nightlydvdreviewSCREAM 4
June 19th 2010 11:42
Official 'Scream 4' teaser
Poor Neve Campbell. Who’d a thought that she survived to the very end of Wes Craven’s Scream franchise only to be thrust into an entire new trilogy come 2011. That’s right. Get ready to scream (sorry, couldn't resist). Bob Weinstein, head founder of Dimension Films, has not only confirmed a fourth instalment in the iconic slasher series, but has dropped some heavy hints that, if successful, a fifth and sixth Scream will follow.
With its tagline boldly asserting “NEW DECADE. NEW RULES.”, Scream 4 has promise. I only hope that it’s not empty promise. There’s no argument whatsoever about the originality of the original Scream. It cut the stale air and recycled plotting of slashers preceding it in the 80s and 90s. It mixed irony and self-parody with some intensely creepy chills and bloody spills. Its pretty heroine Sidney Prescott (Campbell) was always self-aware of her character’s conventions: “...they’re all the same, some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can’t act who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door, it’s insulting.” She both subverted the scream queen convention and fell victim to it.
Much of this self-referential cleverness owed to Kevin Williamson’s tight script, which re-explored and re-invented the genre’s archetypal characteristics. His screenplay for Scream was no one-off either, evidenced by I Know What You Did Last Summer and The Faculty. Thankfully he’s signed on as screenwriter for the duration of this second-round trilogy.
The answer as to who would direct a fourth Scream was always an obvious one. Wes Craven, the man that saw the original and sequels through, takes charge yet again. The wickedly clever director has always had a knowing way with mocking and indulging the stuff of the slasher trash genre. “I am delighted to accept Bob Weinstein's offer to take the reins on a whole new chapter in 'Scream' history. Working with Courteney, David and Neve was a blast ten years ago and I'm sure it will be again. And I can't wait to find the talent that will bring new blood to the screen as well. Kevin is right on his game with the new script - the characters and story crackle with energy and originality - to say nothing of some of the most hair-raising scares I've seen in a script since... well, since the original 'Scream' series. Let me at it."
As for the actors, Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette are back on board, reprising their roles in the original series. There’s a pool of other actors rumoured to accompany the original trio, including Rory Culkin in a similar role to that of Randy Meeks of the first Scream, relative newcomer Nico Tortorella, as well as the rather underwhelmingly rumoured Hilary Duff. Ugh.
Irrespective of the rumoured cast, I cannot stress enough how excited I am for Scream 4. The original series defined a generation of horror buffs that valued Craven and Williamson’s appreciation of their audience’s intelligence. It’ll be a true test to see if Neve Campbell and her friends, both old and new, are as self-parodic and self-aware as they were in the originals. I’m also curious, perhaps above all else, as to how it’ll renew the fiendishly clever story of the original. It’ll take more than Williamson’s use of self-referentiality and his metafictive device of a movie-within-a-movie (Stab). After all, a movie concept can only take so many inward spirals before it disappears right up its own sphincter.
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