Scream 4...

You know how sometimes it’s nice to pull some old article of clothing out of your closet, put it on, vamp in front of the mirror and reminisce about where you were in your life when you bought it? Or shake your head at what you thought was fashionable at the time?

Scream 4 is pretty much that article of clothing, for better or worse. It’s still kind of fun, even if a bit dated and really does make you want to find an occasion to slip into it again.

Scream 4 is definitely true to the franchise. In many aways, it really does cut into the same vein as it’s predecessors.

Which is kind of the problem.

There’s only so much you can do when trying to adhere to the typical slasher genre that the original scream brought back so gorily in 1996. We know the structure: masked killer massacres youths and chases them around, masked killer is always one of the principal cast members, then masked killer is killed.

This is what made Scream famous even, the way it set out these rules that poked fun at horror conventions. Funny and novel yes, and the new ones provided in Scream 4 still work here, even fifteen years later.

But they are limiting too.

What I mean is, Ghostface can only jump out from so many corners and stab people in so many different ways. And after the three previous films, there’s not much real fear, tension or surprises left.

This isn’t to say Scream 4 is a well executed slasher film. It adheres to the formula it sets out for its self very well and manages to entertain along the way.

The filmmakers obviously took note of the way the genre has been going in the decade since their last stab at the franchise, and the violence has definitely been taken up a notch.

There’s even some good social commentary thrown in and the whole new direction Ghostface takes the killings is actually pretty forward thinking.

The performances here are hit and miss. Some of the newbies are super. Hayden Panettiere delivers a great turn as Kirby. She was actually my favourite character this time around.

Emma Roberts is pretty terrible as Sidney’s cousin Jill, though. Which is disappointing, considering the importance of her role towards the end.

The main cast are as they always were and they are surprisingly well preserved.

My favourite thing about this film though, is a subtle aspect of character development on Sidney’s part. I mean, you’ve spent so many years with people trying to kill you, it’d only make sense for you to learn to defend yourself, right?

And at a few different points in the movie, Sidney really does kick Ghostface’s ass, which is pretty entertaining to watch. I know I have a weird take on these things, but one high kick she delivers towards the beginning had me absolutely loving my life.

Having seen the first Scream film as a prepubescent boy at a sleepover party my sister was having, these films will always be close to my heart. Perhaps these films may shed light on the nature of the creature I am today.

And really I can’t knock this movie for being what it is. It’s simple slasher fun. Nothing new or original about it. Nothing forward thinking, no giant leap forward in horror cinema.

But that wasn’t what any of us were expecting, was it?

I give this film three out of five blood splattered, knife stuck thumbs up for brining me back to my childhood and staying true to the well engrained horror tradition of countless sequels without sucking entirely.

xoxo

D-bag