Scream 4 breaks the mold of the franchise, delivering brutal kills and suspenseful scenes that keep the audience engaged throughout the entire runtime.
The story is pretty weak, requiring quite a suspension of disbelief, as is the case with the majority of the Scream sequels. The introduction of new family members of Sidney Prescott felt a little out of place, with no mention of an aunt in the previous films. But all that aside, this movie delivers on what I have been wanting throughout the entire franchise: blood, gore, and brutality. The majority of slasher films have poor plots, but that is not why you are there, you want uncensored horror. With Scream 4, the blood is cranked to a hundred, with crime scenes left with the walls repainted, intestines falling out of victims, and slits that ooze with blood with every heartbeat. Not only are the kills brutal, but our Ghostface is too. His phone calls have a tremendous amount of anger, with some lines being incredibly messed up. Overall, it was a real treat to watch. In addition, the meta-commentary worked pretty well for me unlike the previous films; I do not know if it is just a product of the times, as I was only a child when the first trilogy was released, so quite a bit of references could have flown over my head.
Much like previous films, the new characters did not do much for me. They lacked any interesting details and were merely there to be meat sacks for our killer's knife to enter, and enter they did. Hayden Panettiere was a standout, who I especially enjoyed though. Emma Roberts was okay; she never really seemed convincing in the role she was attempting to play. Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox are badasses once again; I will never get sick of seeing them kick Ghostface’s ass while attempting to avoid death. I have been pretty critical of David Arquette throughout the series, but in Scream 4, he did a great job and really added a lot to the movie.
Wes Craven did an excellent job with the direction of this film. Where Scream 3 felt generic and uninspired, Scream 4 felt like a real passion project for him, with an infusion of new ideas to keep the series fresh. It was easily my favorite directorial performance since the original.
Overall, I really enjoyed Scream 4 and think it is the first film to actually rival the original. With a slightly tighter story, this film could have easily been the best in the series.
Score: 70%
Verdict: Good
