Scream is one of my favorite franchises of all time but a huge part of that is due to the nostalgia and memories I have with the first three. I'm honestly really looking forward to the 5th film after watching Ready Or Not.
I rewatched Scream 4 for the first time since it came out and enjoyed it a lot more than I remembered.
4 owns. It being so good is what made me slightly apprehensive about there being a 5, but after seeing Ready Or Not, I fully trust it
The first Scream will forever be my idea of how a horror movie looks and feels. The last half at the farm house is full on vibes.
I actually have issues with 4: *SPOILERS* - I hate the soft filter this film has pretty much throughout the entire film. I get wanting to give it a “nostalgia” feeling but it’s awful during the day when it washes out everything in the background - The role of Sidney’s Aunt was either greatly reduced in post or something because Lauren Graham had originally been cast but dropped out due to “scheduling conflicts”. That character became such a throwaway and Mary’s performance was actually awful. Her death scene was hilariously terrible and it all felt like a total waste. This is Maureen’s sister.. there was huge potential there - Wes cut down too much of his own film IMO. This wasn’t a mandate from Dimension either - Wes did it on his own in Post. So many of the scenes with the younger cast was cut including one at the infamous water fountain from the first film. Having watched this - I think it was a big mistake on Wes’s end because certain characters like Olivia and Trevor were not given proper development so I felt nothing when they died... which sucks because Olivia had possibly the goriest death in any Scream ever and it was for a throwaway character. None of the friends were even affected by it since they go to a stab-a-thon after witnessing their friend being brutally murdered? Lol - I actually like Charlie and Jill being the killers but let’s not forget how silly that is because they’re both “kids” who weigh literally nothing throwing grown adults around. Emma Roberts is 5’2 and Rory is 5’6 but Ghostface is of course way taller. Now, obviously, the argument here could be made that yeah suspension of disbelief/it’s a movie but the problem is when you make Ghostface do things like throwing someone off a roof or just looking up who physically played Ghostface - Dane Farwell who’s 6’2 - I really wish they kept the “do it if you have the guts” line for Gale in the film. It was a cool line and also when Gale does get stabbed there’s literally no blood and the retractable blade is so noticeable that the stab doesn’t even feel real. - I hate that Kevin Williamson walked once again from this due to creative differences with Wes. To make matters worse, Wes brought back Ehren Kruger who wrote Scream 3... sure he did better this time but why bring back the same writer who wrote the worst sequel? Bad move is bad With all that said; I do still like the 4th film and there were a lot of great moments. I think Kirby was/is Randy levels of perfection for the franchise and if you listen to the blu-ray commentary from Wes and Hayden - it very much sounds like she was heavily hinted to make it and return for a 5th film. Wes and Kevin Williamson already expressed regret over their killing of Randy so they would have to be nuts to permanently kill off another top tier character but keep Officer Judy Hicks alive? Lol
One of my favorite moments of any horror film ever is when Sid calls Billy and Stu taunting them. That line when Sid asks Stu about his motive (as he’s slowly bleeding to death) and he says “peer pressure.. I’m far too sensitive” gets me. Every. Single. Time. Matthew Lillard is so underrated and it hurts.
Yeah I love Scream 4, but the original ideas for Jill's mom and Kirby having more screen time (if i recall correctly) would have been much better
“My mom and dad are gonna be so mad at me” “You hit me with the phone, dick!” Good one-liners from him.