Directed by:
Wes CravenScreenplay:
Kevin WilliamsonCinematography:
Peter DemingComposer:
Marco BeltramiCast:
Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts, David Arquette, Rory Culkin, Hayden Panettiere, Marley Shelton, Marielle Jaffe, Kristen Bell, Anna Paquin (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
In Scream 4, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), now the author of a self-help book, returns home to Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. There she reconnects with Sheriff Dewey and Gale, who are now married, as well as her cousin Jill (played by Emma Roberts) and her Aunt Kate (Mary McDonnell). Unfortunately Sidney’s appearance also brings about the return of Ghostface, putting Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, along with Jill, her friends, and the whole town of Woodsboro in danger. (Dimension Films)
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Reviews (8)
0% fear, 100% playful (sub)genre tongue in cheek. If Craven and Williamson hadn’t missed the European train, or else if they had had the courage to work with it, this could have been better. Much better, if they had left out the superfluous “alternative ending". They aren’t resuscitating the American teenager slasher with this, they are simply proving that it is long since dead and can’t be approached otherwise than by making a comedy.
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A pleasant meeting with old friends and a much better film than could be expected after My Soul to Take; I liked it as much as the first part. Craven and Williams deliver a pretty effective reflection on the last decades in horror, without altering the spirit of the franchise. It’s still playful and full of references to the genre, some of which are fun, while others are tense. It also makes quite some sense and has a pinch of social satire. I have to say that without that “alternative ending” I would have been shocked and would have admired the courage of the creators, not only to reboot the series, but actually to update it to a 2.0 version. As it is, I’m “only” a satisfied viewer.
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Hayden Panettiere and her Hitchcock-Lady hairstyle is the highlight of the film for me. :-) This juicy slasher tops the previous installments by increasing the body count as well as the number of jokes and film references (both in the dialogue and in the form of posters on the walls). Too bad it came out eleven years after the third Scream and thus serves only as a nostalgic reminder of the famous franchise. The tastes of today’s horror audience have evolved since then.
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There's a lot of things to highlight here (again, the supremely evocative and increasingly gory murders, the perfectly working old/new casting, or the very imaginative pop culture references), but I honestly appreciated the topical commentary on the online environment the most. "Depravity has become the new norm" is an almost painful statement about the ideological emptiness of our times. I wouldn't have expected a now classic 90's horror film to get this good an update, providing a satirical look at today's (post-factual) society in addition to being entertaining again. Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven have pulled it off in a way they certainly have nothing to be ashamed of. They may not have generated the mass response of the latter half of the 90s, nor have they spawned a new phenomenon, but as a nostalgic close to the franchise, Scream 4 works reliably well.
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One of the bloodiest horror franchises is back, and compared to the previous two installments, Scream 4 exuded the terrifying and unforgettable atmosphere of the very beginning of the series. The killer is bolder this time around, the murders are much bloodier, and the participation of old and new acquaintances is enticing. From top to bottom, Scream 4 is riddled with references to its predecessors or other horror films, and it's all topped off with new but effective ideas. I had high hopes for this sequel, and my expectations have been fulfilled to perfection. Wes Craven is still on fire (leaving aside a couple of previous flops) and he staged the return of the masked killer as best he could.
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