In Defense Of Ghostface: A Review of SCRE4M

Expected grade: 7/10

Actual grade: 8/10

(For a full explanation of my grading system, check out this post.)

Let me get one thing on the table right away: I freaking LOVED Scream 4. I thought it was one of the most effective, spookiest and funniest horror sequels I've ever seen. It was definitely my favorite Scream movie since the original. The showing I went to was sold out and full of people screaming in terror and clapping in delight. However, the film pulled in only $19.3 million its opening weekend, compared to Rio's $40 million opening at the same time (which is incidentally the biggest opening so far this year). Why did this happen? In a fascinating article I read on EW.com, readers were polled to answer the question "Why didn't you see Scream 4?" The possible answers were 1) "I read the reviews," 2) "I lost interest in the franchise," 3) "There was something better to see, and 4) "Another reason, which I'll tell you about in the comments." The winner? Approximately 50% of voters answered with #2. The least voted response? #1. So maybe there is hope! Mediocre reviews were the least compelling reason people didn't go see it. And the main reason was that it has just been too long since the last Scream movie came out (11 years). (Incidentally, the original Scream grossed only $6.3 million its opening weekend and went on to become one of the best-loved horror films of all time.)

The fact that a film as inventive as Scream 4, with well-loved characters and a script full of zippy dialogue, can gross only $19.3 million, whereas Saw 7 pulled in $24.2 million in its opening weekend is a travesty. Was Scream 4 a perfect film? No. It is still a slasher movie and therefore adheres to slasher movie tropes even while pointing them out and making fun of them. This "meta"-ness is what made the original Scream so famous, and now, fifteen years later, is starting to feel a little tired. But without the discussions of the "rules" and everything else that makes Scream meta, it wouldn't be Scream anymore -- it would be just any other horror movie. The addition of the phenomenon of our society's obsession with filming and live streaming everything feels a little forced and actually ends up being underused in the movie.

But what has always made the Scream series different from other slasher movies is that it is the heroes that remain constant, while the villain changes every film. Whereas Halloween always has Michael Myers and Friday the 13th has Jason and Elm Street's got Freddy, the thread throughout the Scream films is Sidney, Gale and Dewey. This, in my opinion, makes the movies more meaningful, as we are always watching characters we love and care about. They're not just disposable archetypes that you know will be gone by the next film. Watching this movie is like watching old friends -- you cheer them on and genuinely want them to survive.

Scream 4 also boasts the best opening sequence since the original. Of course, nothing can ever top Drew Barrymore being terrorized, stalked and gutted in the opening minutes of Scream, but this is a close second. I won't reveal any more than to say you will be surprised, then you'll laugh, then you'll be scared. The new cast of younger actors is surprisingly likable, especially a surprisingly good turn by Hayden Panetierre as Sidney's cousin's best friend and closet movie buff. And for fans of Community or Mad Men, the lovely Alison Brie has a small but meaty roll as Sidney's ruthless, over-agressive and hilariously foul-mouthed publicist.

***SPOILERS -- DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE AND WANT TO***

In my opinion, what made this movie so great was that it cast all these young, up-and-coming hot young actors and marketed them as the future of the franchise. It cast kid flick favorite Emma Roberts as Sidney's niece Jill, and many people speculated that if Sidney were to die in this movie, Jill would become the new protagonist and usher the series into a new generation. In fact, in the movie, the characters proclaim this new killing spree a "remake" rather than a sequel, and the "rules" that are described are those of a remake, with even the original cast members as potential victims. The way the movie manages to turn that expectation on its head is its strongest asset. By the end of the film, every single one of the young pretty cast members is dead, including Jill who, in one of the series' best twists, is revealed to be the killer. (Emma Roberts is shockingly effective after the reveal, especially in one scene where she psychotically stages the murder scene to make herself the victim by stabbing herself, tearing out her own hair and throwing herself into glass coffee tables -- it's simultaneously funny and chilling.) In the film's best line, Sidney declares as she kills her homicidal cousin, "You forgot the first rule of remakes: Don't fuck with the original." Utterly brilliant.

***END SPOILERS***

To summarize, the expectation I had going into this film was to laugh some, scream some, and watch a more-than-decade-old series be rebooted and ushered into the new generation with a pretty cast of youngsters. What I ended up getting was a lot of laughs, a lot of screams, and a film that focused more on its original trio of beloved characters and stuck true to the spirit of the series while coming up with some new ways to scare us. Is Ghostface as creative a killer as, say, Jigsaw? No -- he doesn't put people in intricate traps that end in grotesque dismemberment. Instead, Ghostface sticks with the tried and true method -- a good old-fashioned butcher knife. Perhaps that is why these movies aren't as appealing to our generation anymore: horror movies can't hold our attention without body parts flying every ten minutes. But it is exactly this adherence to the old ways and the sentimentality it brings that makes this movie so good. Watching it is like going back to the good old 90s, when times were simpler and killers just stabbed people.

If you saw Scream 4, tell me what you thought! If you didn't, why not? What's your favorite Scream movie? Hit the comments!