By Dylan Fair
Staff Writer
“Scream 4” breaks the trend of long, over-exhausted horror franchises. Wes Craven’s fourth installment in the “Scream” series shows a return to the ironic clichés that made the first two movies successful. Despite obvious flaws, “Scream 4” is a treat to fans of the slasher genre with witty banter and buckets of blood.
The fourth “Scream” movie takes place a decade after the original and now famous Woodsboro murders. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns to her hometown with a new book deal about her traumatic past experiences. She rekindles her relationship with newly-named town sheriff Dewey (David Arquette) and reconnects with her young cousin Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts).
On the anniversary of the original murders, however, a new Ghostface appears in Woodsboro to literally remake and better the previous events. The murders are targeted around close friends of Prescott and Roberts and create a “whodunit” scenario full of meta humor which keeps the audience guessing to the end.
What makes “Scream 4” the best installment since the original is the contrast from the earlier films. It is still an extremely modern, stylized script, poking fun at horror movie stereotypes; however, it does not try to compete with the first “Scream.” Instead, it simply provides more gore and plenty of ridiculous entertainment.
While the script of the movie was promising, it relied on an adequate cast to fulfill the potential. In the case of “Scream 4,” the cast was able to do just that. Courtney Cox provides great one liners and plenty of spunk in her role as journalist Gale Weathers. Roberts also displays some acting chops in a surprisingly complex role.
Another key difference from the original and most recent “Scream” film is the substantial use of blood and gore, surprising even for a horror movie. The stabbing scenes are much more drawn out, creative and more violent than previously depicted, resembling movies such as “Saw” (which are mocked at multiple points in “Scream 4”).
“Scream 4” hopes to follow suit with the first installment of “Scream” which attempted to rejuvenate the genre of horror movies. With the slogan, “New Decade, New Rules,” Wes Craven hopes to recreate an era of creative and even light-hearted scary movies. This goes against the trend of the self-righteous and the overly serious horror movies of the 2000s.
While the film offers many positive moments, it is not without flaws. The main issue is the convoluted twist ending. The final twist is a surprising turn of events; however, parts of the ending are unclear due to farfetched character motives, becoming what the film is supposed to be poking fun at. The confusing wrap-up is a poor attempt to be ironic.
“Scream 4” is able to provide sufficient and sprightly fun. Wes Craven has atoned for an atrocious “Scream 3.” Strangely, this redemption is probably the best fourth installment of a series in movie history.
Any lover of scary movies will thoroughly enjoy “Scream 4.” This 21st-century slasher provides an entertaining movie experience that can be enjoyed by many and will beckon new and old fans from many generations. “Scream 4” is playing nationwide and is rated R.
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