Post by dave607 on Apr 16, 2011 9:09:04 GMT 6
Scream 4. A decade later. New rules. New cast. Same writer & director.
The franchise that re-ignited the horror genre with a fresh blend of satire & blood is at it again. Copycats beware, the blood will flow. What exactly does one expect going into a sequel 11 years after the previous installment? Do you expect it to be more serious? Do you want it to be more of the same?
One might call it remake or reboot. One thing you cant call it is a rip-off. You cant rip-off something you invented. The callbacks are there, the satire is there (maybe a little overdone in a few places). If you've watched the previous movies enough times like I have, you will spot several similarities in scene placement, movements, etc. Something as simple as picking up a kitchen knife out its holder brings back memories of Casey Becker from the original.
Sidney Prescott returns to Woodsboro on the anniversary of the original murders for her book signing. (Really? Of all the times to come back, you pick the anniversary? Yeah, thats not asking for trouble! Anyway...) Just as Sid gets into town, all the old shenanigans start up. People start getting phone calls, people start getting butchered, and of course Gail & Dewey start getting attacked again also. (Seriously, I'd stop hanging around this chick!)
The cast of characters is a colorful mix of suspects. Some are painted to look more guilty & obvious, but this is Scream. "The unexpected is the new cliche." So, if they look like they are killer, you expect them not to be. So if they are the killer, that's unexpected? So in addition to the returning Sidney, Gail & Dewey, we have Sidney's cousin Jill & her ex-boyfriend Trevor who likes to climb in thru her bedroom window (that sounds kinda familiar). We have 2 male movie geeks Charlie & Robbie, a horror movie geek-girl Kirby played by "Heroes" Hayden Panetierre (love her line "I have powers." You KNOW that was a "Heroes" reference!). So we have several likable suspects who all seem to disappear at good times to make them look guilty. The Billy Loomis-type boyfriend Trevor, 3 Randy wannabes that know a lot about horror movies, a female deputy that went to school with Sid (that she doesn't remember) & works with Dewey and Sid's book publicist that is way too overjoyed about people getting killed off. Jill's mom is even thrown into the mix & disappears for awhile to keep her looking guilty.
As the body count adds up, & the blood spilled goes from pints to quarts to gallons, your mind is racing to fill in the gaps & see who is missing when & who looks the guiltiest & who is too obvious.
One minor gripe is that I have is that I wish they would have cut the trailer AFTER the movie was edited. Maybe I missed something but it seems like a few lines from the trailer didn't make it into the final cut of the movie. There was also a "fake out line" where the dialog wasn't where it appeared to be." Its not bad enough that they have to play with our heads with the actual movie, they have to do it with the dialog too?
The franchise that re-ignited the horror genre with a fresh blend of satire & blood is at it again. Copycats beware, the blood will flow. What exactly does one expect going into a sequel 11 years after the previous installment? Do you expect it to be more serious? Do you want it to be more of the same?
One might call it remake or reboot. One thing you cant call it is a rip-off. You cant rip-off something you invented. The callbacks are there, the satire is there (maybe a little overdone in a few places). If you've watched the previous movies enough times like I have, you will spot several similarities in scene placement, movements, etc. Something as simple as picking up a kitchen knife out its holder brings back memories of Casey Becker from the original.
Sidney Prescott returns to Woodsboro on the anniversary of the original murders for her book signing. (Really? Of all the times to come back, you pick the anniversary? Yeah, thats not asking for trouble! Anyway...) Just as Sid gets into town, all the old shenanigans start up. People start getting phone calls, people start getting butchered, and of course Gail & Dewey start getting attacked again also. (Seriously, I'd stop hanging around this chick!)
The cast of characters is a colorful mix of suspects. Some are painted to look more guilty & obvious, but this is Scream. "The unexpected is the new cliche." So, if they look like they are killer, you expect them not to be. So if they are the killer, that's unexpected? So in addition to the returning Sidney, Gail & Dewey, we have Sidney's cousin Jill & her ex-boyfriend Trevor who likes to climb in thru her bedroom window (that sounds kinda familiar). We have 2 male movie geeks Charlie & Robbie, a horror movie geek-girl Kirby played by "Heroes" Hayden Panetierre (love her line "I have powers." You KNOW that was a "Heroes" reference!). So we have several likable suspects who all seem to disappear at good times to make them look guilty. The Billy Loomis-type boyfriend Trevor, 3 Randy wannabes that know a lot about horror movies, a female deputy that went to school with Sid (that she doesn't remember) & works with Dewey and Sid's book publicist that is way too overjoyed about people getting killed off. Jill's mom is even thrown into the mix & disappears for awhile to keep her looking guilty.
As the body count adds up, & the blood spilled goes from pints to quarts to gallons, your mind is racing to fill in the gaps & see who is missing when & who looks the guiltiest & who is too obvious.
One minor gripe is that I have is that I wish they would have cut the trailer AFTER the movie was edited. Maybe I missed something but it seems like a few lines from the trailer didn't make it into the final cut of the movie. There was also a "fake out line" where the dialog wasn't where it appeared to be." Its not bad enough that they have to play with our heads with the actual movie, they have to do it with the dialog too?