Day 11: Scream 4
Directed By: Wes Craven
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts
Released: 2011
Genre: Horror Mystery Thriller
What's that? Only Scream 2 and 3 are available on Netflix streaming? What are you implying?
Confession: I haven't watched the previous Scream movies, but I'm not sure that's a problem. It was pretty obvious that Sidney and Gale had some baggage.
Out of all the movies I've watched this May, Scre4m is my favorite. I shall explain.
#1: The MJ Aumen Tip-Off
Before Armand, Micah, and I started to watch the movie, Micah was telling the two of us the basic premise of the movie and the other Scream films. He told us it wasn't integral that we watch the other movies and mentioned that the Scream films are unique because they mock the conventions of other modern horror movies.
I watched the movie with that in mind, keeping an eye out for situations where the movie poked fun at the attributes of horror films. It didn't take much effort to spot, but we'll get to that later.
Anyway, Micah's suggestion gave me a task when I watched the movie. Having tasks makes me generally feel useful, even if it is, like, folding laundry. Or looking for farce in a Wes Craven film. I'm pretty easy to please.
I watched the movie with that in mind, keeping an eye out for situations where the movie poked fun at the attributes of horror films. It didn't take much effort to spot, but we'll get to that later.
Anyway, Micah's suggestion gave me a task when I watched the movie. Having tasks makes me generally feel useful, even if it is, like, folding laundry. Or looking for farce in a Wes Craven film. I'm pretty easy to please.
#2: Firstly and Foremostly Thrilling
This was a horror movie, no doubt--thank you Ghostface--but it felt more like a thriller to me. The main reason I watched his movie, actually watched it, was because it was scary, but not so incredibly scary and gory that I had to bury my face in Armand's knee for every hack scene.
The buildups to the murders chilled me more than the actual acts of murder, which was a twist in itself for me (or it could just be desensitization to violence that makes me passe to knife attacks. You never know). The ominous phone calls, the cautious closet checking, the walking-on-the-balls-of-your-feet-through-the-empty-house bits made me cringe in anticipation, but the resulting climax didn't completely turn my stomach or send me into tachycardia. Since I'm not a hardcore horror fan, I like that. I prefer feeling suspended with a mysterious, thrilling buildup than being scared senseless.
The buildups to the murders chilled me more than the actual acts of murder, which was a twist in itself for me (or it could just be desensitization to violence that makes me passe to knife attacks. You never know). The ominous phone calls, the cautious closet checking, the walking-on-the-balls-of-your-feet-through-the-empty-house bits made me cringe in anticipation, but the resulting climax didn't completely turn my stomach or send me into tachycardia. Since I'm not a hardcore horror fan, I like that. I prefer feeling suspended with a mysterious, thrilling buildup than being scared senseless.
#3: I Lived What I Learned?!
Winter term, I took a class called A Serious Look At Humor. It was, without a doubt, the easiest, most aimless class I've taken to date at Wartburg. Until last night, I also considered it the most useless.
We spent the semester talking about humor theory, applications, and evolution of humor. We read two boring and semi-pretentious books about humor and dipped into the YouTube pool constantly for funny video clips.
A large part of the term was spent on dark humor and killing jokes, two--hmm, slightly controversial applications of humor. My class discussed at length what part humor plays in horror movies, and it's more prevalent than you think. There are a lot of people who actually find the acts of killing in horror movies funny. If you paty attention, you fan find humor hiding in the Nightmare On Elm Street and Chuckie movies. Oh yeah, in the Scream movies too.
Scre4m has funny moments. A lot of funny moments, actually. Some are pushed and intended by the actors, and others are not so obvious. Scre4m went for a farcical approach to the horror genre, and the result was great. They simultaneously bagged humor and horror together.
Take this humorous death scene:
We spent the semester talking about humor theory, applications, and evolution of humor. We read two boring and semi-pretentious books about humor and dipped into the YouTube pool constantly for funny video clips.
A large part of the term was spent on dark humor and killing jokes, two--hmm, slightly controversial applications of humor. My class discussed at length what part humor plays in horror movies, and it's more prevalent than you think. There are a lot of people who actually find the acts of killing in horror movies funny. If you paty attention, you fan find humor hiding in the Nightmare On Elm Street and Chuckie movies. Oh yeah, in the Scream movies too.
Scre4m has funny moments. A lot of funny moments, actually. Some are pushed and intended by the actors, and others are not so obvious. Scre4m went for a farcical approach to the horror genre, and the result was great. They simultaneously bagged humor and horror together.
Take this humorous death scene:
#4: Emma Roberts
I don't know how she went from knee-high socked Nancy Drew to--I won't ruin anything--horror thrill Jill, but Emma Roberts pulled it off in Scre4m.
Her acting isn't the classic horror-movie-cheesy and she shows character development throughout the movie. She fits her part well, and that's all I'll say.
I really liked Scre4m because it was a prime blend of horror and humor. It's not too scary for the faint of heart, too lame for those who demand a decent performance of an action thriller movie, and there's no shortage of bodies and blood for those of us who enjoy watching others get slashed by a guy in a Halloween costume.