By Tony Johnson, Arts & Entertainment Editor
Reviving, remaking, or rebooting a movie series many years after the last installment is no easy task and often a gamble. Especially in the case of remade/rebooted horror films, which, more often than not, fail to match the feel of the original as well as garner any success at the box office. However, Scream 4, being released more than ten years after the last installment in Wes Craven’s popular Scream trilogy, is a game-changer.
After a riveting and hilarious set-piece opening, we return to the town of Woodsboro, where Sidney Prescott’s (a tormented and refreshing Neve Campbell) family issues all began. And what family issues she had/has. She’s there promoting her new book, but it doesn’t take long before her past comes out of the darkness to haunt her. While the first three movies provide back story and wouldn’t be a bad idea to watch before re-entering or visiting Woodsboro for the first time, it’s not totally necessary. Series favorites such as Prescott, feisty and loveable journalist/author with writer’s block Gale Weathers (an aged Courtney Cox glows amongst a changing youth), and Dewey Riley (a welcomed return from David Arquette) all come back on screen to help resurrect the series, but Scream 4 is meant to come off as more of a reboot than sequel. The original characters have developed off-screen over the years, so all the focus on character development on-screen goes to the new generation which includes a blonde girl/secret movie-buff Kirby (Hayden Panettiere), a creepy guy/proud movie-buff Charlie (Rory Culkin), and, of course, a relative of Sidney Prescott’s, Jill (an all-grown-up Emma Roberts).
New characters equal new blood for Ghostface (oh yeah, that masked-killer is back too). He won’t reach the majority of them without a fight from the veterans though, which makes it all the more exciting. As the tag line states: “New decade. New rules.” Since new characters are introduced, we can’t help but think old-favorites are going to start dying off. That’s not how Ghostface will have it though. The only sequel aspect of Scream 4 is that everything, like in the first three films, links back to Sidney and her family’s past. Sticking to the original plot while bringing in new characters and motives can make the movie a bit busy at times, but it never goes so hay-wire that it turns into a bloody-mess.
Speaking of bloody, Scream 4 isn’t at all as scary as the original, but, quite possibly, funnier. For audiences who enjoy watching fake gore and red corn syrup splatter everywhere, there is plenty in supply. Yet, it’s much more comical than horrifying, as it most likely intends to be. The killing-sequences are merely jumpy and suspenseful scenes that lead up to the final and frightening twist. While the concluding revelation isn’t the most shocking twist in cinema history, it’s a big surprise, and makes the fourth installment of the series the most thrilling one since the first. In fact, the final ten minutes or so of the film are so shocking and worthy of out loud commentary such as “did that really just happen?!” that they provide equal, if not more entertainment than the rest of the film.
Scream 4 is over the top, gratuitous, and cheesy at times. Yet, it is also smart, hilarious, and fun the whole way through. It sticks with what made the original so cutting-edge, but adds new rules to the game. It’s not a horror film classic like the original is considered to be, but rather is a celebration of the original and simply revamps it for the new age. While it can lose control of itself sometimes, it’s a perfect combination of scary and funny, as well as the old and the new. The original wasn’t broke, and this reboot doesn’t try to fix it. Instead of bringing completely new ideas to life, it revives lost and forgotten ones. As Neve Campbell’s Sidney Prescott says to Ghostface, “don’t [mess] with the original.” B
