Sidney Prescott just can’t catch a break. The haunted heroine of fictional Woodsboro has been terrorized by serial killer Ghostface on a semi-regular basis since the murder of her mother 15 years ago. Now, two sequels and a handful of dead slutty teens later, the billowy psycho is back to wreak havoc in “Scream 4.”
Sidney (Neve Campbell, whose “Why are you doing this to me face?” and heavily banged hairstyle haven’t aged a day) is returning to her hometown for the first time in 11 years in order to promote her new book. Why she and her publicist (Allison Brie, who puts an extra perk in each F-bomb) thought returning to Woodsboro on the anniversary of the killings would be a good idea is anyone’s guess, but Sidney puts her brave face (which has more of a furrowed brow than her victimized face) back on once it is apparent that Ghostface has returned as well.
“Scream 4” is constantly reminding the viewers of “new movie, new rules,” and so that means Sidney won’t be the only target this time around: Ghostface has also set his sights on her younger cousin, Jill (Emma “Julia’s niece” Roberts) and her ragtag group of quick-speaking, hyper-pop-culture-aware friends.
The best thing about the “Scream” franchise is its unashamed willingness to self-deprecate. The movie has become a franchise about a franchise – former journalist Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox, who has finally found a stylist that can clothe her in outfits that wouldn’t scare even a serial killer away) wrote a series of books detailing the Woodsboro murders and those, in turn, have been made into the ever-popular “Stab” movies. Teens in “Scream” are obsessed with “Stab” as much as teens not in “Scream” are obsessed with, well, “Scream.”
Trying to wrap your head around some of the self-awareness is like standing in a room with continually reflecting mirrors. Instead, it’s best to embrace the hilarious self-mocking of “Scream 4” for what it is: a wittier, bloodier, better movie than its predecessors.
The opening sequence – 10 minutes in which director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson will fool you more than once – sets the scene for the hip reboot. Pretty girls are still getting phone calls from a scraggly voiced killer, but they’re stalked on era-appropriate Facebook, too. Williamson knows his way around speaking like a teen – he’s currently a writer for sexy “The Vampire Diaries” – so of course his characters name drop everything cool from Channing Tatum to Harry Potter.
Special effects have evolved rapidly since the days when Drew Barrymore was hung from a tree, so the
killings come complete with dangling insides and excessive pools of blood. As with the very horror movies it claims to mock (the characters repeatedly speak of a horror movie’s “rules” for survival), the scares and murders are somewhat predictable. This isn’t the audience’s first adventure with Sidney Prescott, so there’s really no gasp of surprise when Ghostface threatens to kill everyone she loves and then people start dropping like flies whenever she’s around (Jill’s friend even nicknames Sid “The Angel of Death”).
From cameos by Kristen Bell and Anna Paquin to bit parts by Adam Brody and Anthony Anderson, the roles are impeccably cast with actors who know that the “Scream” movies are harmless, bloody good fun. Seasoned vets Cox and Campbell jump back into their roles with enthusiastic gusto, as does David Arquette as town sheriff Dewey. As expected, they are as self-aware of their place on the sidelines as their characters are: it’s a reboot, so the show belongs to the new crop of doomed damsels. The best of the cool kids is Hayden Panettiere as Jill’s snarky, rebellious BFF. She’s got the best lines, the best haircut and more spunk than she ever did as an invincible cheerleader on “Heroes.”
Roberts, on the other hand, will need to do more than blandly mope about with her emotionless eyes to prove that her casting – and budding career, for that matter – isn’t due to a heavy dose of nepotism. Even her performance during the adrenaline-charged third act – which should have been her time to shine – falls as flat as a bloody knife to a wooden floor.
There are tons more smirk-worthy details that just can’t be divulged without having to scream “spoiler!” Even the actors had to keep tight-lipped on whether their contracts had been renewed for the planned “Scream 5” and “Scream 6.”
With Craven’s expertly tight directing and Williamson’s even tighter dialogue, it’s likely that the duo accomplished just what they set out to do with this Screamake: a whole new generation of fans who will know just what to say when a cloaked creeper gives them a ring to ask “What’s your favorite scary movie?”
No comments:
Post a Comment