Scream 4

Director: Wes Craven
Starring: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courtney Cox, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Marley Shelton, Adam Brody, Rory Culkin, Erik Knudsen, Alison Brie
Running Time: 111 min.
Rating: R

★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

I'll say this for Scream 4: It gets its most miscalculated sequences out of the way early. In its first few minutes to be exact. Opening with a movie within a movie within a movie, it's a self-referential stab (literally) at parody that ends up being a parody in itself as a number of characters bite the dust before the opening credits roll. Of course, we're not sure if they're actual victims or actresses in the fake "Stab" sequels inspired by Scream. But does that even really matter when you've already exposed the killer four times with nearly eight murders before the "real" movie begins? So when our old friend Ghostface does eventually show up it induces unwanted giggles and when he starts killing people "for real," I started doubting if it was. Part of the problem is highlighted in that crazy opening, as the film descends so far into parody that it's unclear whether they're even in on the joke. Director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson must have understood why their classic opening scene with Drew Barrymore in 1996's Scream worked. Right? If a really crappy sequel were released today it's easy to think Ghostface probably would be text messaging. Are they trying to make fun of movies that would do that by actually doing it?  Do their intentions even make a difference? It's almost maddening trying to distinguish this film from one of the Scary Movie sequels at points, except for the fact that this is might be unintentionally funnier and boasts what's easily the craziest ending the series has seen yet. At least I wasn't bored.

When bestselling self-help author and Ghostface survivor Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) returns home to promote her latest book she finds the town overrun with many more residents (i.e. potential victims) than when she left, as well as a new Ghostface slashing away on the fifteenth anniversary of the Woodsboro murders. So many new characters that a manual could probably be handed out before the film and it would still be fairly difficult to keep track of who they are, where they are, and all their various sub-plots. There's Sidney's cousin and the film's protagonist Jill (Emma Roberts), who along with her ex-boyfriend Trevor (Nico Tortorella) and pals Kirby (Hayden Panettiere) and Olivia (Marielle Jaffe) are the first to experience Ghostface's menacing phone calls. We also have the school's cinema club geeks Charlie (Rory Culkin) and Robbie (Erik Knudsen), basically assuming the Jamie Kennedy role from the first two films by explaining how the killer is now playing by the new horror movie "rules" established in the past decade involving reboots, remakes, torture porn and found footage.  Of course, there's the return of Deputy (now Sheriff) Dewey (David Arquette) and his wife, struggling author Gail Weathers-Riley (Courtney Cox). Their relationship is strained not only by her desire to break the case before him to resurrect her journalism career but by Deputy Judy's (Marley Shelton) crush on Dewey. There's also Sidney's overbearing publicist Rebecca (Alison Brie) who's determined to exploit her client's tragedy to become the next Gail Weathers. Needless to say, all these characters are set up as suspects. 

Over-plotted and needlessly complicated, this script was reported to have some major issues in pre-production and after watching what unfolds onscreen it isn't difficult to see how. Throwing an entirely new cast of young, fresh faces into the mix with the originals had to be done but the execution seems way off, with everyone fighting for screen time and more than a few characters not making much of an impression at all. One of them is unfortunately Campbell's Sidney, the supposed linchpin of the series who plays more of a mopey supporting role until the film's (admittedly exciting) climax. The psychological trauma of her coming home to face her past demons is touched on briefly, then discarded simply because there's just too much other stuff going on and the kills are occurring at a mile a minute. The increase is reasonable given the new "rules" but that doesn't change the fact that so many of them happening in such rapid succession lessens the impact and tension. The idea of the killer recording the murders this time around is a really good one, but clumsily introduced and not developed with enough consistency to pack the punch it should, which is a shame considering the interesting places they could have gone with it.

Say what you want about Campbell as an actress (and I happen to think she's an underrated one) but there's always been a strong, tough presence about her, along with with just the right amount of vulnerability, that seemed to make her the ideal scream queen. Maybe that's why Emma Roberts seems like such a lousy choice for the lead. Much more believable as Julia Roberts' niece than Sidney Prescott's cousin, she just doesn't have that presence Campbell had and looks to young for the part. Supposedly Twilight's Ashley Greene was originally considered for her role and with no familiarity of her work I'd still go out on a limb and say she could have possibly been a better fit. But it's of little difference since Hayden Panettiere feels like the true lead as Kirby, owning every scene she's in and out-acting everyone else in this enormous cast by just simply being real, which might be the hardest thing to do in this genre. The movie's biggest surprise might just be how much of an impact she makes with her limited screen time and the firm grasp she has on the material, especially evident in one sensational scene toward the end. Almost single-handedly saving this entire movie, I started to wonder if they'd actually be dumb enough to kill her off since her presence is clearly the best shot this series has at another installment. It's difficult recalling another character in the Scream saga I wanted to pull through more, knowing that the second she dies this franchise is probably going with her.

