Poor Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) just can’t catch a break. While at her hometown to promote her book about a life surrounded by serial killers, the “Angel of Death” sparks a new murdering spree. This time the focus shifts to her high school aged cousin Jill (Emma Roberts), whose friends are dying off at the hands of a copycat Ghostface killer.
Jill houses a mixed bag of friends. Her ex-boyfriend (Nico Tortorella) is acting more than a little sketchy. Film geeks Robbie (Erik Knudsen) & Charlie (Rory Culkin) recite the rules of the killer’s game. Meanwhile the outgoing Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) joins the mix, and the series’ sleuth Gale (Courtney Cox) tries to put it all together.
Do you see a pattern here? The original cast is essentially dueling with their replacements. To Sidney there is Jill, to the inept Sheriff Dewey (David Arquette) there is the even more Fifian Deputy Judy (Marley Shelton). It’s an element that I haven’t seen spring up in a film before, and its fourth-wall exploitation is ingenious as a fourth installment actually questions its own validity.
The Scream saga is the last remaining cash cow for director Wes Craven. In some regard this one gets away from him. A few too many scenes are played for laughs and the tone of Scream 4 mirrors the original Scary Movie parody more than it does the original 1996 Scream. It’s too over-the-top to make you concerned for the characters, but the laughs are there—thanks to Courtney Cox, who the writers treat as the star of the franchise—even if they are inadvertent.
Slasher exploitation abounds as teenage girls spill blood with reckless abandon, and the leads have cat lives. It’s more of the same, but crowd pleasing and necessary. To me the most interesting aspect of Scream 4 is its statement toward the condition of franchise rebooting. It’s cynical in the least, but oft times too in-your-face to merit artistic acclaim or creativity. It’s certainly one thing to comment on the state of horror remakes in what appears to the viewer to be a transitional reboot, but the self-indulgent trick intro(s) and surreal behavior takes away from the hip agenda. Scream 4 remains a solid and daring entry. **½
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