Meta cheese

I'm sure you're sick of the TV talk for a while, so let's get back into some good ol' movie reviews. A few weeks ago, I caught Scream 4, the latest in the popular horror movie franchise. When the first Scream came out in 1997 it generated a lot of interest because it attempted to say something about the horror genre and turn some of the genre's conventions on its ear. As the franchise went on, the films became even more meta as we saw them do a film in a film that depicted the events of the first film.

However, it's now been 10 years since the last Scream and a lot of has happened in the horror genre in that time. We've seen the prominance of the torture porn genre with franchises like Saw and Hostel. More recently, there's been the trend of the documentary style filmmaking for horror films, seen in movies like Paranormal Activity. Yet, Scream 4 arrives as if the franchise has been in a bubble of sorts. The characters have aged and the technology has been updated, but it's efforts on making commentary on the horror genre seem a bit antiquated. Writer Kevin Williamson seems more intent on mocking teen culture rather than horror films.

In Scream 4, Sydney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell) returns to her hometown of Woodsboro to do a book signing for her autobiography and wouldn't you know it, Ghostface decides to show up at the same time murdering people around town. Of course, Sydney is once again joined by the other surviving cast members of the previous films, Courtney Cox and David Arquette, as Gail Weathers and local cop Dewey, respectively. But along with our trio is a whole host of fresh young blood including Emma Roberts, who plays Sydney's cousin Jill and Hayden Panitierre as her friend. The amount of screen time the young actors get is problematic though. Fans of the franchise will want more of a focus on the core trio, but the studio clearly felt the need to include these teens in order to appeal to a wider, newer audience.

I think what bothered me most wasn't the screen time that they received, especially since most of them are just there to be fodder for Ghostface. Rather it was the film's decision to devote so much of the story and commentary on the teen lifestyle as a way to justify their prescence that frustrated me. Without giving too much away, this problem is connected with who they chose to be the film's killer. For me, one of the greatest appeals of this franchise is that it's been as much about being a whodunnit as it has been about the killings. And this time around, the choice for the killer was a letdown. I felt the choice should have been based on one of two things. Either let the killer have not only a strong connection to Sydney, but a deep reason to hate her or they should have chosen a character who's motives would have been more strongly connected with a larger social commentary. There's a point early in the film where someone mentions tough economic times. It would have been completely plausible to have the killer be someone who in their twisted mind was attempting to boost Woodsboro's economy because the Ghostface killings always generate a larger interest in the town.

So when the killer is revealed and it's a letdown, the rest of the film doesn't look as good either. Most of the action leading up to the reveal is redunant from any of the chase scenes we saw in the first three films. If you're going to pull this franchise out of the mothballs then you better have a good reason to do so. Sadly, I didn't see that here. Yes, there are definitely some funny moments and clever lines sprinkled throughout. The opening sequence in particular is the height of meta commentary with several fake-out moments. However, for as funny and clever as the dialogue is at times, none of it felt needed or enlightening. And instead of feeling timeless, this just felt like an unnecessary rehash.

I'm giving Scream 4 a mild recommendation because the quality of the film isn't that different than any of the other previous entries. If you enjoyed the first three films, you're likely going to appreciate another go round involving these familiar characters. I just wish they had made an effort to freshen things up a bit more. This feels in many ways like it could have come out in 2001, not 2011. With the violence and scares being amped up with today's modern horror films, this franchise is going to have to scream a little bit louder in order to get some recognition. Grade: B-