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End of Month Summary

Today brings a close to this month's theme. That theme being, 'Remakes of classic films." Those same classic films will later be featured in another monthly theme. My overall thoughts:

Friday the 13th (2009) - Pathetic, horrible remake, lacking so much and had serious potential. Definetly my least favourite viewing of this month, please don't let Aaron Yoo near horror...

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) - Satisfactory, fun flick to watch, could have also been much better. Two actors in particular were seriously underused.

Halloween (2007) - A little bit better than the Nightmare on Elmstreet remake, far better than Friday the 13th. Could have been scarier if the right method was used.

Scream 4 (2011) - Not as good as it predeccesors, but better than all of the above films. Characters were also underused here, and there were too many pacing issues.

Stay tuned for the new monthly theme.

Slasher Studios---

#July#Friday the 13th#A Nightmare on Elm Street#Halloween#Scream 4#Monthly Summary#Remakes of Classics
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Today’s Review!

Movie: Scream 4 (2011) (Reboot)

IMDB Rating: 7/10

My Rating: 6/10

Director: Wes Craven

Writer: Kevin Williamson and Ehren Kruger

Actors: Lucy Hale, Shane Grimes, Anna Paquin, Kristen Bell, Aimee Teegarden, Brittany Robertson, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts, Nico Tortorella, Erik Knudsen, Rory Culkin, Alison Brie, Anthony Anderson, Adam Brody, Roger L. Jackson and Marley Shelton.

Rating: R (America) MA +15 (Australia)

Runtime: 112 Minutes

Return to Woodsboro

As the massive fan I am of the Scream movies, I wanted Scream 4 to be just as good as the others. But it just wasn’t as good. This movie lacked suspense unlike the others, there were no chase scenes, and the phone calls turned threatening too fast. As well as this there were other major flaws, pacing issues, bad character development, and an awful score.

Scream 4 sees Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returning to Woodsboro on her last stop on her book tour. It has been 10 years since the last massacre, and whilst there she reconnects with Dewey Riley (David Arquette), and the now married Gale Weathers-Riley (Courteney Cox) as well as her Aunt Kate (Mary McDonell) and her cousin Jill (Emma Roberts). Sidney’s arrival also unfortunately brings with her the return of Ghostface.

The Scream opening, known for putting relatively known actors in the beginning of the film, this one has Lucy Hale and Shanae Grimes, or so you think anyway. The opening was quite good, not as good as Scream 2’s opening, certainly not as good as the original opening, but better than Scream 3’s. I blame this on Wes Craven’s writing, as he’s the reason why the old opening was cut from the film. Please stop writing Wes, just direct…

The Scream movies have always been good for character development, but this one, not so much. Olivia Morris (Marielle Jaffe), the bitchy best friend, what I read in the original script/sides was reduced to a few snarky comments in the car trip on the way to school; to me she was just one of Jill’s friends. Trevor Sheldon (Nico Tortorella), his actor made it seem like he was a main part of the story, but he only came in and out of scenes, and not much is known about him. Kate Roberts (Mary McDonell), Deputy Hoss (Adam Brody), Deputy Perkins (Anthony Anderson), those three are the worst suffering. Kate serves no purpose what so ever, and plastic surgery has mutilated her face, those two cops serve no purpose other than to be knife fodder.

At times watching this I was confused to as to whether I was watching a comedy, or a horror film, Scary Movie 5 or Scream 4? There was just too much Comedy in this movie, if only they would have learnt from the third film to tone it down. I only laughed three times; most of it wasn’t even that funny. The punch lines before death were beyond awful, especially the one regarding Bruce Willis. I’m not going to blame Ehren Kruger for writing those lines, since he was called in for rewrites, because I’m sure Kevin had a part in it too.

The score, all of the other Scream films have strong scores; they have a particular sound that separates them from other horror films. But this one didn’t have or resemble that sound, where was an eerie track like ‘Sidney’s Lament’, or a suspenseful one like ‘The Game Begins’? Ones I did like however were Woodsboro 2010 and Jill’s America, as well as just a few others.

Suspense? Where, what suspense? Scream 4 barely had any, no lengthy chase scenes like Gale in the sound proof room in Scream 2, nothing as spectacular as Cici’s or Sidney’s chase scenes. We did however get one from Jenny Randall (Aimee Teegarden), but she made the stupidest mistakes anyone could, but don’t forget that she has 4.0 GPA and a 135 IQ, asshole. The phone calls were awesome, but they got threatening too quickly, Casey’s, Sidney’s, Cici’s, they all had a build up, that’s what made them so good! Just like Randy’s, his also led to something big. Maybe next time though, if there is a Scream 5.

Was I really in Woodsboro? There weren’t enough establishing shots, not even in the opening scene. There weren’t enough of shots of Woodsboro across the town square; I didn’t feel like I was actually there. Also has there always been an 18 story parking garage in Woodsboro? 

Out of everything, what I’m most angry about is the pacing; it’s bad, real bad. They cut so many scenes out. The fountain scene, the Trevor and Jill hospital scene, the bloody aftermath of the opening, scenes with Kate, and scenes with Gale. “Go ahead if you have the guts!” Where was that line?

There were however many redeeming qualities of this film though, for starters Neve Campbell did a great job, she has aged beautifully and looks the same as she did 15 years ago. Courteney Cox was a highlight of the film; however her husband in the film Dewey was underused. Out of the new teens the best was definitely Hayden Panettiere’s Kirby Reed, fun spunky and a horror aficionado, also a fan favourite. Emma Roberts was amazing, I never thought I would be so shocked by her, horror fans should be pleased with her performance. Alison Brie, Erik Knudsen and Nico Tortorella also did a good job, whilst Rory Culkin had the personality of a wet rag.

The characters that were developed were great. I really liked Robbie, Kirby and Jill, even more say than their original counterparts. Speaking of which, this sequel bears lots of homage’s to the original, there a plenty of them fans will notice whilst watching this. Obviously intentional as this movie plays a big satire on Remakes and Reboots.

The kills were quite good; one being viciously brutal, whilst one came off as being stupid and not at all serious. Ghostface was extremely brutal this time, he was straight to the point; he didn’t even fall over or trip like he usually does!

Don’t get me wrong, I liked this film, but it just didn’t feel like a Scream movie to me. It lacked most of the things I mentioned earlier, but there’s so much that could have been improved. I blame this on the studios meddling, since I know that they ruined a lot of Kevin’s originally intended ideas. Scream 4 was a nice way to end the franchise, but I will definitely stand in the theatre queue for a Scream 5.

Slasher Studios---

#July#Remakes of Classics#Review#Scream 4#Horror
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