Review: Scream 4 (2011)

"... and in the 15th year, Uncle Wes gave us a sequel, and it was good."

You just knew it was gonna suck, right? Us too. Wes Craven has been on a weak roll with his films as of late (My Soul to Take, Cursed); it's the 4th installment of a slasher series; and it's a Hollywood Horror flick, which let's face it, means that it's most likely going to be glossy and lame. So we weren't that hyped to see it, although we were admittedly curious about it all... but, ha! It didn't suck! In fact, it was pretty damned good.

The Scream movies have always been a fun, tongue-in-cheek love letter for the Horror Genre, by the Horror Genre. The first one worked so well back in 1996 because it was self aware, and it told us that it was alright to love it, even with all of its cliches' and flaws. The sequels were decent enough, but all critiques aside, they were just fun Slasher flicks, and that's that.

Let us not forget that the first Scream single-handedly breathed life into a DEAD Horror Genre in the late 90's. Go to Wikipedia and look up Horror films: 1990's... some gems can be found here and there, but for the most part it was slim pickin's as far as quality goes. So, 15 years later, here comes Uncle Wes once again bringing us back to Woodsboro for another go around with Ghostface.

Much respect to the original Ghostface Killah, aka Tony Starks. Wu-Tang forever!

It's the same basic story here as it was with the previous two sequels; Sidney returns home for some reason or another, and she's all nervous to be there because of her terrifying past, Gale is still a bitch, Dewey is still a lovable dork, only he's Sheriff now... you know the drill. Smart, self-aware in-jokes fly left and right like a flock of flaming birds, the smart Jamie Kennedy-ish film geeks break down the new rules for us, and everyone is made to look suspicious, obviously to keep us guessing as to who is doing the killing this time. Oh, and Ghostface still really wants to terrorize Sidney, which is really the point of it all. The whole thing was like seeing old friends.

Old, well-armed friends.

Emma Roberts is the new blood in part 4, playing Sidney's cousin who ends up being the focal point of the movie for the most part. She's a good actress and adds a lot to the movie with her presence, probably because she's also a great Hottie. Sidney gets her share of the spotlight too, of course, and the best part about her character in this one is the fact that she's kinda ballsy and tough, which made for a few good fight scenes. Oh yes, she breaks out some Krav Maga on Ghostface, and goes all Fright Club on his ass. See what I did there? Fright Club... like Fight Club, because there's fighting and it's scary... nevermind.

The big questions that everyone seems to have regarding part 4 are "does Sidney die at the end?" or "is it revealed that she is the killer this time?" We aren't going to spoil anything that big of course, but we will say that while you might see the ending coming a bit before it arrives, it's pretty cool. We actually found ourselves surprised when certain people got knocked off by Ghostface, because we were just sure it was them doing the killing. These movies have always been fun little guessing games, and this one is no different.

What are you doing creeping around with that knife, Sidney?

Of course the real star of these movies is Ghostface him/her/their self. The iconic killer is back in a big way in Scream 4, slicing and dicing loads of kids up in creative ways, and just being all kinds of anti-hero bad-ass. I know, he's no hero at all, but don't tell me some people don't cheer for him. Ghostface seems extra pissed-off and menacing in this one, and his theatrics are just as good here as they've been in any of the previous Scream movies.

Icon.

 

The sheer amount of Hotties crammed into the cast is mind-bottling; Sidney's tough new attitude and karate skills; Ghostface's venom; Emma Roberts showing off her acting awesomeness; Rory Culkin proving once again that he's probably the best actor in all of the Culkin clan; Hayden Panettiere and her Horror-smart hotness; Anthony Anderson playing it with very little humor, and being pretty good at it; Alison Brie's sexieness; "I'm in the closet"; the blood; the kills; and basically the overall feel of the movie.

That was all pretty good.

That picture would sure make a good banner...

Dewey's bumbling can be annoying; Gale's anything is annoying; why couldn't Anthony Anderson have lived? We like him; Not enough time was spent on Sidney's character, because the ensemble was so big... she/Neve was great in this, and deserved to have more to do.

She was pretty good too.

Hayden Panettiere's hair... what the hell? You still look cute with it cut short, but let it grow back, girl!

What is that craziness, Hayden!

Yes, there is gore, and a surprisingly fair amount of it too.

Looks like the inside of a microwave.

Sorry, but nudity has never been the Scream way. Dammit.

Oh, the nudity that could have been!

Four times is the charm. Also, we'd be fine with seeing a Scream 5 after this one. Honestly.

We'd also be fine with seeing Hayden Panettiere naked. From the looks of it, so would Emma Roberts.

This is one of those Horror flicks that we all need to get our tails to the Theater and support, because it was great. Not perfect, but great none the less. If you love the Scream movies, and especially the first one, then you'll love number 4 as well, because it's just about as good as the 1996 original. It's great to see Wes Craven and Ghostface back in good form, and we are not opposed to the idea of Scr5am. Scre5m? Screa5? Oh hell, whatever you call it, we just want a part 5! Yeah, we just asked for another sequel. Make it happen, Wes.

A

Oh, and Emma Roberts, make some nudity happen. Please. *Same goes for you, Hayden, Alison, Marley, Kristen, etc...

... and speaking of the Hotties of the movie, click the banner below to see some pictures of them. You will be pleased.