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

The Scream Trilogy

A week from tomorrow is a very glorious day indeed: the release of Scream 4! I know I'm probably more excited than I should be about it, but the fact of the matter is, I grew up with the original Scream trilogy. So, in order to prepare myself for the fourth installation, I rewatched the first three and will now talk about how awesome they are. Is a SPOILER WARNING relevant if something is more than a decade old???

Scream (1996)
Director: Wes Craven
Writer: Kevin Williamson
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Skeet Ulrich, Drew Barrymore, Rose McGowan, Matthew Lillard, Jamie Kennedy, Liev Schreiber
So, this is where it all began. A movie-loving masked murderer begins targeting teenagers (and an ill-fated principal) as a sort of psychotic craze. But is it? Nope, turns out there is a back story involving heroine Sydney (Campbell) and her mother Maureen who has been dead for - oh, what? - just about exactly one year. Scream's plot isn't revolutionary but this smart as hell, quick plotted, witty film revitalized the slasher genre. With it's tongue in cheek humor and it's rules for survival, it mocked the films that came before, while also paying homage to them, while also breathing life back into a genre that was long dead. And, man, was it brilliant, thanks in part to director Craven's knowledge of directing horror films, and writer Williamson's super smart, talky, pop culture laden script. Scream pays homage in the most subtle ways: Billy's last name is Loomis much like characters in A Nightmare on Elm Street and Psycho, Barrymore (a HUGE star who got top billing) bites the dust before the credits a la Janet Leigh in Psycho. It also rewrites the rules: One of the rules Randy mentions is that virgins are the only ones who can outsmart the killer. However, later in the film Sydney loses her v-card and still manages to survive the big third act bloodbath. The best tongue in cheek moment comes courtesy of Sydney who is on the phone with the killer talking about why she hates horror movies, saying the victims are "always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door," and then moments later does just that. Fifteen years later, the movie is only slightly dated. I mean, they sure make a big fuss about a teenage boy having a "cellular telephone" but other than that it still seems as hip as it did back then. All in all, the first scream was just fantastic in every way, shape and form.
Grade: A

Scream 2 (1997)
Director: Wes Craven
Writer: Kevin Williamson
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, Liev Schreiber, Jada Pinkett Smith, Omar Epps, Elise Neal, Jerry O'Connell, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Timothy Olyphant, Laurie Metcalf, Rebecca Gayheart, Portia de Rossi
One year later in real life but two years later in movie life, Scream 2 picks up with Sydney (Campbell) and Randy (Kennedy) both attending Windsor College. A movie called STAB, based on the story of their life, has just hit theaters. In the pre-credits death scene, Pinkett Smith and Epps bite the dust while watching a preview in a theater. Of course, Gale Weathers (Cox) smells a story and shows up and it seems the deaths are happening all over again. And, of course, there are rules to sequels as well. The death scenes are bigger and more elaborate, for one and that is definitely the case here. There is also a healthy debate during the film about the fact that sequels are never, ever better than the original. And that's the case here as well, but not by much. Scream 2 is truly a great follow up to the first. It's still got the tongue in cheek wit while also managing to be genuinely frightening and intense. And it's also got a surprising amount of heart: try not to get a little misty eyed when our poor, sweet, dorky Randy gets murdered.
Grade: A-

Scream 3 (2000)
Director: Wes Craven
Writer: Ehren Kruger
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Liev Schreiber, Kelly Rutherford, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Foley, Lance Henriksen, Deon Richmond, Jenny McCarthy, Emily Mortimer, Parker Posey, and a special appearance by Jamie Kennedy just to appease those of us who were completely tramuatized by his death in Scream 2
So, it's a few years later. Sydney is living the life of a hermit, shacked up in an extravagent secluded house, working from home as a crisis counselor, seemingly only having contact with her father and her dog. In Hollywood, Sunrise Studios is making Stab 3. Liev Schreiber's love-to-hate-him character Cotton Weary has bitten the dust, pre-opening credits style. But the plot thickens: the killer left a picture at the death scene and that picture just happens to be of Sydney's long dead mom back when she was young and fresh-faced. Gale smells a juicy story and shows up to poke around in Hollywood. I remember loving all the Scream movies equally, but upon rewatching them, I will quickly admit that Scream 3 doesn't live up to the other two, not one bit. For starters, gone is Kevin Williamson's witty, smart script which is replaced by dialogue that is just trying way too damn hard. The only character who gets good lines is Parker Posey's hilarious actress Jennifer who is playing Gale Weathers. Posey is so much better than her material and she makes every scene a little bit better. She has some particularly hilarious scenes with Cox near the middle of the film that almost make everything that's wrong with this movie a little bit better. And what's wrong with it, per se? Besides sloppy, lazy writing, it calls in question everything that had happened in the first two (which is apparently a rule of the trilogy) but in the most stupid way possible. Also, there are ongoing scenes with Sydney's dead mother appearing to her and talking to her that are just plain dumb. So, I will admit it, the Scream trilogy is not perfect. Scream 3 is not nearly as good as the first two, but I still love it. It's sort of like the Halloween series for me. Everyone knows Halloween 4 and 5 are crap but I love them anyway. In fact, Halloween 4 is probably my second favorite of the series even though it's just plain bad.
Grade: C+