Scream 4 (2011)
Scream 4 (2011)
Directed by Wes Craven
Written by Kevin Williamson
Starring Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Emma Roberts, and Hayden Panettiere
The Scream franchise is one of my favorite horror movie serials not just because of the storylines, but because of the director. Few horror directors are more brilliant than Wes Craven. Who better to bring on for the final Scream film than Kevin Williamson, the fabulous screenwriter behind the first and second Scream movies. (Minor trivia - Williamson was also the creator of Dawson's Creek which launched the careers of four major young stars and was loosely-based on Williamson's own teenage years.)
In Scream 4, Sydney Prescott returns to Woodsboro for the last stop on her book tour. She's now a best-selling author, having penned a book about her escape from isolation after the last attack by "Ghostface". Unfortunately, it coincides with the tenth anniversary of the Woodsboro Murders which originally took the life of her mother and later continued (through various killers) to take the lives of her friends and loved ones. But Sydney isn't alone. Gayle Weathers, roving reporter, is now married to Deputy Dewey, who's now Sheriff in Woodsboro and they live the life of a comfortably married couple in a quiet town. This puts a damper on Gayle's work. She's now trying to write fiction because there's been no murder sprees to keep her busy.
Until the killing starts again...
After that, the body count rises and the horror movie rules are turned upside down. As one character laments, "the only way to survive is if you're gay". Everyone is fair game. Just when you think you have it figured out as to who the killer is, they meet the blade.
This movie brings a new angle to the technology we take for granted everyday. The victims get calls on their cell phones (complete with caller I.D.), one Woodsboro High student spends his entire day with a camera headset, streaming live to a web blog. Gayle uses hidden cameras to try and catch the killer at a "Stab-A-Thon" movie marathon. The killer even uses video to record the deaths of their victims. Scream 4 is also a serious meta movie. There are several similarities with the previous films, including character types and deaths.
I won't reveal the killer but I will say this much - it takes the premises of the previous five killers (Billy & Stu, Mickey & Mrs. Loomis, and Roman) and wraps them into one damaged and sadistic figure, someone killing to become famous, sick of living in someone else's shadow, and attempting to pin the murders on someone else. It's the ultimate end to the Scream films...if this IS the end.
Directed by Wes Craven
Written by Kevin Williamson
Starring Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Emma Roberts, and Hayden Panettiere
The Scream franchise is one of my favorite horror movie serials not just because of the storylines, but because of the director. Few horror directors are more brilliant than Wes Craven. Who better to bring on for the final Scream film than Kevin Williamson, the fabulous screenwriter behind the first and second Scream movies. (Minor trivia - Williamson was also the creator of Dawson's Creek which launched the careers of four major young stars and was loosely-based on Williamson's own teenage years.)
In Scream 4, Sydney Prescott returns to Woodsboro for the last stop on her book tour. She's now a best-selling author, having penned a book about her escape from isolation after the last attack by "Ghostface". Unfortunately, it coincides with the tenth anniversary of the Woodsboro Murders which originally took the life of her mother and later continued (through various killers) to take the lives of her friends and loved ones. But Sydney isn't alone. Gayle Weathers, roving reporter, is now married to Deputy Dewey, who's now Sheriff in Woodsboro and they live the life of a comfortably married couple in a quiet town. This puts a damper on Gayle's work. She's now trying to write fiction because there's been no murder sprees to keep her busy.
Until the killing starts again...
After that, the body count rises and the horror movie rules are turned upside down. As one character laments, "the only way to survive is if you're gay". Everyone is fair game. Just when you think you have it figured out as to who the killer is, they meet the blade.
This movie brings a new angle to the technology we take for granted everyday. The victims get calls on their cell phones (complete with caller I.D.), one Woodsboro High student spends his entire day with a camera headset, streaming live to a web blog. Gayle uses hidden cameras to try and catch the killer at a "Stab-A-Thon" movie marathon. The killer even uses video to record the deaths of their victims. Scream 4 is also a serious meta movie. There are several similarities with the previous films, including character types and deaths.
I won't reveal the killer but I will say this much - it takes the premises of the previous five killers (Billy & Stu, Mickey & Mrs. Loomis, and Roman) and wraps them into one damaged and sadistic figure, someone killing to become famous, sick of living in someone else's shadow, and attempting to pin the murders on someone else. It's the ultimate end to the Scream films...if this IS the end.