Scream 4 - (April 15, 2011): R
Distributor: Dimension Films
Opening Weekend Box-Office: #2 with $18,692,090
Domestic Box-Office Gross to-date: $33,316,679
Gross Revenue: $68,857,604
Budget: $40 million
Director: Wes Craven
It’s hard to speak of any horror movie today without making some mention of the Scream films, which are credited for effectively reviving the slasher film genre that had been on life-support during the late 90’s. The character of Ghostface now ranks among other horror icons such as Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street), Jason Vorhees (Friday the 13th), and Michael Myers (Halloween); he has even gained a following among comedy circles thanks to the spoof film Scary Movie…unfortunately he has been MIA in theaters for 11 years. Luckily for fans, executive producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein and director Wes Craven decided that it was time to reintroduce audiences to the franchise, offering new “rules” for surviving a horror film in this new decade. The development for this sequel was notoriously difficult; the script went through multiple rewrites even as filming commenced, and post-production was marred by the very public break-up of stars Courtney Cox and David Arquette (the two met during the filming of the original in 1996). Still, potential audiences should have been enticed by a revisit to the now legendary and hugely successful franchise, and I myself was eager to hear Ghostface once again ask his victims the now iconic question: “What’s your favorite scary movie?”
Trying to compress four-films-worth of background and plot details into one paragraph is going to be difficult, but here it goes: the Scream series starts in the fictional town of Woodsboro, where masked-killer Ghostface uses his knowledge of horror films to abide by certain rules used to terrorize and stalk victims, the most notable being Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). Together with local law enforcement officer Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and tabloid reporter Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), Sidney has survived three massacres that have followed her everywhere, from college to Hollywood, and claimed friends, family, and enemies. Scream 4 picks up on the fifteenth anniversary of the original Woodsboro murders, with Sidney returning home to promote her new book and Sheriff Dewey and his wife Gale fighting boredom. Peace is shattered when Ghostface reappears, now terrorizing Sidney’s younger cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) and Jill’s friends Kirby (Heroes’ Hayden Panettiere), Robbie (Eric Knudsen), and Charlie (Signs’ Rory Culkin). As notorious film buffs, Robbie and Charlie work to inform everyone about the new rules to surviving a horror film, while Sidney, Gale, and Dewey work to solve and survive this newest batch of murders.
Easily the best part of Scream 4 is the sheer nostalgia factor of watching familiar characters tackle an old enemy again, making inside references to the past films that are sure to thrill fans of the series. For gore and violence junkies, Ghostface is at his murderous worst, tormenting and dispatching his victims with unwavering brutality, significantly upping the suspense factor in comparison to the earlier films. Of the original cast, Courtney Cox seems to enjoy her return the most, bringing an intensity and determination to Gale that reminds you why you love the character so much in the first place. As for the newcomers, it was also nice to see some of the younger actors step out of their comfort zones and take up the mantle of the new generation of slasher victims, Hayden Panettiere standing out as the humorous and supportive best friend. Finally, without spoiling anything, I have to compliment the climactic twist …I spent most of the film trying to reason out the killer’s identity, but nevertheless I was still impressed with the surprising (if not entirely plausible) reveal. As a fan, there was plenty for me to enjoy about Scream 4, but the end result was still far from perfect.
For as much as I enjoyed the trip down horror franchise memory lane that Scream 4 offered, the film ended up relying far too much on its own past without making any effort to lay the groundwork for a future. First off, this sequel offers even less of a back-story on the franchise than I did in the two sentences put forth above…if you are not familiar with Ghostface’s modus operandi or the histories connecting Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, all I can say is good luck figuring out what exactly is going on over the course of the film. As for the new victims, Scream 4 offers very little in terms of character development, because almost as soon as you are introduced to these fresh faces, they step off-screen only to reappear as victims for Ghostface. The presence of other well-known actors feels a little thrown together, as Anthony Anderson, Adam Brody, and Marley Shelton all appear in some capacity as police deputies and I couldn’t help but feel that they deserved more screen time. Scream 4 was positioned as both a sequel and reboot of the franchise, but the finished product just didn’t feel terribly unique, overtly thrilling, or altogether that necessary, and by and large the fans who have waited for 11 years for a return to Woodsboro deserved more…maybe it would have been better to leave the series alone. At one point Sidney yells at the killer: “Don’t f%#! with the original (referring to herself)”...perhaps the film should have followed similar advice.
While an opening weekend of nearly $18 million is nothing to scoff at, it is a relatively disappointing number for the sequel to an established franchise that was meant to renew overall audience interest in the slasher horror genre. Between domestic and international box office receipts, Dimension has already recovered its modest production budget of $40 million, but I still feel that small modifications in marketing tactics could have helped overall performance. The biggest problem involved the fact that the time gap between films was not adequately addressed: the key audiences who would have flocked to a Scream film over 11 years ago have probably outgrown the horror genre, while the teenage and young adult audiences who make up key movie-going demographics today were too young to appreciate the franchise back when it was in its prime. Simply put, the studio’s marketing efforts weren’t aggressive enough; more trailers, sponsored events, product tie-ins, or even a re-release of the original films would have gone a long way. There have been talks of Scream 4 being the start of a new trilogy, but for that to be justified, profits and quality are going to have to soar…fans should definitely see this sequel in theaters, but the uninitiated will be far better off renting from Netflix or Redbox after having learned from the trilogy that defined 90’s horror.
Overall Recommendation: Medium
