Hello yet again, Sidney!

SCREAM 4 (2011)

a.k.a SCRE4M

I do call myself a fan of the Scream movies. The first Scream (1996) was absolutely brilliant. It was a first of its kind. A postmodern, self-reflexive, satirical, A-grade slasher horror film. The second one Scream 2 (1997) was also highly appreciated by fans, although the second half of the movie didn't fully satisfy me but who cares about that! The third one, Scream 3 (2000), disappointed fans but lived up to my expectations.

What about the fourth one? Is it as good as the first? Better than the first? Honestly, all that is phooey! Just seeing the logo of Dimension Films yet again, made me applaud. Not to mention, seeing all the stars again  from the previous films, Neve Campbell, Courtney C(bot)ox and David Arquette. In my opinion, this a befitting quasi-reboot. Wes Craven is not an idiot, mindlessly cashing in on a successful movie franchise (I'm looking at you Jigsaw). He is someone who has made a succesful horror movie franchise before (A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984). Has reinvented the same franchise (New Nightmare, 1994). He has been there, done that. He knows what he is talking about. Only a person who has made a horror film knows the thin line between it being genuinely scary and absolutely ridiculous. (Talking out of little experience too). Wes Craven is to horror films what Quentin Tarantino is to grindhouse films. (The 90s was full of self-reflexive, post-modern cinema in America - Soderbergh and the Coen brothers are other examples). 

You can't fully appreciate them without knowing who Leatherface, Jason, Freddy Kruger or Michael Meyers are. You HAVE to be a fan of horror movies to get the inside jokes. You have to know that almost each scene is going to have a scare. You must know it is going to have one killing after another and not get bored by it. Now I'm not trying to be a snobby horror film fan but I'm pointing out a prerequisite. In fact, if you haven't seen or are a true fan of the first three Scream movies, you can't fully appreciate this one. Albeit, I hope you can and prove me wrong. It's not a necessity because horror films have also become a part of pop culture. The times we live in, everybody knows the line "I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse" without ever having seen The Godfather. Everybody recognizes the music from Psycho (1960).

Scream 4 on the surface is for fans. And it should be! Why not? Any film franchise which disappoints the fans is in my opinion, not a good film franchise! By now it is pretty clear that I was going to love the movie anyhow. But it's not just that. There's more:

(SPOILERS AHEAD)

(If you don't want to know who the killers are in this one, don't read further)

Well if I have to say it in one line then: It further delves into the Woodsboro murders mythology, continues the self-reflexive slasher film genre, and also makes it topical at the same time. We hear the words, "facebook" and "twitter", which obviously is not the only thing that makes it topical. There are other reasons (If I have to say it in a paragraph:) For example, the killers. Who are they? One is a cinephile and the other is Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) (how I love not knowing the killers in the Scream till the very end, you gotta admit you don't seem them coming!). It sticks to the formulas and also comments on the zeitgeist. Since Scream anyway was intended as a "Teenage" slasher flick, this one goes back to the roots. How the teenagers of today want to get famous by any means, quick and fast and by doing "nothing".

(END OF SPOILERS) 

And as the first one satirized the concept of sequels and three-quels, this one does the same with remakes and reboots which had become a fad in Hollywood in the past decade and horror films mostly bore the brunt. As Sidney says "If you want to make a good remake, don't fuck with the original". This line made me laugh out loud. Even Anna Paquin (who makes a cameo) says "all that post modern bullshit is not for me" which makes up for a hilarious opening (beginning within a beginning within a beginning)(this of course is again, self-aware). There is another joke in the film which made me chuckle relating to Cox and Arquette's real lives and marriage. The self-reflexivity of these movies are at its core the thing that makes them tick. It even talks of the "new Horror films". The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity kind.

One thing I have always loved about these movies is how funny they are. It is not just the clever movie references but also slapstick done well. I especially love how people throw things at Ghostface, kick him and hurl him everywhere. That itself shows you are not meant to take it THAT seriously. This is the best part of these movies. How it balances the scares and the relief. The horror and the comedy. No other film has married the two genres as cleverly and successfully. It even single-handedly started the spoof franchises which relied more on the slapstick (The first 2 Scary Movies were actually quite funny - which also spoofed the Scream movies). The movies are aware that they are being watched by an audience which has seen several horror films, new and old. The fourth one is even aware that the audience has seen the Scary Movies (the casting of Anthony Anderson is not a fluke). It is like a love letter to horror films and its fans. They are always fun and incredibly entertaining!

Is it it a good film? I don't know and I don't care. Is it a good Scream film? Hell yeah!

Rating: *** 1/2 out of *****