Friday, October 14, 2011

Scream 4 and Long Kill Lists: A Movie Review



Director: Wes Craven.

Writer: Kevin Williamson.

After Wes Craven's dismal outing in My Soul to Take this horror film fan chose to avoid the fourth Scream film in theatres, Scream 4. However, reviews were not unkind and many enjoyed this title. Now that the film is on DVD as of October 4th, this reviewer can safely say that Craven has redeemed himself as a Master of Horror. In this third sequel, made eleven years after the third film, many characters from the original return including Sidney (Neve Campbell), Gale (Courtney Cox) and Dewey (David Arquette). However, they must now contend will some noobs on the horror scene like Trudie (Shenae Grimes), Jill (Emma Roberts), Charlie (Rory Culkin) and Kirby (Hayden Panettiere). This reviewer will not reveal who wins this Hollywood grudge match! Yet, the winner is unimportant while the spectacular and bloody fight scenes rule this thrilling show.

The scope of this review is not enough to fill in the blanks from the previous three films. Suffice to say, a killer has been stalking Sidney for several hours in film now in different forms. He always wears a ghostfaced mask and black costume, however. In this latest story, Ghostface is clearly being orchestrated by two killers. This is double the fun right? This might also be seen as double the complexity. And one element is obvious: Sheriff Dewey (Arquette) is truly incompetent. He is always a step behind this serial killer who has a knack for the use of a very sharp blade. Other officers are also fodder and high-schoolers and cinema buffs. The killer really has a diverse and long kill list. Thankfully, novelist Gale and the semi-protagonist Sidney are a little more astute to the killer's comings and goings.

Craven's skill behind the camera is obvious in his use of transitions and the capture of action sequences. The continuity from one scene to the next is seamless. As well, the bloody action is filmed often from multiple perspectives allowing the viewer to identify with a number of characters. Without any strong male roles, this reviewer was forced to identify with the killer. Go Ghostface! The female characters are much better drawn by writer Kevin Williamson.

As well, Craven, or possibly the writer, uses the play within a play style of filmmaking developed by William Shakespeare in Hamlet previously in plays. There are multi-layers here as "Stab 6" and "Stab 7" play with your conceptions of forward progression and violent beginnings. Which is the real film? The cliched violent beginning is here, but you will not know which scene is real and which is a set-up. Hamlet uses a play within a play in an accusatory form. Both forms of media show a multi-layered narrative. Simply put, there is more going on in the film than you might expect.

Also in later scenes Craven pokes fun at the horror cliches e.g. "I will be right back!" You never want to say this in a horror film, or you will soon be the next killed. As well, actor Anthony Anderson gets to poke fun of his role in Cop Out and at cops in horror films generally with "fuck you Bruce Willis!" There seems to be this recurring satire of horror films taking place within the story's main serial killing narrative. Look for this second story for some of the better laughs found in this film.

Hollywood has been coming out with a lot of drivel over the past several years. Films like Creature have bombed at theatres, but Scream 4 performed well in its theatrical outing and surely this film will find an audience on DVD and other formats. Give this film a spin in your player of choice, as Craven shows how to craft a tightly wound thriller thanks to Williamson's clever writing and attention to horror tropes. While this title is not as complex as Hamlet, Scream 4 has such a large cast of suspects that you will be wondering who the killers are right up till the end. And you might guess wrong!

Writing/story/plot: 7.5 (the writing is good, there are some plot holes, repetition?).
Characters/believability: 7 (it is getting hard to believe that Sidney can survive so many brushes with death).
Transition/continuity/mise en scene: 7.5 (Craven has an eye for visuals and use of camera to create thrills).

Overall: 7.1 (a fun watch).

More on Scream 4 can be found at the film's fan page:

Scream 4 on Facebook

A second review of this title at Movie Cynics (The Vocabularist):

Scream 4 Reviewed at Movie Cynics

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