This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Woodsboro Massacre Reboot
Plot Overview
The Woodsboro
High School Cinema Club's third annual Stab-a-Thon is being held on
the fifteenth anniversary of “The Woodsboro Massacre.”
It coincides with the last stop on a book-signing tour of a now famous
authoress Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) whose self-help book Out
of Darkness chronicles how she'd overcome her victim status
from said earlier experiences. When material clues to a recent
stabbing are discovered in the trunk of her rental, she is given the
sobriquet Angel of Death and the town a new mystery to solve
as copycat murders start mounting up.
Ideology
Time constraints forced the consignment
of perfectly serviceable character development scenes to the cutting
room floor in favor of plenteous stabbing ones. The finished product
is thus comparable to the shooting gallery at a fair's arcade: Rows
of bunnies or ducks are conveyed along in a line while a contestant
tries to plug them with a pellet gun. The critters display no character
per se and are only grist for the mill. Similarly, the victims in
this horror flick are but ciphers to be stabbed as they move across
the screen (“No character development; body parts whipping
and blood seeping.”) It's as the preacher had declaimed, (Eccl. 4:1) “So I returned, and
considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold
the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; and
on the side of their oppressors there was power; but they had no
comforter.” Substitute screams for tears
and sympathy for comfort, and you've got it.
Furthermore, the shooter bears the rifle, but since he's wearing a
mask, we can't relate to him at all, at least not until the final reveal.
(Eccl. 4:2) “Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive.” “One generation's tragedy is the next one's joke,” observes Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette.) Here it is the police on stakeout who are referred to as “zombies,” and one of them calls his partner who's gone to patrol the perimeter, a “walking dead man.” The stated rule for police in a slasher movie is they don't necessarily die, unless it's an old cop on his last day before retirement, a rookie who just found out his wife is pregnant, or one whose partner is better looking than he; then they're toast. The ones who make this cut have cold comfort in an audience who's to credit them for “protecting our community.” Here Deputy Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton) has made some lemon squares to be passed around at the station. Better comfort food than their “protected” community got.
(Eccl. 4:3) “Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.” The ones who ultimately take the cake are the characters in the new book by the sheriff's wife Gale Weathers-Riley (Courteney Cox.) She's inspired by Sidney, but she's got writer's block, doesn't know what to write. Her unrealized characters can take more comfort in their unwritten plot than any effected victim in this movie.
Production Values
“” (2011) was directed by Wes Craven. It was written by Kevin Williamson. It stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Emma Roberts and Hayden Panettiere. Great acting here in rather shallow roles. Some return talent.
MPAA rated it R for strong bloody violence, language and some teen drinking. The production values are sound and the music and audio effects haunting. Music was by Marco Beltrami and photography by Peter Deming. Its runtime is 1 hour 51 minutes.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
“Scream 4” works well on its own but was shot as a sequel. It's another well trod horror flick that uses typical clichés. It delivers frights but not much else, especially in the way of good feelings.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Well done action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Good for Groups. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Three stars out of five.
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