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Post by DustinM on Apr 26, 2011 21:09:01 GMT -5
So Wes Craven's other noteworthy franchise has been given another installment (as opposed to a remake). Interestingly, Scream is not unlike Phantasm in that both franchises retain most of their original cast, though Scream has a slightly better track record than our series.
I just saw the new Scream, having been a fan since the original (which, my God, was a shocking fifteen years ago!!!) and I enjoyed it very much. Scream has always been a highly self-aware property and Scream 4 continues in this same proud and clever tradition.
A shame to hear about it's box office underperformance. I thought it was solid. Anyone else catch it?
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Post by Natalie on Apr 26, 2011 21:47:37 GMT -5
Yeah, I went to see it a few nights ago. I thought it was a pretty good film. And I think the whole reason for it's box office under-performance is that someone person uploaded the entire movie on Youtube. (And I am not helping since I'm saying here, but most likely Youtube took it down).
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Post by gopher in heat on Apr 27, 2011 12:52:43 GMT -5
Yeah I read yesterday that the proposed 5th and 6th films have been shelved for the time being. Scream 4 was expected to be a much bigger hit than it was. I haven't seen the new one yet myself, but growing up I was a HUGE fan of the first two. The 3rd one didn't knock my socks off at all though, which is why I was reluctant to see the 4th to begin with. And let's face it, they made a huge mistake killing off the best character in part 2.
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Post by scubasteve on Apr 28, 2011 1:45:57 GMT -5
I was always underwhelmed by the whole franchise, Scream quite frankly bored the pants off me when it first came out and the whole slew of films that followed, such as I know What You Did Last Summer, just made the situation worse. I'm not surprised that it didn't do well, mainly because I think that people who generally see horror films are after gore, not a murder mystery whodunnit, which the Scream franchise included. From the trailers, Sream 4 seemed like the other 3, but this time the killer was filming it and putting it on the internet. I can't even recall how many movies I've seen like that even before the first scream came out. I think Wes missed the boat by a long shot.
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vitaman2007
Sentinel Sphere
"Be de be de be de...f#@ you Buck!"
Posts: 698
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Post by vitaman2007 on Apr 28, 2011 12:56:34 GMT -5
I always liked the first one and having just got the boxed set trilogy thought the other 2 were also quite watchable. Plus all the hot CA babes.
I like my horror more suspenseful than gory. Unless it's cartoonish gore like yellow sheite spewing from reanimated zombies or aliens.
And if there is a mystery to be solved, then all the better.
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Post by DustinM on Apr 28, 2011 13:12:56 GMT -5
Steve, (Spoilers abound)
Well, not really. The context of that development is important. Within the Scream universe, the original film's murders have been immortalized in the STAB series, a franchise within a franchise. STAB is art imitating life, which itself was imitating art (the original film's killers were horror movie fans operating by movie rules.) This new killer's intention in Scream 4 is not for someone to dramatize these new killings in another STAB film, but for the actual killings to be a film of their own. I could harp on that little more, but not without revealing who the killer is and what their motives are. It's actually a spot of brilliance, in my opinion.
I'll be perfectly honest, I can only think of one... 1960's Peeping Tom being the main one and Scream 4 mentions it by name, but I'm not the brightest. How many can you name? It's not like the killer is mailing the videotapes to the police or leaving them to be found at crime scenes or uploaded to YouTube. It's really a VERY minor part of the film. In fact, Scream 4's camera use lends itself much more to Halloween Resurrection than anything else, though that's not the best example to cite.
In terms of commentary, Scream 4 has a lot more to say than its predecessors about such topics as what it means to be a celebrity, a victim and a celebrity victim. Most interestingly to me, it continues the series' tradition of looking at the people surrounding these murder-sprees and how they're affected, this time in a world overrun by Facebook and texting. Scream has always had a wide peripheral and 4 is no different.
But you, of course, have a right to dislike the film without seeing it. You didn't like the first three, you won't like this. And by not liking the first three, it probably means you enjoy their self-aware nature, which is rampant here more than ever, so yeah - not your cup of tea.
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Post by scubasteve on Apr 30, 2011 3:33:44 GMT -5
Ok, it's nice to know that it's not as simple as it appears on trailers, maybe I do have a bit of a biased view from not liking the previous three. I mean, come on who'd be crazy enough to do 4 films Peeping Tom (1960) was immediately the film I thought of when I saw this, but there were a few which sprang to mind when I saw the trailer, which having seen a better synopsis may be a little off. My Little Eye, Fear.com and there was a series in the UK in the late 1990's which I can't remember the name of which seemed kind of similar - there was a slew of things like this when the internet first started in the UK. I don't know, had this film come out 5 or even 10 years ago (maybe 10 is pushing it a bit), it may have been more relevant. I don't think there are many series which last beyong 3 movies and there are some which certainly shouldn't. I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I think I'll have to give a miss. Fingers crossed for Thor, Priest, Attack the Block and Cedar Rapids this month!
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