Scre4m (2011)

★★★
Kevin Williamson used the time well between Scream 3 and Scre4m. In those eleven years, he saved up enough good ideas and had the opportunity to watch how horror movies were evolving in the new millennium. His movie is shockingly prescient. Social media is making stars out of anyone who can acquire a large following by creating and posting videos (I hate the word "content") that show everything from the ordinary to the outrageous, but the extent to which some creators will go to gain validation has gotten worse since this movie came out in 2011. Scre4m exposes the dark and ugly side of online fame. Watching someone find a lost kitten sounds benign until you realize it was staged.

Wes Craven returns to the director's seat for the final time. Scre4m culminates a career filled with imaginative tales that always aspired to be top tier entertainment. A quick glance over his filmography reveals a pattern of aiming high against all odds. He was not satisfied with simply delivering a movie with a high body count or easy jump scares. He was smarter than that. He arrived onto the scene with an academic background. Even his weakest films have the ambition of a master storyteller at the helm. The plots for Deadly Friend, Shocker, The People Under the Stairs and The Serpent and the Rainbow are nothing alike and speak to his abilities as a creative filmmaker.

The story of Scre4m brings the Ghostface killings back to Woodsboro 15 years after the original events forever changed the life of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell). She wrote a book on her experiences, and she's on the last leg of her book signing tour. Old friends Sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and former reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) are married and living in Woodsboro. Everything has settled down and returned to normal for the residents, but Sidney's return brings trouble. A new crop of Woodsboro High School horror movie buffs takes the stage to showcase their knowledge of horror movies by commenting on increased violence, torture porn and legacy sequel trends.

Sidney's cousin Jill (Emma Roberts) and her friends are the targets this time around. The movie opens with the obligatory kills, and Sheriff Riley is on the case. Gale realizes that being a "civilian" on the sidelines is no fun, so her instincts take over, and she conducts her own investigation. The city is on edge as Ghostface makes his appearance and disappears into the night while stalking his victims. His phone calls with that distinctive voice by Roger L. Jackson are as creepy as ever. Craven and Williamson continue to demonstrate their mastery of this genre. The suspense is very much cranked up this time around and is a welcome return after the tepid Scream 3, which existed more out of obligation than as a genuine attempt to tell another thrilling story.

The villain reveal is a genuine surprise. Scream 3's Ghostface barely made any kind of impact before the unmasking, but here, there is real shock behind the identity. Out of all the Ghostface motives in the series, this one stands out as especially cruel, especially when you consider the victims. Wes Craven's final film is a solid entry in the series. It has everything that made the first two so good. The scares and graphic violence are all here, but more important is the great chemistry with the leads, which was developed over years of Campbell, Cox and Arquette acting together. The tributes for Craven after his passing were touching. "Thanks for the nightmares" was one such show of appreciation, and it is one that I share.

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