Ten years after the initial Woodsboro murders, a
new Ghostface returns to terrorize Sidney Prescott. HORROR
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Scream 4 (2011)Directed by Wes Craven
Written by Kevin Williamson Starring Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Emma Roberts, Rory Culkin, Hayden Panettiere, Alison Brie, Marley Shelton, Nico Tortorella, Anthony Anderson, Adam Brody, Erik Knudsen, Marielle Jaffe, Mary McDonnell Sequel to 2000's Scream 3 |
Scream 4 is the long-awaited and frankly unnecessary sequel that brings Ghostface and Sidney Prescott into the modern age of remakes, reboots, and ironically unnecessary sequels. The meta jokes that Scream has always been known for fit in nicely with this new horror film landscape, but the film really just feels like a soulless remake of the first film. I know some of that is intentional, but still. None of the new characters stand out, and the killer's motivation this time around is really stupid. This was Wes Craven's last movie, too, and while the kills are still entertaining, I think all the story has been spat out of this dead horse.
Ten years after the first series of murders, Sidney (Campbell) returns to Woodsboro for a book signing. A new Ghostface emerges with intentions to film his murders and become famous. Gale (Cox) and Dewey (Arquette) are married now, but they are both still the same determined reporter and dumbass cop. It feels like Sidney is the only character who has grown over the course of the films, and she doesn't really have much to do this time. I think the franchise has gotten too meta, and relies too much on its own in-jokes to work. It's just too unbelievable, especially when there's yet another killer with a grudge against Sidney and her family. Scream 4 is the worst in the franchise, but it's not really a bad movie. It's decent, and if you're marathoning the franchise, you could do with a worse ending. But compared to the other three films, including the surprisingly reviled Scream 3, it's just not up to par. Still, I'd watch this over Elm Street 4 or Friday IV. |