Scream 4 Review

Wow! Where do I begin! To say Scream 4 was amazing would be an understatement. The simple fact that after 11 years a movie could redefine the horror genre YET AGAIN is unheard of. Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson had a simple plan. If we are going to make a fourth Scream movie then we have to go big. We have to do something that has never been done in a Scream movie before while still staying true to what made the franchise such a phenomenon in the first place. They did exactly that. And MORE!

Without giving away too much of the movie, the opening scene starts off like each of the last three in the franchise. Someone's home alone, they get a phone call and are asked "What type of topping do you want on your pizza?" Kidding! "What's your favorite scary movie?" Yes it's Cliché BUT the way it was done in this film was both clever and hilarious at the same time and it worked! Throughout the rest of the film you really get a sense that while trying to go in a fresh new direction, it never lets you forget about the events that brought us to this point in the first place.

Sidney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell) was once again in the center of a massacre with everyone around her dropping like flies. She returned to her home town of Woodsboro, which just so happens to be the last stop on her book tour. The whole town was abuzz due to their local celebrity returning to the place where it all started. This also happens to be the anniversary of the "Woodsboro Murders" that took place all those years ago. Deaths that made Sidney who she is today. While there, she runs into the old gang, Sheriff Dewey (played by David Arquette) and Gail Weathers (played by Courteney Cox). Shortly thereafter impending danger ensues but this time around Sidney isn't the one running from the danger. She was the one running towards it! Sidney's niece Jill (played by Emma Roberts) took the reigns as the new central victim in the flick after having her run in with Ghostface. Sidney feels as though it's her responsibility to protect Jill by any means necessary, being considered "The Angel of Death" by everyone in town.

Throughout the film new characters are introduced which made for a very fresh take on the direction this fourth installment is going in. There's a lot of talk about the horror films that have come out since Scream 3 back in 2000 and the way the horror genre in general has changed. Scream 4 showed that technology as a whole can be a big difference maker when it comes to the genre and it used that very well throughout the film. Scream 4 had it's usual hilarity, constantly making fun itself because -- that's what Scream movies do! They threw in some references to John Carpenter's Halloween which it has done in previous Scream films before. But underneath all of that humor the scares kept on coming in what turned out to be the best HORROR (emphasis on the word) movie of any in the Scream franchise. Wes Craven took things up a notch, not only with the storyline and new characters but with the murders alone. Some were just down right gruesome but in a good way! Highly unexpected.

Whatever your anticipation level is for Scream 4 it will be reached once you see this film! In comparison to the original Scream, (which in my opinion this movie tried to outdo in every way) this film holds up very well! I could see this going down as if not the best Scream movie then a very, very close second in the franchise. Scream 4 will once again change the face of horror and will give you that feeling you had when you saw the original Scream for the first time and thought to yourself how fresh and re-inventive the movie was! Scream 4 WILL NOT disappoint -- well unless you are looking for Randy to pop up again with another video and in that case you are shit out of luck (oops spoiler alert!)

Sidney says a line in the film that once you hear it, you will never forget it. Remakes have pretty much taken over the horror genre since the last Scream movie so it's, if anything refreshing to have a new Scream movie upon us after so many years. Wes Craven realized this as well and being the walking, talking satire the Scream movies are, this line said by Sidney's pretty much sums up what he thinks about remakes as well:

"You know the thing about remakes... you shouldn't FUCK with the original!"

I just love that line especially in the context in which she used it in the film. There hasn't been a movie outside of Paranormal Activity or the Saw movies that has turned the genre on it's side and showed people something totally different. PA had it's sequel come out last year and their have been a number of Saw movies since it's original but Scream is that franchise that put horror movies back on the map and it looks to do the same thing yet again! From top to bottom Scream 4 has it all and for those of us who have been waiting 11 years to see Ghostface once again reek havoc on the town of Woodsboro -- your wait is over! And trust me -- it was worth it!

5 out of 5 KNIVES