Scream 4

I think we all know by now that I am a huge fan of the original Scream trilogy. Scream 4, or Scre4m as the opening titles spell it, is probably the movie I was most looking forward to seeing in the first half of this year. You know, pre Oscar buzz movies, and pre-summer blockbusters, Scream 4 was it for me. I went in to it fully expecting it to be as awesome as the 7th grade version of me would expect. Sure, there was the slight feeling that it might disappoint me but I tried to ignore it. And guess what? Scream 4 lived up to my every expectation! I simply loved it.

Look, I'm not going to sit here and say that Scream 4 is some Oscar worthy, prestigious, amazingly well written and directed, fantastic film. It's none of those things. But if you are a fan of the original trilogy, I honestly can't see how you would be disappointed! It's got everything you've come to expect from a Scream movie: a great opening sequence where big-named stars bite the dust (and, seriously, let me tell you, the opening sequence of Scream 4 was by far my favorite part of the film, so clever, so well done, maybe even the best opening sequence of the franchise), tongue in cheek humor, great death scenes, some trapped in a car while trying to get away from Ghostface, and even the necessary rules for surviving a remake (Rule number one: "Don't fuck with the original."

So, anyway, it's ten years later and heroine extraordinaire Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has returned to her hometown of Woodsboro, California to promote her self help book entitled Out of Darkness. The only other survivors of the trilogy bloodbath, Dewey (David Arquette) and Gale (Coureteny Cox) are now married and living semi-happily. Dewey is the new chief of police and Gale is trying her hand at writing fiction. But guess what guys? The engine on Sydney's car hasn't even cooled and there are a pair of murders, with two local girls getting stabbed to death. [This all, of course, happens after the AMAZING opening sequence. Not even kidding. That shit is crazy good.] Anyway, while Sydney is at a book reading in town, Dewey receives a phone call that leads him to the trunk of her rental car and a whole bunch of Ghostface memorabilia is there, along with lots of blood. Suddenly, Sydney can't leave town even if she wanted to. She gets to hole up with her cousin Jill (Emma Roberts), who is the brand new fresh-faced ingenue of the film. Soon, Ghostface is targeting Jill and her friends, sassy Kirby (Hayden Panettiere), film nerds Charlie (Rory Culkin) and Robbie (Erik Knudsen), sexy Olivia (Marielle Jaffe) and Jill's jerk ex-boyfriend Trevor (Nico Tortorella). Cat and mouse, whodunit, murdering rampages ensue.

Director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Wiliamson have truly done it again. No matter how indulgent the movie is at times (and it surely knows how clever it is being sometimes), this is still a fun slasher movie. It's undoubtedly the most fun I had at the movies in 2011. Sure, a lot of it is predictable but any horror movie fan will love how well this movie is executed. This isn't some bad sequel or B-movie. This a damn well done horror sequel, something that truly belongs being a part of the great Scream franchise. As I said earlier, the opening sequence is goddamn perfect as far as I'm concerned. It's smart and clever and serves as a great reintroduction to the films. While some of the film lags in the middle, it is completely redeemed by a strong, really great, risky ending (although, I would have enjoyed it a tad bit more had it ended five minutes earlier). The only thing really lacking for me was somethng that I really wanted to happen that didn't. SPOILER ALERT - I so wanted one of the original actors to bite the dust (just not Courteney Cox!), but they all survived to Scream another day.

The acting is pretty great all around. Of course, you would expect nothing less from Scream veterans Campbell, Cox and Arquette. While the first three films belonged totally to Campbell and her fine nuanced and fragile performance as Sydney, Cox sort of steals the show here as the ever-sassy, ever-ruthless Gale Weathers Riley. There are some great newcomers to the franchise as well with particularly strong performances from Roberts, Culken, Panettiere, and Alison Brie, as Sydney's money hungry editor. Also, kudos to Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell for all but stealing the show with their small amount of screentime.

All in all, the movie isn't perfect, and it's definitely not going to win any Oscars anytime soon. However, it's a great reboot, and a perfect next installment, for the franchise of Scream. Here's hoping for more smart, clever, witty, scary Scream movies in the future.

Grade: B