In 1997, just a few weeks after its release, I can remember walking into a packed theater by myself, crammed between two loudmouthed teenage girls expecting to see another mediocre horror film. I was surprised that the theater was sold out. It was the middle of January and Scream had already been in theaters fort three or four weeks. The film I walked out of that day I considered to be one of the best-made horror films of the 1990’s. Of course, the genre was not all that great during that decade, but the Scream trilogy held its ground, producing two sequels, neither of which was as good as the original film, but held their own. It was this trilogy that revived Nightmare on Elm Street creator Wes Craven’s career, and pushed him into horror icon status.
Now more than a decade later, with remakes being all the craze of the past ten years, one would not expect a sequel to a film considered to be “so nineties” to be a hit with the new generation of horror fans. And unfortunately for Scream 4 it was not. The film didn’t even make it budget back domestically. What sucks about it not being a success in theaters is that it lives up to the other sequels and is in my opinion was better than both Scream 2 & 3. It’s a film that tries to fit with the time. New Rules, New Game. Remakes are made fun of continually throughout the film and once again your left wondering who the killer is going to be at the end.
Scream 4 begins with a montage of all the fictional Stab films where the sequels are now overdone and are becoming less and less attractive to horror fans, much like all Hellraiser sequels. We then see two teenagers talking to each other on the couch about how lame the Stab franchise is, when the phone rings, and Bam! The murders begin. It happens to be that Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is back in Woodsboro for the first time since the killings. She is there to promote her new book and is staying with her aunt and her cousin, Jill (Emma Roberts). Dewey is now the Sheriff (David Arquette) of the town and is married to a retired Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox). However, upon Sidney’s arrival back in town, the killing of teenagers in her cousin Jill’s high school are being murdered by a ghost-faced killer. Once again, Sidney, Dewey and Gale are thrust back into the horror they so desperately have been trying to escape from their old lives.
The Scream 4 Blu-ray has many special features such as Commentary with Director Wes Craven and cast members Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere and Neve Campbell. The disc also features Deleted and Extended Scenes, an Alternate Opening, Extended Ending, Gag Reel and a “Making Of” featurette. The Blu-ray disc also comes with both a DVD and Digital copy of the film also.
Overall, I really enjoyed Scream 4. The film is a lot like its predecessors, but still has the same great mystery feel as the films did ten years ago. It is a daring breath of fresh air from all the unintelligent horror films that have been plaguing us the past few years and in an unoriginal way it feels original again. It is very well written and directed. The acting is good and overall, I felt like I was back in my college days experiencing the teenage horror film genre in its heyday. I highly recommend Scream 4 for the horror fans that were around to appreciate the original trilogy more than a decade ago.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