As for the rest, Arquette and Cox slide back into their old, familiar roles with relative ease, even if Gail Weathers seems a bit more irritating than I remember. In addition to Shelton's deputy (undeniably a comic highlight) you can count Culkin and Knudsen's film geeks as two of the new characters that work well enough to wish even more could have been done with them. Much of the new cast isn't a disaster, with the exception of Tortorella's Trevor who's so bland he actually makes you miss Skeet Ulrich's Johnny Depp impersonation from the the original. Anthony Anderson and Adam Brody also show up as two bumbling cops and it's kind of a shame nothing is really done with the latter since Brody could have easily been set up as the logical successor or sidekick to Arquette's character if the series continues (a big "if" at this point). Then again, with a running time of only 111 minutes it's almost impossible to squeeze all these characters in with speaking parts. Two big name actresses provide an early cameo and I still couldn't help but think it was a total waste of their talents, even by cameo standards.

The ending's a hoot that's for sure. As far as the revelation of the killer(s) it stands among the more clever surprises in the series in that it holds up, partially eliminating some of the bigger story problems up until that point, with one performer somewhat redeeming themselves with an over-the-top turn I didn't think was in them. But the script jammed too much in until then and was already lost in meta nonsense to such a point that it eventually grows indistinguishable from what it's parodying by the finale. Count me among the few looking forward to a Scream reboot, anticipating enough time had passed for a fresh shine to be put on the franchise, especially if the key original cast members were to return, which they did. While I still think this was a great idea and it's not the weakest entry in the series (see the third), it's the first where the tone seems off, alternating unevenly between comedy and horror throughout. It strangely disappoints in a fashion similar to J.J. Abram's Spielberg throwback Super 8 from earlier in the year in that both films had massive built-in nostalgia that could have yielded greatness if only small mistakes were corrected at the screenwriting stage before they became bigger ones on screen. More closely resembling a limp third sequel of an ailing horror franchise than a full-on revitalization, Scream 4 is an entertainingly jumbled mess that had me wishing for more and wondering what should have been.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010)

Director: Samuel Bayer
Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner, Katie Cassidy, Thomas Dekker, Kellan Lutz, Connie Britton, Clancy Brown
Running Time: 95 min.
Rating: R

★★ 1/2 (out of ★★★★)

On the horror remake offensiveness scale, A Nightmare on Elm Street would probably fall somewhere in the middle, ranking below A Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween and Psycho but slightly above Friday the 13th in terms of how many fans a reboot will upset. While the 1984 original was an entertaining, well-made 80's slasher with an unusually original premise for its time, it wasn't scary and with each progressing sequel Freddy Krueger, much like Jason, became less an icon and more a parody. That seems to be reoccurring problem in the horror genre as these franchises continue long past their expiration date, losing all creative steam while the studios beat a dead horse trying to wring every last cent out of them. Saw is the latest victim, and though its seventh installment is being touted as the last, you can bet it'll eventually be back in some form or another. These movies always come back, and that's not necessarily such a bad thing since many love them with a passion so in that sense reviving a long-dormant franchise like Nightmare isn't the worst idea there is. Sure, it's a shameless cash grab, but at least there's a need for creative resuscitation here, unlike the recent remake of that same year's The Karate Kid, which raped a classic story solely for profit. Hardcore horror fans may feel the same way about this but they should at least be grateful the kids aren't pre-teens, it's rated "R," and there's a concerted effort to return the series to its darker, more serious roots. Unfortunately, for all the arguments you can come up with for this remake being somehow defensible, the filmmakers have gone out their way to make it FEEL as pointless and disposable as possible. The same problems that have plagued all the other Platinum Dunes-produced horror remakes like Chainsaw, Friday The 13th, The Amityville Horror and The Hitcher are again on display to a lesser extent, but this does have three big things going for it: A great concept and two very talented actors. The results are decidedly mixed, but better than expected. In the end though, it still doesn't work mainly because these horror remakes are all starting to feel and look the same, adding nothing to what was already there and ineffectively re-executing everything that was done well enough the first time around.

