Well, I'm in school now. It's not that bad so far. I still don't really care for North Carolina, but whatever. I do, however, still like movies. I've watched quite a few since the last time I posted on here, most notably Drive, which is easily the coolest movie I've seen this year.
Since it's October, I figured now is as good a time as any to start this up again since all I watch are horror films. Some new, some old. Some I've seen, most I haven't.
So far this month I've watched Poltergeist, Videodrome, The Fly, Insidious, The Last Exorcism, The Shining, Buried, In the Mouth of Madness, The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Let Me In and Scream 4.
In terms of pure scare factor, Insidious is thus far the winner since I am quite easily scared of anything involving paranormal or haunted house situations. Though the movie as a whole is a little silly.
In terms of pure quality, Let Me In was probably the biggest surprise. In fact, I had considered doing a comparison of it with its original counter part, Let the Right One In, but to be honest I'm more interested in watching films I haven't seen as opposed to revisiting old favorites.
Which brings us to Scream 4. I've got a special place in my heart for the first two. I was 10 and 11 years old when they were released, right at the time when I was really discovering my love affair with movies, so seeing movies about movies with characters who only talked about movies was right up my alley. The first is easily the best of the series, turning the entire genre on its head while the second installment was almost as clever in its dissection of sequels and franchises . Having Timothy Olyphant in your movie doesn't hurt, either.
But man, Scream 3 sucks. I mean, it sucks. Of the first three, I had seen this one the least amount of times, though I had a faint memory of it being decent. So when I watched it for the first time in at least 10 years this past April, you could say that I was more than a little surprised to discover just how terrible it is. Phoned in by just about everyone involved, its no shocker that it took 11 years to get the franchise going again.
Even with the bad taste Scream 3 left in my mouth, I was hopeful that the time away had gotten the creative juices flowing again and at least make for a fun return to Woodsboro. And for the most part, that's pretty much what happened.
While nowhere near as smart as the first two, Scream 4 manages to to be fun, funny, and tense all while updating and playing with the "rules" of today's horror films. Also, the opening tag was a great reminder of how clever and fun the series can be, and was easily the best opening since the original.
In fact, the only area where the movie really drops the ball is the reveal of its killer(s). This might be a deal-breaker for most, but I personally always had more fun with the series' self-aware take on the genre than guessing who the killer was.
That being said, the actor who plays the villain here just doesn't have the weight or skill to pull off the obligatory "Why I did it" monologue at the end, not to mention the fact that her motivations make absolutely no sense. Granted, Skeet Ulrich, Matt Lillard, and Tim Olyphant weren't exactly deserving of Oscars for their turns, but I at least believed that their characters were crazy enough to put on a ghost mask and stab teenagers.
Also, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually wish David Arquette had more to do. His Dewey has always been a fan favorite, and Arquette brings a certain 'doofus' like quality to the character that's funny and sweet without going too far over the top. In a complete waste of opportunity, though, the filmmakers chose to make Dewey sheriff this time around, something that should have been a slam dunk in terms of laughs, and instead offer a single running gag where Dewey is forced to but-heads with his now wife Gale, who keeps insisting that she be included in the investigation. It's mildly amusing I suppose, but I feel like they could have easily gone further with the notion of a once bumbling deputy Dewey as a now bumbling sheriff Dewey.
Even with a lame ending and a not so funny Dewey, Scream 4 is leaps and bounds better than the last installment, offering up some tense moments and solid laughs while also reminding the audience just how good Wes Craven can be.
