Horrorfest: Starting to Sound Like a Wes Carpenter Flick

I began with two of the masters: Wes Craven and John Carpenter.



SCREAM 4
(Wes Craven, 2011)
Yeah, so I saw this in theatres and it technically shouldn't count, but maybe I'll be revisiting some stuff (The Thing, perhaps!). It really is shocking how divisive this film became with some hailing it as a worthy sequel and others saying its almost as bad if not worse than part three. The film's triple opener has grown on me quite a bit, and I'll still defend its triple climaxes. All that considered, it does has the worst moment in the series ("Fuck you, Bruce Willis") and it is still distracting how little Adam Brody, Anthony Anderson and especially Mary McDonnell have to do. Aunt Kate should have had more screentime, and I doubt if Lauren Graham had ended up playing her the part would have been whittled down so much. Other than these aspects, I think this is a pretty terrific sequel. It really is wonderful to see Neve Campbell back, and I still have my fingers crossed she will continue to get notable work. Thinking back on it, I don't think she touched her head once in this film. That was always her thing? Kristen Stewart stole it. Really fun performances by Alison Brie, Marley Shelton and Erik Knudsen. Hayden Panetierre's Kirby is one of the series best characters. Someday, I want to have a home with a barn so I can have a Screamathon.
GRADE: B+



THE WARD
(John Carpenter, 2011)
Feels weird that this is John's first film in a decade, his last being 2001's dud-that-I-enjoyed Ghosts of Mars. It doesn't feel very much like a John Carpenter film as he didn't write it or compose the score. However, the score is one of the film's strong points, sounding ridiculously Suspiria-y. Amber Heard is a young woman who winds up in a mental institute in 1966, where a ghost is taking a group of girls one by one. Servicable performances by Heard, Mamie Gummer (Meryl Streep's daughter), and Danielle Panabaker who seems to be the closest thing to a modern day scream queen we have. Given the film's setting, you can guess that all is not what it appears and the twists aren't really surprising. Almost the entire second half of the film is escape sequences, only the first of which has any bite. There's a bit too many fast cuts and things jumping out with loud music. Carpenter could have done (and has done!) a lot worse. But after a ten year wait, this is a let down.
GRADE: C+

Upcoming: The Blob, [Rec] 2 and Wake Wood.