Review of Scream 4 (2011) by Berc — 04 Jul 2016

The artistic medium of film is very subjective. Every audience member has a different set of criteria they use to measure their viewing experience. Not everyone shares the same set of criteria. If we did, what a bland and uninspired world this would be.

What I Personally Liked About "Scream 4":

Um. Give me a minute. I'm thinking. I'm thinking!!! It's saying something when even the normally reliable Neve Campbell seems like she's just going through the motions to grab a quick paycheck. Well, here's one thing I do like: Hayden Panettiere. She always deserves more credit than she receives and has the propensity to be a serious actress if given the opportunity. She's easily the best part of this sorry excuse of a "film." I suppose Emma Roberts is okay, too. She's certainly not horrible, she just feels like she's holding back for some reason, even in the finale. She needs to learn to cut loose a little.

What I Personally Disliked About "Scream 4":

It's hard to pick a place to begin with this one. I will say that the triple false opening is a mind-numbingly tedious experience that should have been scrapped. There is a lifeless pacing to the entire production and there are too many stretches that rely on cliches instead of actual substance. There are no really solid supporting characters. While a lot of the ancillary characters weren't exactly fully formed in the original trilogy, they were still more interesting and had more personality than the ones seen here. The relationship between Dewey and Gale that was so unbearable in the third chapter has become rip-your-eyeballs-out-of-their-sockets-so-you-don't-have-to-witness-it-anymore bad. But the biggest drawback to this film is the one missed opportunity that could have saved the entire movie: Sidney Prescott should not have lived. Seriously. This was a monumental oversight by the filmmakers that could have brought about something unique within the genre. Having Jill Roberts get away with murder could have opened new doors for the franchise. Focusing on how a serial killer secretly maintains her "survivor" fame while trying not to get caught killing future victims would have been a superb idea for a fifth installment. "Scream 4" should have ended after Jill beat herself up and was being carted out of the house through the flashing of the paparazzi. Fade to white. End of film. However, mediocrity reigned supreme, Sidney lived and the whole shebang wound up scraping the bottom of the cinematic barrel.

My Overall Impression of "Scream 4":

This is an inconsequential sequel that exists solely to appease the almighty dollar. Why tarnish a decent legacy for the sake of being greedy? It never works out well in the long run. I guess, to paraphrase a line from the movie (which came from Dewey no less - ugh!), "One generation's classic horror movie is another one's joke." This film is the joke and it is one that fails miserably.