Scream 4

SCREAM 4 (Blu-ray)
Entertainment Video/Dimension Films

Release date: August 22nd, 2011
Certificate (UK): 15
Running time: 110 minutes

Director: Wes Craven

Cast: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panetierre, Nico Tortorella, Marielle Jaffe, Erik Knudsen, Rory Culkin, Adam Brody, Marley Shelton, Mary McDonnell, Anna Paquin and Kristen Bell

Official Movie Site
Exclusive Interview Scream: The Inside Story
Scream 4 Cinema Review
Stab DVD Review

Fans have waited for more than a decade for Ghostface to return and in that time we’ve seen the face of horror change beyond recognition. We’ve had the remakes (Halloween), the reboots (A Nightmare On Elm Street), and the rise of the torture porn genre (Saw) to contend with, but it’s not just the films that have moved on.

The internet has taken over our lives; Twitter and Facebook now go hand in hand with our mobile phones which can do things we never dreamt of 10 years ago. We can record, edit and upload without ever having to log on to a PC and even before we get home, our latest clips have gone viral.

So our masked killer would have a lot of catching up to do. Thankfully, Scream 4 gets most of that out of the way with its clever opening sequence and then gets to work filling us in on what’s been going in the lives of the surviving trio since we last saw them.

Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) has taken a page out of Gale Weathers’ (Courtney Cox) book and is now a successful author promoting her self-help book Out of Darkness. She’s returning home on the last stop of her tour and her arrival is timed with the anniversary of the Woodsboro killings, the story of which spawned 7 of the Stab movies.

Dewey (David Arquette) is now the town’s sheriff and the job seems to fit him perfectly, but for Gale, life hasn’t moved forward that much. Married and stuck in Woodsboro, she’s kind of lost and suffering from writer’s block.

That’s until a gruesome double murder takes place and the killer decides to leave the murder weapon in the trunk of Sidney’s rented car, just to make sure the message is clear. As the bodies pile up, the trio race to save more kids from falling victim to Ghostface’s knife and try to find out who’s behind it. For Gale, it’s a chance to get back to doing what she does best.

Scream 4‘s new blood includes Sidney’s younger cousin, Jill Roberts (Emma Roberts) and her best friend Kirby Reed (Hayden Panetierre). Their performances are extraordinary and they have quite some memorable scenes including one where Kirby fires off a long list of horror remakes while on the phone to the killer in a bid to save one of her friends.

After watching it again I feel it’s a much stronger story than the first one with the issues it addresses, while it stays true to it as well. Just the fact that it didn’t try to top the original opening sequence but use it as a way to bring itself, and us, up to speed on what’s been happening in the 10 year span is admirable alone.

It’s a smart, funny and scary film but it also delivers a stinging commentary on where we are as a society that’s obsessed with fame and being treated like celebrities. We want fans, we want “likes”, we want re-tweets, views and hits and Scream 4 goes as far as showing us the effect this is having on youth today.

Patrick Samuel

The founder of Static Mass Emporium and one of its Editors in Chief is an emerging artist with a philosophy degree, working primarily with pastels and graphite pencils, but he also enjoys experimenting with water colours, acrylics, glass and oil paints.

Being on the autistic spectrum with Asperger’s Syndrome, he is stimulated by bold, contrasting colours, intricate details, multiple textures, and varying shades of light and dark. Patrick's work extends to sound and video, and when not drawing or painting, he can be found working on projects he shares online with his followers.

Patrick returned to drawing and painting after a prolonged break in December 2016 as part of his daily art therapy, and is now making the transition to being a full-time artist. As a spokesperson for autism awareness, he also gives talks and presentations on the benefits of creative therapy.

Static Mass is where he lives his passion for film and writing about it. A fan of film classics, documentaries and science fiction, Patrick prefers films with an impeccable way of storytelling that reflect on the human condition.

Patrick Samuel ¦ Asperger Artist

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