commentary, albeit more contemporary. The ending was perfect, for a solid slasher/thriller that made me enjoy the series all over again.
8/10
Peace,
- Jon
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