Scream 4

It’s been ten years since the events of Scream 3 took place. Sidney Prescott, in an attempt to move on with her life, decides to write a book entitled, “Out of Darkness” and goes on tour promoting it. The last stop on the book tour is Woodsboro, her hometown and the place where it all began.

And of course, where Sidney Prescott goes, Ghostface is sure to follow - and he does!

After an inception-like opening, we witness the murder of two girls. We meet Jill Roberts, the cousin of Sidney Prescott (Jill is the daughter of Maureen Prescott’s sister Kate) and Jill’s friend group. The two girls went to school with Jill and Company and with “the Angel of Death” in town, everyone is on edge*.

While at her signing Sidney is targeted by Ghostface with Ghostface planting one of the victim’s phones in the trunk of her rental. This keeps Sidney in town and the battle of Sidney versus Ghostface is on once again, closing out with a fight scene in a house that reveals the killers to be Cinema Club President Charlie and Jill Roberts herself, with her motive being fame for herself to get from under the shadow of her infamous cousin.

I gave this movie a score of 8 - and no bonuses this time. The movie loses points in the categories of Characters and the Ending.

First, this movie is a satire of where horror was in the early 2010s and the stages that horror went through since the time of Scream 3. This means new characters, such as Jill, her friends, and Deputy Hicks along with the evolution of the surviving characters to the status of Legacy Characters for Sidney, Dewey, who’s the Sheriff now, and Gale. Even with all things considered, I have a hard time believing some of the characters.

I put an asterisk on the phrase “on edge” but no one really was. They were aware of what was happening, but they didn’t seem bothered by it. Kirby, for example, watched her friend get gutted just next door and was still able to joke and carry on through the movie. Kirby was unphased. You can chalk that up to her love for horror and say she was desensitized or emotionally detached, but I don’t think she should have been.

Even if I explain away Kirby, there is no excuse for Trevor, Jill’s ex-boyfriend who is trying to get back together with Jill after she caught him cheating. I get that he’s “the love interest of the new lead” so he’s suspect number one, even as the red herring he doesn’t make sense. Trevor doesn’t seem mad that Jill isn’t with him. He’s desperate, but not mad. Killing Jill’s mother, her best friend, and going after her cousin doesn’t seem like a “win the girl back” kind of behavior. If Trevor seemed angry most of the time, it’d be believable, but he wasn’t. And he was just placed in scenes for this red herring reason even though it didn’t make sense. And was he at the Stab-a-thon with another girl while the story is pushing that he’s trying to get Jill back? See, can’t go with it.

As for the ending, I just flat-out didn’t like the killer choice. More so, her motivation. To become internet famous, you’re going to murder everyone around you and play sole survivor? Really?! “Friends?! I don’t need friends. I need fans!” is the line Jill uses. Billy had a reason. Mrs. Loomis had a reason. Roman had a reason. Stu and Mikey were psychos. Jill was jealous of the fame Sidney had yet didn’t want and Charlie was trying to get Jill…and Kirby?! No, I’m not buying what you’re selling.

I see what we were going for here, but we just didn’t stick the landing. 8 it is.