Scream 4
Scream 4 is the movie in
the Scream series I was looking forward to watching the least. I knew I
had seen part of it before, and I remembered it was very strange. Watching it
all the way through, I can confirm it is odd, strange, and unbelievable. But,
as it does lead into the fifth movie, it needs to be watched.
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| Scream 4 |
Sidney Prescott returns home
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell)
is back in her hometown of Woodsboro to promote her new book. She is arriving
in time for the anniversary of the first Ghostface killings Sidney and the town
went through years ago. The teenagers are using this anniversary as an occasion
to celebrate and party. Ghostface costumes are even put on top of light poles.
Sidney sees the light poles and
takes it all in stride. Her book is about moving on, and that is what she
intends to continue to do. She has finally found peace with her past, but the
peace is disturbed when people begin to be killed.
The first two people killed are
teenage girls from the high school. Now sheriff of Woodsboro, Dewey Riley
(David Arquette) decides to put Sidney under twenty-four hour surveillance to
keep her safe. Everyone believes she will be okay staying with her aunt, Kate
Roberts (Mary McDonnell), and cousin, Jill (Emma Roberts). But of course, Sidney
is not safe.
Jill’s friends and classmates become targets
The next person to be killed is
Jill’s friend Olivia Morris (Marielle Jaffe). This time, Ghostface (voiced by
Roger L. Jackson) calls Jill and her friend Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere)
instead of his victim, as would be his usual practice. Olivia’s house is close
to Jill’s, and Ghostface has Jill and Kirby watch as he murders Olivia.
Seeing what is happening, Sidney
runs to Olivia’s house and tries to help. She gets into a battle with Ghostface
who, as usual, manages to get away.
With the deaths of their
classmates, one would think the other kids would cancel their Stab Fest,
a marathon of watching the movies based on Gale Weathers’s (Courteney Cox)
books about Sidney’s life. They keep the festival on, though, and it is
well-attended. Even Gale goes to it, but she does it to investigate the most
recent killings. She moves around the festival space and plants cameras. Or at
least she does until Ghostface attacks her.
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| Scream 4 Emma Roberts, Courteney Cox Neve Campbell David Arquette, Hayden Panettiere |
Gale feels the need to investigate
Gale has been struggling with her
life ever since she married Dewey and moved to Woodsboro. She gave up her
reporting career to be a full-time writer. At least that is what she is trying
to be. Currently she has no idea about what to write. That’s why when people
begin to die, she wants to jump into the investigation. Except, Dewey and the
deputy who loves him, Judy Hicks (Marley Shelton), refuse to let her help. Gale
decides to go it alone.
Gale starts her investigation by
consulting two members of the high school’s movie club, Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin)
and Robbie Mercer (Erik Knudsen). These two are the ones putting on Stab Fest,
which, as I mentioned, does not go well for Gale.
Ghostface’s identity is finally uncovered
The festival breaks up after the
Ghostface attack. Kirby, Charlie, and Robbie go to Kirby’s house. Jill was not
at the festival because she was told to remain home to stay safe. Fed up with
being at home, Jill sneaks out and joins her friends at Kirby’s house. Jill’s
ex-boyfriend, Trevor Sheldon (Nico Tortorella), joins them. He claims Jill
texted him an invitation, but Jill insists she didn’t. After this, Ghostface
appears. More people die, and Ghostface’s identity is revealed.
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| Scream 4 Emma Roberts Courteney Cox David Arquette |
Some things just don’t make sense
The extent the person behind the
Ghostface murders goes to make themselves appear the victim is quite extreme.
Also, despite how many battles Ghostface gets into, never does the person inside
the costume exhibit any injuries once taking the costume off despite having
been punched, kicked, and shot. It is fascinating how that works.
Something else that continues to
perplex me is how Sidney still does not do martial arts. One would think, with
so many attempts on her life through the years, that she would finally study
some form of self-defense.
One more installment to go
Now that I have seen the first
four Scream movies, I am eager to see the fifth. I am curious to see
where the story goes. So much could have happened in the eleven years since the
fourth movie. Relationships will have come and gone. Major decisions and life-changing events will have occurred. I am intentionally keeping myself from
knowing too much so I can be surprised when I watch. I look forward to seeing
what happens.
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