Much of the original story remains intact (save for a few changes) which is a good thing because this is one of the rare slashers powered by a concept so strong that even the 1984 film and its inferior sequels couldn't fully capitalize on it. In a small American suburb, high schoolers Nancy (Rooney Mara), Quentin (Kyle Gallner), Jess (Thomas Dekker), Kris (Katie Cassidy) and Dean (Kellan Lutz) are all having nightmarish visions featuring a severely burned man in a red and green striped sweater and a glove equipped with sharp knives. He attacks only in their dreams and if he kills them there, they die in real life. The key is to stay awake (whether that be with the aid of stimulants or just sheer force of will) so that doesn't happen but Freddy slices through the teens until only Nancy and Quentin are left to discover the truth of everyone's shared past with this man and attempt to defeat him for good. One of the more positive changes the updated script provides is the introduction of the idea of "micro-naps" in which the potential victims fall asleep for 10 or 15 minutes, making it even harder for them (and us as the viewer) to distinguish between what's real or not, which ups the suspense level considerably. There isn't anyone who hasn't dozed off for a few brief minutes or felt so tired that they haven't a clue where they are making so it's a clever twist on a familiar idea.

Giving us as much back story on school caretaker and accused child molester Fred Krueger as possible (even going so far as to come up with with an origin story for his sweater) isn't necessarily a bad idea in theory since he isn't one of those horror villains where the more you know or see of him, the less scary he becomes. He simply isn't scary at all to begin with so no harm done there. But you do have to question the logic of showing and spelling out information what was subtly, but effectively implied in the original films. This can't either but it makes little sense attempting to recreate key scenes, moments and plot points from the original, only with cutting edge computer generated effects. Re-tracing the original film's steps beat for beat but with higher production value is a silly idea that only helps make this feel like the latest inferior sequel in the franchise. This is a problem similar to the one marring the final act of Rob Zombie's 2007 Halloween remake, in which he attempted to faithfully reconstruct and jam John Carpenter's original film into the last third of his, but with more overt brutality. It's almost as if all these filmmakers want to have their cake and eat it too by teasing a new direction only to fall back on recreating scenes from the original (in some cases rather poorly) as some kind of misguided tribute or an attempt to throw a bone at hardcore fans. Last year, Zombie rebounded strongly with the gutsy, unrelenting Halloween II when he strayed as far as possible from the source material, finally breaking free from the genre conventions holding these remakes back. That's a template this could have followed in place of the typical sequel/reboot mish-mash route that was chosen instead. It's also interchangeable with a lot of other recent horror remakes with its slick music video style approach to the material, which diminishes the sense of dread and urgency in favor of making everything look dirty, but high budget dirty.  In other words, it's too polished. Maybe not coincidentally, this was directed by Samuel Bayer, who's first ever directing gig was Nirvana's classic 1991 "Smells Like Teen Spirit" video. Say what you want about Zombie's efforts but at least he captured the visual feel of trashy, low budget midnight drive-in movies.

The biggest hurdle cleared is the casting of Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger, who steps into the role made famous by Robert Englund after online fans pushed to have him cast. They were right on target, and as much as this will upset loyalists, he's no worse at it than his predecessor. Not necessarily better mind you, but different in a way that's appropriate for the liberties taken with the source material. Whether that more realistic approach (facially looking very much like an actual burn victim) is the right one considering this is supposed to be a horror/fantasy character may be up for debate, but Haley's the right guy for the job considering Freddy is supposed to be more frightening than entertaining. His small stature is a minor issue (he's nowhere near the physical presence Englund was) and there aren't as many clever one-liners for him to deliver, but that's not what's really called for here anyway. Unfortunately the character he's given isn't all that interesting and the flashback backstory, despite playing to all of his strengths as an actor, isn't really developed enough since doing that would mean the writers would have to stray from the predictable horror rules suffocating the picture.

