Screams 3 & 4

Scream 3

Runtime: 116 minutes

Directed by: Wes Craven

Starring: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Scott Foley

From: Dimension

Scream 4

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: Wes Craven

Starring: Neve Campbell, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, David Arquette

From: Dimension

I actually saw these two movies last week, but waited until this time to talk about the two. Scream 3 actually was an interesting viewing experience, as I only saw about the first half of it before the scratched-up disc from Blockbuster finally stopped working properly. Thus, I had to go on YouTube to finish watching it! I know, but I had to. Hell, there were a few different copies of it on there.

This was the first time I saw the movie since I watched it on the big screen back in 2000 and I got pretty mad at it for a rather stupid plot device (and I’m being literal there with the usage of the word device) which was not only such a cheat for the plot, it was what I would call “impossible technology”, and I say that’s true in 2011, let alone 2000. That and some brief shots were really all that I remembered about the movie.

After watching the movie, there was a good amount of dialogue that I found was entertaining and I chuckled or even laughed at. Maybe it was me, but I laughed at the references to 60 Minutes II, due to how dated it is now. The problem is, the movie didn’t really seem like a Scream flick. It really clashes with the others. It was more about comedy here than blood and guts stuff. I don’t really remember too many of the kills one week later, which isn’t a good sign. It’s obvious that the change of settings to LA (due to the whole Columbine thing scaring the crap out of movie studios at the time) and the constant script changes (including on the set; why it changed so often, I’m not quite sure) really affected things, and not in a good way. Heck, Neve Campbell only being able to work on the movie for a short amount of time-she pretty much plays a supporting role for the majority of the movie-also threw a monkey wrench into things. No wonder why they didn’t release another one of these for 11 years.

And yeah, the plot device thing still made me mad. Now, onto Scream 4.

I watched this movie and I heard some mixed reviews on how good it was. I watched it, and the opening was goofy yet entertaining; it also presented how ham-fisted it was going to be talking about torture porn and the rise of horror remakes. It’s the opposite of clever how the movie discusses those things.

Overall, it had a collection of good/fine moments, but overall as a movie it doesn’t come together all that well. While it was interesting seeing Sidney Prescott as a successful author now and seeing her niece and her pals as the youths of the series (not to mention how the universe is now that there are such things as YouTube and iPhones), there are some stupid moments too which brings things down. It’s a shame as a good amount of the movie is rather entertaining, and it’s much bloodier than the rest of the movies in the series. Both Emma Roberts and Hayden Panettiere were better than I expected.

Who the killer(s) were… also interesting and that led to some great bits. It’s just that the ending really brings things down. It’s not that great. The way it should have logically ended… I hear that’s how it ended in the script. But the studio changed it and for the worse. If not for that changed ending, Scream 5 could have been a gigantic breath of fresh air. Alas… who knows if there will be a Scream 5 given that worldwide it did fine but in the U.S. it was a disappointment.

I'll be back tomorrow night with a review of Paranormal Activity 3, a movie I'm really looking forward to.