Scream 4 (2011)

Heard the term "reboot?". It’s done to discard continuity or establish a new universe. It sounds like a "remake" but it’s not telling the original’s similar story. It’s working with the audience’s familiarity of the original work. In movies, it’s done to attract new fans to a franchise that has grown stale and work with an established fan base to generate profit.

Before I get sucked into the review, let me just say RIP Wes Craven. I should have mentioned this in my last review but I think it’s really important to acknowledge this mastermind won’t be alive to give us any more adrenaline pumping suspense thrillers like the Scream trilogy (One of my favourite trilogies.) I’d seen Scream 4 a long time back and I enjoyed it but my recent viewing made the minus points brighter than the plus points.

Sidney Prescott has returned to Woodsboro after many years and is launching a book on her experiences of facing off five psychopathic nut-jobs (yeah I would definitely read how girl did that!). Her return sparks a new wave of kills, chills and thrills but this ride is for Sidney’s cousin Jill Roberts and her college circle. Sidney is just supposed to sit and watch people drop dead until the climax reveals her role in this new blood bath. Can Sidney reduce the body count and save the day? Can Gale get another book written from this fiasco? Can Dewey finally prove him useful instead of being tossed around like a rag doll?   

The latest instalment in the Scream franchise is a reboot. My intro explanation should enlighten you on the purpose of this instalment but I can’t guarantee how much it helps you enjoy the movie. See this movie was supposed to be the start of a new trilogy. Kinda been waiting half a decade for the next part to come out.  

See the writing behind the Scream franchise is what I believe is what makes this franchise worth watching whether it’s the awesome f***-word one-liners or the suspense-filled screenplay. So I’ll start of mentioning the writing behind this reboot this movie isn’t a reboot of the franchise; it’s a reboot of the storyline. To make this a reboot of the franchise, you would need things like the younger generation taking over Sidney, Dewey and Gale’s roles. Their struggles. Their banter. More elaborate death scenes. More unpredictable jump scare placements. A shakier suspect list. Also, the characters need enough spunk/sympathy/humour in their personalities for us to even care about them when they’re put in harm’s way.  

Reading these points you would think I know the franchise like the back of my hand. Unfortunately the writer Kevin Williamson wasn’t thinking like me. He did a good job with the first two Scream movies. Unfortunately the writing seems like a half-hearted effort here.

·         Sidney, Dewey and Gale are still the main characters of this franchise which is good except they aren’t at their best because they’re doing the same things they did ten years ago. Dewey and Gale are married. Whoopee! They looked married even when they were arguing in the previous sequels. No big surprise there. Sidney makes some effort to combat the villain with a kick and some quick thinking so I’ll excuse her.

·         The younger generation are ""So Not Interesting"". There’s two Randy Meeks wannabe geeks who combined together... aren’t even half of what Randy was. Randy looked like a guy who actually watched movies. These two look like people who just read about movies off the Internet. There’s the suspicious boyfriend who’s supposed to give the Billy Loomis vibes but comes across as constipated. There’s Sidney’s cousin Jill who carries the lost-and-confused expression even before the killing starts. There’s Jill’s bestie Kirby who was the saving grace for me. She was interesting to watch and gave the much required spunk.

·         The death scenes and the jump scares don’t have the same magic as the trilogy. The trilogy had the protagonists crawling over an unconscious Ghostface in a taxi that crashed, a TV studio where Ghostface haunts the leads, a gas leak explosion and a heart-pounding use of two way mirrors. This movie hardly has any scenes I can put up there with the trilogy’s best scenes. People said this movie was an improvement over Scream 3 but sorry I prefer that movie over this and I’ll apply the same criticism people used for Scream 3 - " has become what it originally spoofed "

Other disadvantages: a lot of characters seem to serve no reason other than body count. Although I couldn’t predict the killer’s reveal and the motive, it didn’t exactly lead to an excitable climax. I’ll give you a clue; a hospital room that’s about the size of your living room. You guys had potential to do a Halloween 2-type climax. The writer had an opportunity to use a subplot of Gale engaging in banter with Deputy Judy Hicks but doesn’t do much with it. The opening sequence was interesting but the second time I saw this movie it was very annoying. It looked gimmicky and felt like an obligation.

On to some plus points, the killer’s reveal and motive was good. The killer’s acting really stands out in the climax. Kirby’s character was good. Sidney was good in her brief face-offs with the killer. The parking lot scene where Ghostface confronts Sidney’s book publicist. The students discussing the rules of the reboot.

This movie is a reboot in the sense that you don’t need to have seen Scream 2 and Scream 3. You just need common knowledge to know Sidney’s life has been screwed over with Ghostface enough times. All the references in this film are directed to the original Scream. The pre-climax had a nod to Scream’s opening sequence.  

I won’t give an overall verdict on if you should see the movie or not. My above rant tells you what to look out for. I believe the Scream trilogy will always be remembered in the horror movie record books for bringing the excitement back into the slasher genre with its focus on suspense rather than gore. Especially the first Scream. Sequels, reboots and remakes can’t prevent the franchise from growing stale but they can do a good job of fucking up the original like Sidney mentions during the movie. Why does she say that? Watch Scream 4 to find out!