Scream 4: three stars
Rated: R for violence, language and mature subject matter
The great thing about the Scream films is that the characters have watched horror movies. They know that going and exploring strange sounds in the middle of the night or answering the phone at two in the morning when you’re babysitting is a bad idea; they know the names of horror icons like Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, and that when you see someone wearing a mask and wielding a knife your best bet is to run as fast as you can in the opposite direction.
I watched Scream 4 with very little hope of being surprised or entertained. Doubtless, I thought, this film will offer anything new; there are only so many times you can see a guy wearing a mask and stalking a group of young adults before the idea seems as delightful as watching paint dry. But I was pleasantly surprised. There’s not much new here: Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is back in Woodsboro, a town that has seen so many murders I’m surprised anyone still lives there, let alone watches horror movies. Back with Sidney are Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette). Fans of the previous films will know these people intimately.
Scream 4 knows it’s a sequel. Part of its charm is its awareness other movies have come before it and that it must make a lasting impression if it wants to be remembered by the die-hard fans. It opens with clips from Stab 6, the movie version of the Woodsboro Murders novel Gale wrote back between Scream 1 and Scream 2. A couple of co-eds get killed and then we smash cut to the beginning of Stab 7 where two other co-eds are just sitting down to enjoy Stab 6. Think of it like one of those Russian dolls with another doll inside it and another inside it. The sequence is rather cute and shows director Wes Craven’s ability to poke fun at himself.
All in all, Scream 4 may be the best I’ve seen since the first one. If you’re a fan of the others, it’s definitely worth a look.
‘Til next time! See you at the movies.
