Scream 4
Director Wes Craven ’s return to his meta - slasher movie franchise withScream 4created the construct of a legacy character repay to heroic strain before Blumhouse ’s 2018Halloweenreboot — and did it better .
After the disappointingScream 3 in 2000 , Craven and writer Kevin Williamson reunited for anotherScreammovie , which relinquish in 2011 . The eleven yr spread was notable ; fans were n’t sure there was ever exit to be a good continuation to the director ’s second iconic enfranchisement , which uprise and reconfigured the slasher movie sub - genre in 1996.Scream 4might not have been critically applaud upon release , and was met with some well - pull in dashing hopes from fans , but has seen a resurgence in both popularity and appreciation in late yr . John Carpenter’sHalloweenfranchise , which start in 1978 , has far more movies to feature than theScreamfranchise , for better or unfit . While Laurie Strode ( Jamie Lee Curtis ) has returned intermittently throughout the many sequels — across legion unlike timeline — music director David Gordon Green ’s decision to retcon the entireHalloweenfranchise and pick up with Laurie ’s story 40 years after the original moving-picture show , disregard everything after Carpenter ’s original movie , was a bold alternative .
Related : Why Scream 5 need Sidney Prescott To Reboot The Franchise right
However , whileHalloween2018 is arguably a undecomposed movie thanScream 4 , many of its plot elements — which were clear intended to be unique — were already derivative ofScream 4 . Sidney Prescott ( Neve Campbell ) is the lifeblood of theScreamfranchise , so much so that lover were truly apprehensive about the direction that 2021’sScream 5would take without her participation . fortuitously , Campbell signed on to reprise her purpose inScream 5 , though many wonder if it ’ll be for the last time . Halloweenwasn’t necessarily estimable without Laurie ’s character , and her cellular inclusion in the 2018 reboot has become the groundwork of the new trilogy , which is slat to terminate in 2022 and forever fold the saga of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode . Even so , Scream 4and the franchise on the whole has been a commentary on slasher movies since its inception , so it ’s only meet that the picture show point out on a new genre trend before it saw a resurgence in the former 2010s .
Sidney Prescott Was Scream 4’s Legacy Before Halloween’s Laurie Plot
UponScream 4 ’s release in 2011 , the legacy secret plan was n’t wholly unique to the horror writing style . Aslew of Platinum Dunes reboots — most of which were very stillborn — tried to resurrect the most iconic villain in horror . Friday the 13th , A Nightmare on Elm Street , andThe Texas Chainsaw Massacreall got the Platinum Dunes discussion in the previous 2000s . As such , Scream 4serves as Craven and Williamson ’s eagle - eyed comment on horror movie reboots . Screamwas a meta flavor on the slasher movie on the whole , Scream 2tackled the subject of the subsequence , andScream 3showed how — unwilled or not — a horror pic franchise can become cold , quickly .
Laurie Strode ’s involvement in theHalloweenfranchise has been interesting , to say the least . She ’s been killed by Michael Myers legion times , learn a full eccentric service when Rob Zombie took the theatre director ’s death chair for hisHalloweenreboot and sequel , and then at last returned to form inHalloween2018 in endurance - manner . Sidney Prescott , on the other handwriting , has never died . Her character has never wavered . Her recurrence to Woodsboro was reasonable , and she even guide a backseat — as much as the beating heart of any franchise can — to pave the way for a cast of fresh , interesting teenagers who reflected those in the original 1996 motion-picture show .
Where the focusing ofHalloween2018 was on Laurie facing off with Michael for what audiences mean at the time could be the last , Sidney ’s return to Woodsboro is less triumphant . She ’s a grizzled veteran and survivor who does n’t want to face another Ghostface . Sidney wants to put the past tense behind her , but ca n’t seem to ever outrun it and truly get a chance to start over . She has always been the legacy of theScreammovies , but her character understandably has dream and aspirations alfresco of her bloody interactions withthose who have get into the Ghostface chimneypiece , and that ’s not only a better flavour for the genre , but falls in line perfectly with Craven ’s underlying commentary on how reboots are so overstated .
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Scream 4 Had A Family Connection With Sidney & Jill
Another bondHalloween2018 andScream 4share is the familial connexion . For Laurie , her paranoia and PTSD have created an environment where she has neglected and emotionally clapperclaw her girl , Karen ( Judy Greer ) , which in twist has trickle down toher granddaughter , Alyson ( Andi Matichak ) , with whom her family relationship is less forced , but still tentative and tepid .
Sidney , upon her return to Woodsboro , reconnects with her booster Dewey ( David Arquette ) and frenemy Gale ( Courtneney Cox ) as well as her aunt Kate ( Mary McDonnell ) and cousin Jill ( Emma Roberts ) . Sidney is hail as a hometown champion inthe fictional Woodsboro , California ; Laurie is something of the town pariah . She has a crapulence problem , wrath issues , and most people seem to think she ’s gaga for being convinced that Michael will escape from the sanitarium — again — and go on a killing fling in Haddonfield .
shout out 4gets the edge onHalloween2018 in this esteem as well — Sidney ’s sept connection was cleverly subverted upon the ending ’s reveal that her full cousin is one of the killers fag out the Ghostface masque . Laurie ’s storey of generational family injury and hardship produce a more compelling narration , but theScreammovies have always been about that shocking , last - instant reveal , and present here through its less than traditional inclusion of its heroine ’s family .
Scream 4’s New Generation Was More Interesting
Halloween2018 introduced a new multiplication by way of Alyson ’s friends , who were stand for to mirror Laurie ’s from Carpenter ’s original movie . The remaining two movie in the BlumhouseHalloweentrilogy , Halloween KillsandHalloween Ends , will bring back extra characters from the original movie , butScream 4almost perfectly mirrored the teenagers from Craven ’s 1996 original movie and made them the focus . Alyson ’s Quaker and fellow , at times , really seemed like nothing more than fiber topad Michael ’s originate eubstance count ; the teenagers inScream 4were more purposeful .
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Not only were two of them the killers make together , like how Stu and Billy were inScream , but Hayden Panettiere ’s Kirby managed to improve on her original movie doppelgänger , Randy Meeks ( Jamie Kennedy ) . Kirby ’s death inScream 4was ambiguous enough that it ’s possible she ’s not dead at all ; many fans hope that she ’ll somehowfind a way to return in the upcomingScream 5 . The teen — including Alyson — inHalloween2018 were n’t as interesting , unequaled , or halfway as integral to the game as Laurie herself . Sidney , conversely , worked in tandem with not only Woodsboro ’s teenagers , but with her ally to hold back Ghostface — she does n’t need to be the movie ’s sole hero .
Scream 4may not have been theScreamfranchise ’s shining star , nor better thanHalloween2018 , but its construct was tongue - in - brass enough to be ignore - edge for its clock time , and spot - for - point still manages to stick the landing on Craven ’s ingenious comment as the late manager often sought to attain in his movies .
Next : Everything We Know About Scream 5