My (and seemingly everyone else's) new favorite actress of the moment, Rooney Mara, gives us a Nancy that's a far cry from Heather Langenkamp's appropriately superficial incarnation over 25 years ago. Sullen, morose, and shy, she's the most withdrawn female protagonist we've seen in a horror movie in some time and pensively looks and acts like she's suffered some great tragedy, maybe one outside of what's actually happening in this story. And whatever that tragedy is I can practically guarantee you it would have made for a better movie than we got here. As an actress, Mara has this interesting look and expression to her face that's inscrutably intelligent, making you think she knows something you don't and if you stare long enough you might be able to figure out what. It was evident in just her few sensational, Oscar-worthy scenes in The Social Network and it's only a little bit of a surprise that the quiet intensity that made her performance there so memorable carry over into this. It's unlikely any studio decision makers completely knew at the time of her casting just how much they got or what would happen with her career so it's unfortunate that she's contractually locked (as is Haley) into appearing in a sequel should it occur. And judging from the final scene, it's a safe bet it will. That this doesn't seem like the worst news in the world for her (at least no worse than Robert Downey Jr. spending the rest of his career in Iron Man purgatory) is a credit to how much she brings to a project that doesn't deserve her talents. Until she takes over the film, Katie Cassidy does a surprisingly credible job early on with a one-note scream queen character and Kyle Gallner seems right at home as the weirdo, emo co-lead opposite Mara. Friday Night Lights' Connie Britton and gifted character actor Clancy Brown are wasted in the obligatory adult roles, as is too often the case in these types of films.

Sadly, the acting all-around is actually better than the original and it doesn't seem to help one bit since no one could decide whether they wanted to make a slasher with cheesy acting faithful to the original or an updated version that takes itself seriously. The result ends up being a fake cheesy slasher taking itself too seriously and I'm wondering if removing some of the goofier horror elements and playing it as a straight psychological drama would have been wiser. With a premise this strong and the acting clearly there to support it, a gripping story could have been constructed centering on dreams and reality as these teens come to grips with a buried childhood tragedy. NOES 2010 feels like it should have ambition beyond just covering the original and if a more realistic approach was the game plan they should have had the guts to go all the way with it since there was real potential to do something interesting here. This near-miss exposes the biggest problem with remakes in that there's always a cause to worry that studios will continue to casually resurrect a beloved title or franchise without seriously considering how.

The Hills Have Eyes

Director: Alexandre Aja
Starring: Aaron Stanford, Dan Byrd, Emilie de Ravin, Vinessa Shaw, Kathleen Quinlin, Ted Devine
Running Time: 107 min.
Rating: R

*1/2 (out of ****)

The Hills Have Eyes is a complete waste of time. It calls itself a horror film yet there isn't a single scare to be found and it's not suspenseful in the least. It's just gory and disgusting. I haven't seen the original 1977 Wes Craven film on which this is based but it has to be better than this. It just has to be. The only thing that scared me about the movie was that Wes Craven, a master of suspense and horror (although he has been slipping lately) would actually have his name on this trash as a producer.

The entire film is an exercise in gratuitous violence with the antagonists having no clear personalities or motivations, but I know that's digging too deep. Looked at for what it is, a modern day slasher film, it's still a failure. If anything, it's just a cheap rip-off of the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre which I actually enjoyed. That movie built suspense and was terrifying at times. Plus, it had Jessica Biel. This has nothing. We've seen movies like this executed far better so there's no reason to fall for an expensive knock-off.

What there is of a plot concerns a family heading to San Diego for a vacation in their RV, which soon becomes stranded in the middle of the desert. We have Bob Carter (Ted Devine) his wife Ethel (Kathleen Quinlin), teenage kids Bobby( Dan Byrd), Brenda (Lost's Emilie de Ravin), and oldest daughter Lynne ( (Vinessa Shaw) who brought along husband Doug (Tadpole's Aaron Stanford) and their newborn baby. I wonder what will happen to the baby. All of the characters are ridiculous stereotypes such as the gun-toting right wing tough guy dad and the rebellious teenage daughter, which is fine if any of them were the least bit enjoyable to watch or likable. Instead they argue with each other for the entire insufferable first half hour of the film. The teenage daughter would rather be in Cancun. Dad hates his son-in-law because he's a liberal. We could go on and on.

I'm not spoiling anything by telling you that many of these characters die, and they die in disgusting, brutal ways at the hands of miners who were deformed as a result of government nuclear testing done in the 1950's. One of the most insulting things about the movie is this touch, which was a pathetic attempt to humanize the cannibals and add political undertones to the story.

These cannibals look exactly like what they are: Actors who stepped off a Hollywood backlot after hours in the make-up chair. The only nice things that can be said about this film are that it's well shot and there are some resonably good action scenes in the final act. While watching this film I came to a realization about modern horror movies. For whatever reason, there's this propensity to show everything and use the best special effects imaginable. It's as if the filmmakers have learned nothing from the success of low budget 70's horror films and movies like The Blair Witch Project from 1999. It's what you don't show, not what you do that makes a horror movie. Just ask Steven Spielberg. He'll tell you how much worse Jaws would have been if the shark actually worked all the time.