Rated R for strong bloody violence, language and some teen drinking
Cast: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Rory Culkin
Director: Wes Craven
That the movie is skilled comes as no surprise. The mind of Wes Craven houses more knowledge of the horror genre than any torture-porn cinema specialist can hope to comprehend. Craven is no Hitchcock, but he appreciates him. Personally, I don't consider "Saw"-style torture-porn art. I don't find it offensive, just self-indulgent. Horror film artisans like Craven cater to their audiences. Torture-porn artists cater to themselves.
Sadly, Craven's track record the last couple of decades has been spotty at best. His previous film, "My Soul to Take" barely registered as a blip on the box office radar. And not since 2005's "Red Eye" with Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy did Craven enjoy at least modest monetary success.
"Scream 4" brings back the main players from the first three. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has returned to her hometown of Woodsboro, where her interminable road of terror first materialized. She is on a book signing tour for her story (or stories) of survival. (Amazing that it took her character three movies before finally deciding to profit from what she had to repeatedly endure.) Dewey Riley (David Arquette) is the town sheriff, and is married to reporter Gail Weathers (Courteney Cox) who has surrendered her own career in lieu of penning a novel, although writer's block is torturing her more than any B-grade movie psycho ever could.
As with most sequels, some "new blood" needs to be introduced. The film acquaints us with Sidney's cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) and appears to be molding her into the "new" Sidney. Jill arrives onto the genre doorstep with the horror movie prerequisite best friend in tow... a sassy, uber-confident chick named Kirby (Hayden Panettiere).
A gaggle of quirky, disposable adolescents are ushered into the series, including a nerdy slasher flick trivia expert (Rory Culkin) and a progressively pretentious goofball (Erik Knudsen) who records every second of the high school experience via a video headset and streams it online, claiming everyone will be doing it years from now. It's not long before bodies begin to pile up, everyone's a potential suspect, and only by revisiting the "rules" of the slasher genre can the heroes solve the crime.
I still remember the opening scene in the first "Scream" with Drew Barrymore being psychologically tormented by a gleefully demented stalker as her boyfriend's life hung in the balance. The superlative skill displayed in that scene was a death grip on my attention. The second film demonstrated similar aptitude, though wasn't quite as memorable. The same went for the third. "Scream 4" is, at the very least, competent. But what flowed like a river of thrills seems more laborious this time around, despite containing scenes that do work.
Craven incorporates some hit-and-miss inside jokes, and he and writer Kevin Williamson take a few shots at torture-porn. The opening is a series of cameo-imbued movie-within-a-movie moments as characters talk about the ineptitude of certain flicks before being butchered themselves. As more murders are uncovered, characters try to solve them not by ordinary means, but by contemplating how certain slasher films handle similar circumstances. Two patrol officers (Anthony Anderson and Adam Brody) base their entire philosophy on this premise.
Despite the skill on display, I can't bring myself to recommend the movie. Maybe the point here is to introduce a whole new audience to the "Scream" franchise. What really struck me was how tired and weathered Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courteney Cox appear in the film. Their demeanor reflected my reaction. I think I've been through this enough times.
I doubt I'm spoiling anything by stating that the aforementioned leads all survive. But during the movie, I had a thought. What if the killer took out all three and got away clean? Not only would it be bold and unpredictable, but based on how worn out Campbell, Arquette and Cox seem by this series, we could consider it a mercy killing. Just a thought.
* * out of * * * * stars
