Scream 4 Review

DISCLAIMER: This review may contain spoilers which may be of detriment to the film’s viewing experience.

As I was walking out of the Scream 4 media screening, I overheard a man say, “It was a piece of sh*t, but stupid people will pay money to see it.”

Well, anonymous stranger, I must be stupid, becauseScream 4 is one of the best follow ups of a horror franchise I have ever seen.

It’s got everything – a solid, well-written script, an original cast and a hot new one, the right amount of gore and most importantly, character development.

From the opening scene, writer Kevin Williamson (who wrote all four Scream movies and who created Dawson’s Creek) shows why he’s one of the best in the business.

The movie focuses on Sidney’s (Neve Campbell) return to Woodsborough on a promotional visit for her debut novel, Out of Darkness. It’s the 10th anniversary of the original murders, so surprise surprise, guess who returns to wreak revenge? But the conundrum for Ghostface is, after the inevitable saturation of horror flicks in the movie industry, how can he keep the element of surprise alive without resulting in a predictable mess?

With a whole new set of characters, including Sidney’s cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) and her hot group of classmate friends including Kirby (played by Hayden Panettiere, who’s sporting one of the ugliest hairstyles I’ve ever seen), Ghostface has a field day. Plus, cameos by Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell, to name a few, are welcome surprises as throwbacks to past Scream flicks.

Within all the gore, Williamson weaves sub plots and social commentaries on - arguably - the joke that has become the horror industry, the rise of the phenomenon that is social media and the continual debate over the differences between Gen X and Gen Y, while giving his characters the right amount of development and soul.

In between all the killings (there’s eleven deaths in total), Williamson manages to create humour that keeps the film light-hearted when needs be. The lines are hilarious.

“You forgot the number one rule of remakes,” Sidney says. “Don’t f*ck with the original.”

“One generation’s tragedy is another one’s joke,” says another character.

“How do you think people become famous? You’ve just got to have f*cked up sh*t happen to you,” says another.

It’s great to see Neve Campbell back on screen. She’s so comfortable as Sidney it’s almost too believable. She brings a destroyed and tortured soul to her character, but also one of a girl who - after notching up so many runs on the attack-o-meter - has learnt how to survive when others don’t.

Then there’s Courteney Cox and David Arquette, whose characters Gale Weathers-Riley and Dewey Riley are now married after sparking a romance in Scream 3 (ironically, Arquette and Cox seperated after 11 years of marriage last spring for those who have been living under a rock). Cox is brilliant as Gale, the now washed-up author whose built her success on the Woodsborough murders, while Arquette, although great to see him back and an integral character in the film, was a little lacklustre.

While I highly recommend this film, I won’t go without saying that of course there’s the usual cliches. The phone ringing, the idiots who leave a crowded area to go home, alone and holding a ‘stabathon’ party the night of the anniversary.

In saying that, Scream 4 has again redefined what it takes to make a successful horror remake. When you’ve got a franchise with such history, all it takes is to create a storyline and history to your main characters, and the audience will soak it up. Just like we did.