Scream 4 (2011) Dir: Wes Craven
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This was the last film in Wes Craven's iconic slasher franchise that I hadn't seen yet, and I was pretty keen to see how it would compare. Craven loves to pack these films full of meta commentary and this one is no different.
And, to be honest, it borders on too much on a number of occasions. The 2010s-era teen slasher vibe is really irritating and makes for some legitimately cringe-worthy moments.
This is not helped by some very clunky writing and dialogue, which is unfortunately laughable at points. That said, the thing people watch these films for is not the story, it's the kills and inevitable out-of-nowhere reveal.
The kills themselves, while not as spectacular as in prior films, were still pretty fun and helped to make up for the rest of the film's shortcomings. The illuded-to reveal was actually one of the film's strong points, with the twist being pretty well executed, all things considered.
Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox each return as the franchise's quintessential characters. None of them give particularly outstanding or memorable performances, but if I can say anything, they definitely looked like they enjoyed filming this.
Of the new characters, the most notables include Emma Roberts and Hayden Panettiere, who are the two best performers, and characters, in the whole film.
Aside from that, there are appearances from Rory Culkin, Kristen Bell, Anna Paquin, Anthony Anderson, Marley Shelton and Erik Knudsen. None were especially memorable, but still warranted a mention at least.
Overall, this may be the weakest of the Scream films, but it still has moments of proper slasher entertainment that fans of the franchise can still get plenty of enjoyment from. Just don't go into it expecting a masterpiece.
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