Review: Scream 4

I was walking out of a grocery store the other day when I saw, tucked away in the corner of the parking lot, a hunter green 1993 Mazda MX-6 – the make, model, and color of my youth.  I hadn’t seen one in years so a flood of great memories flooded my mind.  A funny thing happened as I walked across the lot. The longer I looked at the car under the unforgiving midday sunlight, the more I wondered what it was about the car that I thought was so great. Perhaps it was the dull luster and the dated lines of the body, or maybe my tastes had changed with the time, but whatever the reason, it was clear that the tread on those tires were worn.  This is exactly how I felt when I sat through a viewing of Scream 4.  Everything and everyone seemed tired and old.

Let me preface this review by saying Scream 4 was not my first choice.  It was actually more like my tenth, but a midweek bout of insomnia makes me susceptible to poor movie choices.  But I digress.  The three principles – Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox – have returned in this installment and right from the outset it is clear that they’ve lost a few miles per hour off the fastball as the years have not been very kind.  And if you look close enough you almost feel like you can see them running to the bank between takes to cash their checks.  The resulting malaise and apathy could be overlooked were it not for the fact that the premise and plot mechanisms are just as ready to be put out to pasture as the stars. 

But like every sequel, there has to be some new layer or plot devise that differentiates it ever so slightly from its original.  For this most recent installment in the franchise, it feels like Wes Craven has hired a social media consultant to make the plot tech relevant. At times I felt like I was sitting through an Internet marketing class waiting for someone to talk about the value of tweeting and search engine optimization.  My best guess is that this was their solution to making the franchise fresh, edgy, and relevant again. 

Beyond Campbell, Arquette, and Cox, the cast features a number of actors who at one time or another were considered cinematic up-and-comers in Kristen Bell, Anna Paquin, Hayden Panetierre, and Emma Roberts.  Their respective appearances in this film say as much about the film as it does their careers – going nowhere.  What makes this film particularly disappointing is that expectations for this genre are typically fairly low – a thinly written script with little character development, but enough suspense to make the 90 minutes entertaining.  For this film, the bar is set very low, yet Scream 4 still manages to sneak below it.

So here it is plain and simple: don’t see this movie – not as a rental and not on cable TV.  Once upon a time it was an interesting franchise that was clever and satirical in its approach to the genre.  Watching this film can only ruin your view of those other films.  There are plenty of films on the market and on TV that will do a better a job of giving you a cheap scare or two especially since this is the Halloween season.

Standout Performance: Anthony Anderson’s death scene is so incredibly camp that it has to get a mention.