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SCRE4M (Wes Craven)
Don't F**K With The Original.
Sidney has written a book about how she overcame her horrible past and returns to Woodsboro, ten years after her last attack. Gale and Dewey are married, she's trying to write fiction and he's now the Sheriff. Death arrives the same time Sidney does, people start dying and bodies start piling up. Now Sidney has to look after her cousin Jill, as well as her friends.
The original scream, without a doubt, redefined the genre. So many imitators popped up after that movie came out and the subsequent sequels became exactly what the original was parodying. With each sequel in a horror franchise, the quality seems to be watered down, since we are treated to the same stuff over and over again. This happened to the Scream trilogy. I dug the second one, but the third was a horrible mess. The third works on paper, but not in execution. So here comes the fourth Scream film, trying to recoup what it had lost, but can a 4th film in a series really be fresh and exciting?
I must say that Scre4m did surprise me, I liked it more than I thought I would. In fact, I think it's probably the best since the original. The film feels like the first two, mashed into one. Smart move not to try and copy the third. There are scenes that imitate the original and the sequel, it has a nostalgic feel to it. What Scre4m manages to do is bridge the decades together rather well. It feels like a 90's slasher, but updating for this generation. Mission accomplished to Craven and Williamson.
It's great to see Campbell, Cox and Arquette reprise the roles that made them famous (ignoring the fact that Cox was in friends). Sidney has become a stronger woman, Dewey is more confident as the Sheriff and Gale, is still a cold hearted bitch. It's these three characters that we care about, we gives a crap about the new young cast. They're just there to get sliced and diced. I must say that Dewey does seem to have less screen time here, he's always coming in at the last second. He was never in any real danger, it felt off to me.
This is probably the goriest out of all of them. It has to be, if it wants to compete with the films today. Simple stabbing deaths aren't going to cut it. The film acknowledges this, as well as all the crap that happens in remakes and sequels. I had an inkling as to who the killer(s) was before the reveal, I was never 100% confident though. We are still treated to the same thing that has happened in the previous films. Killer(s) reveal, then a spiel of their motive and of course the climax. Scre4m hits all the same notes the previous films did and it doesn't feel stale.
I think fans of the series will really like this one. Characters do really stupid things, like opening doors and leaving their car when the killer is right outside, instead of staying locked in and calling the cops. Yet this is a series that thrives on that. We the audience, know they will be stupid, Wes Craven knows this, even the characters themselves know this. The film has humour and doesn't take itself too seriously. It manages to stay true to the original films and make a fresh new start.
Don't F**K With The Original.
Sidney has written a book about how she overcame her horrible past and returns to Woodsboro, ten years after her last attack. Gale and Dewey are married, she's trying to write fiction and he's now the Sheriff. Death arrives the same time Sidney does, people start dying and bodies start piling up. Now Sidney has to look after her cousin Jill, as well as her friends.
The original scream, without a doubt, redefined the genre. So many imitators popped up after that movie came out and the subsequent sequels became exactly what the original was parodying. With each sequel in a horror franchise, the quality seems to be watered down, since we are treated to the same stuff over and over again. This happened to the Scream trilogy. I dug the second one, but the third was a horrible mess. The third works on paper, but not in execution. So here comes the fourth Scream film, trying to recoup what it had lost, but can a 4th film in a series really be fresh and exciting?
I must say that Scre4m did surprise me, I liked it more than I thought I would. In fact, I think it's probably the best since the original. The film feels like the first two, mashed into one. Smart move not to try and copy the third. There are scenes that imitate the original and the sequel, it has a nostalgic feel to it. What Scre4m manages to do is bridge the decades together rather well. It feels like a 90's slasher, but updating for this generation. Mission accomplished to Craven and Williamson.
It's great to see Campbell, Cox and Arquette reprise the roles that made them famous (ignoring the fact that Cox was in friends). Sidney has become a stronger woman, Dewey is more confident as the Sheriff and Gale, is still a cold hearted bitch. It's these three characters that we care about, we gives a crap about the new young cast. They're just there to get sliced and diced. I must say that Dewey does seem to have less screen time here, he's always coming in at the last second. He was never in any real danger, it felt off to me.
This is probably the goriest out of all of them. It has to be, if it wants to compete with the films today. Simple stabbing deaths aren't going to cut it. The film acknowledges this, as well as all the crap that happens in remakes and sequels. I had an inkling as to who the killer(s) was before the reveal, I was never 100% confident though. We are still treated to the same thing that has happened in the previous films. Killer(s) reveal, then a spiel of their motive and of course the climax. Scre4m hits all the same notes the previous films did and it doesn't feel stale.
I think fans of the series will really like this one. Characters do really stupid things, like opening doors and leaving their car when the killer is right outside, instead of staying locked in and calling the cops. Yet this is a series that thrives on that. We the audience, know they will be stupid, Wes Craven knows this, even the characters themselves know this. The film has humour and doesn't take itself too seriously. It manages to stay true to the original films and make a fresh new start.