Scre4m

Eleven years after Scre3m film makers Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson have returned with the unexpected fourth installment of the Scream franchise. Returning to play their now iconic characters are Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox-Arquette, and David Arquette. Joining the cast are Kristin Bell (Chloe), Emma Roberts (Syd's cousin Jill) Rory Culkin (Charlie), and Erik Knudson (Robbie).

The basic synopsis of Scre4m is at first very simple. Sydney Prescott, now a decade removed from the horror that she survived three times, has returned to Woodsboro on the final stop on her book tour. While there she has the opportunity to reconnect with the now Sheriff Dewey and his wife Gale. And then the phone calls, texts, and killing begins. It grows from there. The main characters are pulled in directions they haven't been before and are wonderfully intertwined with the new cast.

Let me say right now, despite what some have thought, this is not the same thing over again. It really is a new decade with new rules. It's not really following the formula established by prior Scream films. It does parody this past decade's onslaught of horror remakes. It does have characters based on the original Scream but it is different. And you absolutely have to know the first three movies or you be lost right at the beginning. It was awesome and not what I was expecting.

I'm having a hard time trying to figure out what to say that won't give anything away. We never get into spoilers at the AJ MR. Let me just say that Sre4m should be very well accepted by the Scream Community. It adds to the Scream mythology without messing up anything that has gone before. And it was really good.........................GO NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Insidious

Insidious made its way to theaters this weekend. It's a very simple story about a young boy who, through astro-projection, gets stuck in another dimension. This other world is called "The Further" and is occupied by creeeepy people (aka 'woolly boogers'). It turns out the only way the boy can be saved is by his father joining him in the other world and bringing him back. This movie features performances by Patrick Wilson (Watchmen's Nite Owl), Rose Byrne, Andrew Astor, and Lin Shaye (English teacher in A Nightmare On Elm Street, 1984).

The main thing I liked about Insidious is the genuine scares it puts out there. I feel sorry for the girl sitting in front of me during the showing. She's probably gonna have nightmares for a while. Or maybe she just likes to scream out whenever she gets the chance. I was impressed to see the use of real people in "The Further" instead of CGI stuff like was used in I Am Legend. The creepy stuff seemed well timed and not always predictable. From the poster at the top you read that some of the people who made the two Paranormal Activity movies made this one. That's very easy to see. A lot of the scary stuff you see early on is very similar.

My main problem with Insidious however comes from the basic premise of the movie. You may notice that the opening paragraph of this review sounds very familiar. That's because it's identical to Poltergeist (1982). One reviewer out there in internet land acknowledges this by saying that Insidious is a "love letter" to Poltergeist. I don't know about that. It just seems to be they re-imagined Steven Spielberg's and Tobe Hooper's classic movie and stuck a new name on it. That along really hurts Insidious's rating...

it'll be on one the Encore/Starz channels this summer............FX/TBS It...