The Under-Ranked: Scream 4

It’s hard to believe that this year marks the sixteen year anniversary of the original Scream’s release and that it has been eleven years since the final film in the trilogy, Scream 3 was released. Well now the film series that single-handedly revitalized the teen horror film genre and became one of the greatest film parodies of all time, returns with Scream 4. The three main protagonists of the film will be returning with David Arquette and Courteney Cox playing the couple Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers, respectively and Neve Campbell reprising her role as Sidney Prescott. But with the beginning of a supposed new trilogy, the Ghostface Killer is gonna need some new blood to attack. So to introduce yourself to this new cast of potential victims, here are some under-ranked films from the cast of Scream 4.

Kristen Bell rose to popularity with “Veronica Mars” and then transitioned easily into successful comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Couples Retreat. But Bell was also great in an oft-delayed and mostly unseen movie called Fanboys. In the film, five friends in 1998 decide to break into Skywalker Ranch to show their terminally ill friend Star Wars: Episode 1-The Phantom Menace before he is gone. Fanboys was constantly delayed due to editing decisions that actually edited out the fact that their friend Linus, played by Christopher Marquette, had cancer. Thankfully the final version keeps the original vision that was intended. The film becomes a sweet love letter to the Star Wars franchise that also works as a great road trip film. Fanboys is filled with great cameos, including Seth Rogen as several different roles and appearances by Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith and William Shatner as himself. Fanboys is a fun comedy that unfortunately didn’t get the audience it deserved.

Two of the new cast members in Scream 4 also starred together in a film last year that had a very limited release and left before anyone had the chance to check it out. Both Adam Brody and Anna Paquin appeared in The Romantics, a film about seven friends who reunite for the wedding of two of their friends. However problems arise because of the maid of honor’s past relationship with the groom and the fact that they both may still have feelings for each other. The film boasted a great cast of young Hollywood which includes Katie Holmes, Josh Duhamel, Malin Akerman, Dianna Agron and Elijah Wood. Admittedly, the film does need more character development and does come off more like a J. Crew commercial than our generation’s St. Elmo’s Fire, but the great cast boosts the somewhat lacking script. Duhamel shows off his dramatic side, which he rarely has had the opportunity to show in his past roles and the supporting performances from Brody, Wood and Paquin make The Romantics an interesting ensemble film worth checking out.

For being the youngest in the talented Culkin family, Rory Culkin has already made some great choices that are showing him as a promising young actor. In his first starring film Mean Creek, Rory plays Sam, a teen who is picked on by a bully named George, a surprisingly excellent performance by Josh Peck. Sam teams up with his brothers and his friends to invite George to his birthday party, which involves a boat trip down a nearby lake. The gang intends on tricking George to strip naked and jump into the river, where they will leave him to run home naked and get vengeance. Yet when the group gets to know George, they start to rethink their idea, except for Sam’s brother, who is intent on revenge. Mean Creek forces its young cast to deal with some heavy issues and doesn’t go easy on them in this dark and chilling film.