'Cos evidence and research points to the exact opposite for educational standards. That's the argument with 'watering down' of admission standards and the 'dumbing down' of syllabus. I'm not siding either way, but there's definitely resonance in some of the conclusions.

Also, the part about wildly successful rehashings and poor quality content, which is ironic considering what we're discussing here points to the exact opposite with Scream 4.

Well, I'll address your 2nd issue here.

Have you seen the both the originals and remakes of the 2 movies I brought up?  If not, you can't really comment.

You haven't seen Scream 4 either, so again, you can't comment on any poor quality content.  It's a sequel...it's not a rehash or a remake.  It's the 4th in the installment, and/or the first of the 2nd trilogy.

Yeah, I saw the first three. Haven't had chance on the fourth and as I said, the trailer doesn't appeal to me.

That's why I said "points" to the opposite. I wasn't concluding, but suggesting it was the case.

Just read Scream 4 pulled in about 19 million this weekend, about ten million less than openings of the previous installments.  I doubt the low numbers have anything to do with the quality of the film, it's just the "heat" for this series is long gone.  Scream built its franchise by being the series that rewrote the rules for slasher films, but that was back in the 90s.  The idea just isn't fresh anymore.  Scream 3 didn't exactly leave people screaming for more, and that was 11 years ago.

But, I have been hearing some pretty good reviews around here, so as usual, I'll wait for the dvd.

Andrew, my point related to Prom Night and When a Stranger Calls.  Did you see the originals and remakes?

Scream 4 is a different beast entirely.

Yes, yes, yes and yes.

And no for my Lakers!  Unbelievable!!  PITIFUL!!!!!!

What's your favourite scary movie? the voice asks.  And we're off.

This is the problem when you walk into a movie theater... it's 112 minutes of your life you can't have back.  Sure I liked scream 1, and 2, but I was a kid back then.  But after scream 3, needless to say when scre4m came out I wasn't jumping for joy.  But since someone twisted my arm, we went.  I should have known when I walked into the theater, yep...4.  It was like twenty people there.  7:55 showing.  Oh well.

I have to admit, the opening bloodbath was pretty good.  It was good to see the original cast back, especially Neve.  And yes she had the best line, "Don't fuck with the original."  The irony alone makes it a classic in my book.   Some of the killings were too funny and I don't know if they should have been.  Yeah I know it's a slasher film.  

I'm thinking maybe the killer shouldn't be connected to any of them.   The middle just dragged, maybe too many characters, all the plots that didn't seem to lead anywhere, some of the campy dialogue.  The ending I did like, but having said that... it falls short of 1 and 2, but better then 3.

For all those die-hard scream fans, they'd probably love this, "it's the best thing since peanut butter and Jelly."  But my expectations were low, so I'll give credit where do, thanks "scream 3."  So I wasn't too disappointed.  But if I could turn back the hands of time... I would have waited for the DVD.

Ghostie

Oh...dude...no...really?  You weren't entertained or you were hoping for more?

I honestly thought it was well done, well written, well shot, and very high production value.

Oh well...

Jeff, don't get me wrong, it was good.  I just didn't find it captivating enough, but that's just me.

Ghostie

OK, I hear ya.

I'm kind of boycotting this movie.  Last I heard was that Craven and company were not given full control of the script.  Also Williamson has backed out.  Not to mention the majority of the cast is unhappy with the final product and all claim that the majority of the good stuff was taken out or rewritten.

While I'm not all that hot on Craven (Not a huge horror fan) and the only movie of his I thought was decent was Red Eye, but that was all Cillian Murphy, who plays dark extremely well.

I enjoyed the other Screams for what they were, but wasn't a huge fan. But when the writer, director and majority of the cast have issues and are saying they're not happy, something happened.

So I don't know if you'll see a 5th installment with the same cast.  Anyone have any news of this "fallout"?

Funny. This is a rare instance where I feel like the studio restricting control would be a good thing. Craven has been jaded and unenthusiastic about his work for a long time and Williamson flat out shouldn't write horror. His films were passable in the 90s because there was a horror drought. He could never stand up to guys like Eli Roth or Rob Zombie. They changed the game and these Scream guys got left behind.

As much as I don't care for Scream at all, it was a film that was right for its time and that time has passed for both the series and its filmmakers.

I kind of agree with these last 2 posts, but if you haven't seen the film, you really don't know what you're saying.

Scream 4 was a good movie...no way around that.  There were instances where it went too far into the corny realms or downright unbelievable, but it was a solid flick, well put together, and totally kept you guessing until the final 20 minutes...and then threw in a number of twists into the finale that were all very good.

I watched Shocker the other night and was literally appalled by how horrendous it was.  I don't remember it being so terrible, but I'd honestly say it has to be one of the worst horror flicks I've ever seen that was an actual decent sized budget wide release.

Craven's a lucky man, as he is so hit and miss, it's crazy.

I suppose I really can't say much about a film I haven't seen. I think I'll die happier if I never have to see Scream 4 even if I don't get to hate on it with any sense of credibility.

But I will say that I know Sydney Prescott, I know Gale Weathers, I know Officer Dewey, everyone knows Ghostface... they are the people who make the franchise and I couldn't be less interested in any of them. Dull as paint. What good is suspense if Neve Campbell's the star? What good are clever twists and turns if Courtney Cox is the one trying to figure them all out? Maybe they upped the gore or something. So what? Unless all three leads who have been in the series since the original get continuously chopped up with no edits for the entirety of the last twenty minutes, you can keep it. No thanks.