As a massive fan of the "Scream" series (the third instalment not so much), I was over the moon when the fourth was announced last year, and waited very eagerly, yet patiently, for its release... What a complete waste of my time.
"Scream 4" is an embarrassment to the cast and crew, particularly Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven. It steps far beyond the line between "clever" and "cringeworthy, dumb and pointless" in the direction of the latter. It attempted to mock the majority of horror movies, including its own predecessors, far too hard, making it difficult to take seriously or even watch at all.
The character development of "the new generation" was poor, meaning that it was hard to feel sorry for any of them given the circumstances that surrounded them. Most of the new characters were easily unlikeable. It felt as though their inclusion was purely filler, in order to provide a good number of potential victims for Ghostface.
The direction was horrific at times - characters showed little (if any) remorse for their perished peers. No suspense was created toward or during Ghostface's appearances. It was as though even the writers were unsure what they were trying to achieve. They failed miserably in finding the perfect balance of humour and horror, instead meshing the two together as one big, annoying mess.
The music was used at inappropriate moments and was confusing, in that it didn't really provide a specific feel for the movie. It was even goofy at times, spoiling the atmosphere completely.
The film was terribly structured. The last half an hour (concluding the film) was clumsy and laughable, and the choice of killer(s)(just to throw you off) and the motive(s) was ridiculous and unbelievable.
Poor pacing, no tension, non-existent scare factor, some bad casting, awkward jokes, overly self-referential and a very big anti-climax. Just bad. Some reviewers are saying that fans will appreciate it, but I believe that they will be most offended by this train wreck.
Don't waste your time.
"Scream 4" is an embarrassment to the cast and crew, particularly Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven. It steps far beyond the line between "clever" and "cringeworthy, dumb and pointless" in the direction of the latter. It attempted to mock the majority of horror movies, including its own predecessors, far too hard, making it difficult to take seriously or even watch at all.
The character development of "the new generation" was poor, meaning that it was hard to feel sorry for any of them given the circumstances that surrounded them. Most of the new characters were easily unlikeable. It felt as though their inclusion was purely filler, in order to provide a good number of potential victims for Ghostface.
The direction was horrific at times - characters showed little (if any) remorse for their perished peers. No suspense was created toward or during Ghostface's appearances. It was as though even the writers were unsure what they were trying to achieve. They failed miserably in finding the perfect balance of humour and horror, instead meshing the two together as one big, annoying mess.
The music was used at inappropriate moments and was confusing, in that it didn't really provide a specific feel for the movie. It was even goofy at times, spoiling the atmosphere completely.
The film was terribly structured. The last half an hour (concluding the film) was clumsy and laughable, and the choice of killer(s)(just to throw you off) and the motive(s) was ridiculous and unbelievable.
Poor pacing, no tension, non-existent scare factor, some bad casting, awkward jokes, overly self-referential and a very big anti-climax. Just bad. Some reviewers are saying that fans will appreciate it, but I believe that they will be most offended by this train wreck.
Don't waste your time.