Official Score = 3 Devils[/caption]In 1996 there was a soon to be legendary teen slasher movie, that would go on to define the slasher movie horror sub genre for the 1990s with the movie, Scream (1996)!
Believe it or not this movie (which was made by Wes Craven), had actually meant to be a spoof of previous slasher movies... The only problem is that it wasn't funny... As a matter of fact, despite the fact that this movie was not really all that funny, it actually turned out to be a piece of cinematic genius that would define that type of horror movie for the rest of the 1990s!
Why was this movie so defining? Well simply put I think it was because it added an element of mystery to the movie... What I mean by this is that this movie had a certain style and panache that definitely defined the 90s (as opposed to your usual Texas Chainsaw Massacre, or Friday The 13th, being more of a slash and grab!)
Now I do like both of those types of movies, but in this case, and I do think that this was largely due to the direction of Wes Craven (who helped define the mystery/slasher horror movie) and the writing of Kevin Williamson (who took it to a new level in the 1990).
I will also say that Hitchcock helped to trail blaze this type of movie, with that said though, Hitchcock's style vs what you would see in Scream are two different movies (i,e. with Hitchcock (as was the sign of the times) there was more mystery then horror, and with what you see in Scream, it is more of a balance of horror vs mystery!)
The reason that I mention all of this is that in 2011, Scream 4 was released in to theaters (unfortunately I did end up missing it then), but I recently saw it fresh... And I gotta say that this one is an interesting one...
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A fun one![/caption]You see, this movie (which would reunite Kevin Williamson, Wes Craven, and the original cast members that were in the first 3 movies) told the story of how after many years, Sidney Prescott (Played by: Neve Campbell), comes back to her home town of Woodsboro during the anniversary of the original Woodsboro massacre as part of her publicity tour for her self help book...
What she doesn't know though, is that she isn't the only one that has come home... You see, it turns out that Ghostface has decided to come home to remake the legendary original story line in ways that she, nor Dewey (Played by: David Arquette) or his wife and fellow survivor of the previous massacres Gale Weathers (Played: Courtney Cox) may not be ready to combat!
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Ghostface and Gail Weathers are just two of the original party players that have come together to reunite for the anniversary of the original massacre![/caption]Another thing that I thought was kind of cool was the introduction of some of the talent that has been making waves on both the big screen and the small screen, like Hayden Panettiere, (Heroes), Emma Roberts (Nancy Drew) & Rory Culkin (The Good Son) to name a few!
Also I thought it was cool how they have utilized talented veteran actors and actresses like Marley Shelton (Planet Terror), and Anthony Anderson (The Departed)!
Now the unfortunate side of this movie (and I hope this movie does properly put the Scream franchise to rest), is A: This movie was definitely dated, and all though it was quite cool to enjoy a classic 90s style teen slasher... In the end, this movie unfortunately tried to re-create that 90s magic, while incorporating elements to make it fresh and new, yet failing to do so! B: I mentioned above that I hope this movie effectively allows this franchise to Rest In Peace... Well that is because this movie has gone everywhere it could... I mean the only directions they can take that I could think of would be to either 1. would be to add the same elements that made the original 3 great (which has been played out), or 2. to have Ghostface go after some other group of teenagers... Although if they do that then it will probably end up being as horrible as the second sequel in the, 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' series.
In the end, I am a fan of the series, and I definitely think if you are a fan of the series that you might like it as well!
http://youtu.be/UlaZfOiGaCU
