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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 298444" data-attributes="member: 23">Last night I gave Scream 4 a second screening: <img src="https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-BaGzzBBxiCo%2FTcCt9lT6KHI%2FAAAAAAAAALc%2FQOVQ3un86L8%2Fs1600%2Fscream-4-movie-poster-03-large.jpg&f=1&nofb=1" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 535px" />My relationship with this one is very different from the other three, owing to the facts that it came a decade later than the others and I've only watched it once before, back when it first came out on DVD. I've never felt inclined to watch it again. Until last night.One thing Scream 3 did well was wrap up Sid, Gale and Dewey's stories. If nothing else, at least the ending came with a sense of closure. At the time it was made it was said to be the final part of a trilogy, which would render a fourth instalment pointless. There was little in last night's rewatch to convince me otherwise. It was mildly interesting as a reunion film, to see Gale and Dewey after a decade of married life and Sidney's return to Woodsboro for her book launch (everyone's an author now).As it is, Gale was back on form, after being softened in Scream 3. Courteney Cox's obvious cosmetic procedures would be distracting if it wasn't such a Gale Weathers thing to do (Sid's long-lost aunt is another matter). Sid's as reliable as ever, even if the material means it all feels a little pointless. Dewey's role feels relatively small compared with other returnees. This is a good thing. Supplementing his role is "Deputy Judy", his winsome colleague whose perpetual Ally McBeal throat clearing made me wish for her throat to be cleared out of her neck by the killer (such violence. Perhaps I've watched enough of these films).The cast is padded out by a load of dull, indistinguishable, mostly unlikeable youngsters who speak so quickly I missed much of the dialogue. Most watchable of the young cast is Hayden Panettiere as Kirby. She has a great moment in the latter part of the film where she reels off a particularly lengthy list of horror remakes to the killer.One reason I've never wanted to rewatch was the thought of revisiting the opening sequence with its film within a film within a film within the film we're watching. I struggled with it again last night, and the first "real" kill felt completely meaningless because I was still waiting for it to be revealed as yet another fake film the characters are watching. Using the sequence to criticise being too meta simply didn't do it. It felt cheap and might explain why this presumably intended reboot went nowhere.A Scream film needs an angle, be it horror films, sequels, trilogies or whatnot. This film's "thing" is New Decade, New Rules. We're now in a world of horror where Scream is old hat and subverting rules is the only way to hold the interest of its Millennial and Gen Z audience.Problem is, Scream 4 still feels a little quaint in that regard. Characters "ooh" and "aah" at webcasts and marvel at the idea of killings being filmed when this kind of thing was being done by horror films in the immediate wake of Scream over a decade earlier. One thing that did feel chillingly truthful was Jill saying that she killed to gain fame and fans and hits. Narcissistic teens are some of the most frightening people on the planet, so that rang true.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?