In one of those weird ironies that only a writer would appreciate, a random keystroke (or in this case, an inopportune "shift") gives the title of Wes Craven's latest attempt at recapturing past glories, Scream 4, the far more appropriate printout -- Scream $. In reality, it's hard to tell if this new installment is a mere cash grab, or the result of some manner of delusion. What's clear is that expectations, along with time, have taken their toll on the franchise, leaving horror fans wary of the need for another go round. Of course, director Wes Craven and original series scribe Kevin Williamson don't help matters much. It takes them over an hour to get to a real point. And once they make it, it's back to the standard red herring/denouement round-up.
The target this time is social networking and the desire of everyone on planet Earth to substitute hard work and tenacity for fifteen seconds of instant glory on YouTube. Wedged into this obvious social commentary is a trip back to Woodsboro, where it's been years since the last appearance of the venerable Ghostface. As the town tries to forget its murderous past, the local teens celebrate "Stab-athon", an all-night anniversary marathon of the now seven films and growing fictional meta-franchise within the film. Trying to keep the populace under control is Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette), who battles with his antsy former tabloid TV star wife, Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), over her lack of anything "important" to do.
Back into their lives walks Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), in town on a book tour (she's a self-help superstar) and bringing her own baggage along for the ride. As for our new crew of victim fodder, we are introduced to Sidney's cousin Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts), her suspicious mom Kate (Mary McDonnell), cell phone addicted best friends Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) and Olivia (Marielle Jaffe), school film nerd pals Charlie (Rory Culkin) and Robbie (Erik Knudsen), and creepy ex-boyfriend Trevor (Nico Tortorella). All have some sort of weird nu-media fascination with Ghostface, the crimes, and the movies made of same. All also seem to have a direct connection to whoever is repeating the crimes.
Scream 4 is really two films that don't fit very well together. The first is a hackneyed retread of the first three titles, borrowing liberally from both the mythos and the homage-heavy mannerisms of Scream, Scream 2, and Scream 3. While we don't get the return of any major "dead' character, Craven and Williamson work through the standard slice and dice slasher riffs with a direct disregard for previous purpose. In essence, the duo determine that people have to die in this film in order for it to satisfy the demo. So they line up the cattle, break out the cartoon madman, and unleash the redundant knife-wielding. Even with Campbell, Arquette, and Cox milling about on the fringes, the film can't do much more than line up the human cordwood and cut it down.
But then, around the time when Gail makes a deal with the cinema geeks Charlie and Robbie and Sidney does a guest speaking stint at their afterschool meeting, Scream 4 starts to make more sense. Craven and Williamson discover the world circa 2011 and mock it mercilessly. When they are done bashing and berating the Twitterization of terror (including a great scene where a drunken adolescent crowd laughs at some copious suffering and bloodshed), we see what the entire experience could have been. There's even a hint at the beginning when a recent death becomes an in-class texting hurricane. Yet instead of creating something sensationally subversive like his surreal Freddy Krueger deconstruction Wes Craven's New Nightmare, the director goes back to the dead pool, and the audience can't help but drown.
For those who've waited patiently while rumors and reported casting choices clogged up the blogsphere, this will feel like their generation's Scream. Everyone else will simply see the dollar signs at the end of a telling typo.
The target this time is social networking and the desire of everyone on planet Earth to substitute hard work and tenacity for fifteen seconds of instant glory on YouTube. Wedged into this obvious social commentary is a trip back to Woodsboro, where it's been years since the last appearance of the venerable Ghostface. As the town tries to forget its murderous past, the local teens celebrate "Stab-athon", an all-night anniversary marathon of the now seven films and growing fictional meta-franchise within the film. Trying to keep the populace under control is Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette), who battles with his antsy former tabloid TV star wife, Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), over her lack of anything "important" to do.
Back into their lives walks Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), in town on a book tour (she's a self-help superstar) and bringing her own baggage along for the ride. As for our new crew of victim fodder, we are introduced to Sidney's cousin Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts), her suspicious mom Kate (Mary McDonnell), cell phone addicted best friends Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) and Olivia (Marielle Jaffe), school film nerd pals Charlie (Rory Culkin) and Robbie (Erik Knudsen), and creepy ex-boyfriend Trevor (Nico Tortorella). All have some sort of weird nu-media fascination with Ghostface, the crimes, and the movies made of same. All also seem to have a direct connection to whoever is repeating the crimes.
Scream 4 is really two films that don't fit very well together. The first is a hackneyed retread of the first three titles, borrowing liberally from both the mythos and the homage-heavy mannerisms of Scream, Scream 2, and Scream 3. While we don't get the return of any major "dead' character, Craven and Williamson work through the standard slice and dice slasher riffs with a direct disregard for previous purpose. In essence, the duo determine that people have to die in this film in order for it to satisfy the demo. So they line up the cattle, break out the cartoon madman, and unleash the redundant knife-wielding. Even with Campbell, Arquette, and Cox milling about on the fringes, the film can't do much more than line up the human cordwood and cut it down.
But then, around the time when Gail makes a deal with the cinema geeks Charlie and Robbie and Sidney does a guest speaking stint at their afterschool meeting, Scream 4 starts to make more sense. Craven and Williamson discover the world circa 2011 and mock it mercilessly. When they are done bashing and berating the Twitterization of terror (including a great scene where a drunken adolescent crowd laughs at some copious suffering and bloodshed), we see what the entire experience could have been. There's even a hint at the beginning when a recent death becomes an in-class texting hurricane. Yet instead of creating something sensationally subversive like his surreal Freddy Krueger deconstruction Wes Craven's New Nightmare, the director goes back to the dead pool, and the audience can't help but drown.
For those who've waited patiently while rumors and reported casting choices clogged up the blogsphere, this will feel like their generation's Scream. Everyone else will simply see the dollar signs at the end of a telling typo.
