Scream 4

Director: Wes Craven

Stars: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox

Rated: MA

I am not a horror movie fan.

Thanks to a rather vivid memory of watching Candyman as a teenager, where I was so completely scared out of my wits I didn’t sleep for a week, you will now NEVER catch me watching the likes of Saw or Hostel.

But, an old friend of mine managed to convince me to watch the original Scream a few years after its actual release and in it I found a darkly funny, palpable horror movie, where story and character arc, rather than just blood and guts (although it has a lot of that too), made it a truly unique horror film.

Then Wes Craven backed it up with Scream 2 (astonishingly, equally as good) and finished it off with Scream 3, (absolutely hysterical thanks to some stellar performances by Jenny McCarthy and Parker Posey), and because of this, up until a few days ago, I thought Wes Craven was a God….then he went and made Scream 4.

Ten years have passed since the original and Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), has managed to put her life back together with the help of a tell all book, but when Sidney visits Woodsboro for her book launch it becomes evident that the Ghostface Killer is back and gunning even harder for Sidney.

Sound like you’ve heard this all before? You have. The tag line is – New Decade New Rules – but it should say Same Shit Same Movie instead. Everything has been repackaged to cash in on the Gen Ys love for horror, even a vain attempt to shine a spotlight on a YouTube generations thirst for their 15 minutes of fame fails miserably with some terrible dialogue and horrendous overacting.

Even the regular players feel like they’re just going through the motions. There’s no more ass kicking Sidney Prescott from Scream 3 ready to throw a few punches, David Arquette’s Dewey Cox is just plain said now and you can’t tell what emotion Courtney Cox is trying to convey with a face full of botox.

This really did have the potential to be great considering its legacy, but instead it’s a predictable C grade horror movie that will have you yelling at the screen dumbfounded at why a woman would get out of her car knowing the killer is out there, when she has a perfectly good mobile phone…seriously Wes?

#movie #moviereview #filmreview #film #scream #wescraven #horror

– Suzanna Parisi

Originally published in DB Magazine #Issue519 (street mag no longer exists - link no longer available)