Scream 4: A Geekcentric Review
Copywrite of Dimension Films
I’m not generally a horror movie guy. It comes from a serious and terminal medical condition called “I’m a giant bitch.” I prefer to watch my horror movies on a Sunday afternoon in a brightly lit area on a 13″ TV across the room. Yeah, It’s that bad. The Scream franchise has always been near and dear to my heart. I wasn’t even old enough to buy a ticket to the first three Scream films at the time of their release, but this time around, boy howdy, I was ready. We shipped the child off to my parents house, wife and I went to dinner, and were first in line to catch Scream 4 on opening night, here are my thoughts.
The first thing you’ll notice, right in the phenomenal opening sequence, is how AMAZINGLY self-aware this movie is. Honestly, there’s a few moments during the film where you’ll think you’re actually watching Scary Movie 5. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, there was a great vibe with lots of good feelings in that theater, but it does make it difficult to take the latest Ghostface shenanigans seriously. Scream 4 has no problem poking fun at how cliche it’s considered and throws you for a loop on more than one occasion. Sure, there are some cheap scares and cheaper laughs, but all in all, Scream 4 is well done.
One of the beautiful things about Scream is that it almost singlehandedly resurrected the slasher genre. Scream 4 was true to form. None of the torture-porn gore-fests of late, no supernatural aspects, Scream 4 doesn’t even really build on it’s own “mythology” it’s just a fun, straight up, killers-gonna-get-you slasher flick and for that I am grateful. Don’t think there’s nothing in it for the fans, oh no…there are easter eggs and little morsels all through this film. Case in point….the very briefly seen statue bust in memory of Principal Arthur Himbry (played by Henry Winkler in the original Scream.)
The actual death scenes achieved a high level of “messed up” but never neared the threshold of to corny or to gory. None of the performances were amazing or stellar, but they were solid. The cameos were appropriate. Buddy Cops Adam Brody and Anthony Anderson were in top form. David Arquette’s “Dewey” reaches a level of uselessness only exceeded by Courtney Cox’s “Gail Weathers.” This is understandable, however, as that traditional slasher movies are all about the witty teenagers who aren’t witty enough continue breathing.
I’d like to start a tradition here, hopefully one my fellow Geekcentricity writers will carry on as we review more films. I present to you my favorite out-of-context line from Scream 4.
“Fuck Bruce Willis.”
In closing, Wes Craven takes you on a journey…at several points during the film you suspect someone different of being the killer, and you have a great deal of fun trying to “solve the case.” If you’re a fan of horror, slasher, or even just Scream, go ahead and see this one. It’s fun, it’s exciting, it’s true to the genre, and it’s a great way to kick off the summer movie season.
