Review: 'Stab 4: Fresh Blood' (fanfilm)

Let me start off by reitterating that this is a fanfilm. And if you've seen Scream 2 & 3 than you know that the Stab franchise are movies-within-the-movies, based on the events of the Scream films and the books by Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox). And to commemorate the occasion, I'll begin with a faux quote that I think fits in nicely with the Stab universe:

"Oops, they did it again! 'Stab 4' raises the bar and slaughters the box office!"

-Sequel-Buzz

Now in the all seriousness, here's my review...

I want to begin by giving director Joshua P. Dudley a round of applause for at least attempting to recreate the Stab films in our world. However, Stab 4 fails to capture the cheesy magic that was hinted at in the opening sequence of Scream 2 and all throughout Scream 3. One thing that I noticed right off the bat was the lack of research the filmmaker put forth -- a guy and girl are watching the first two Stabs in their living room and the guy mentions, "It's based on a bunch of murders that happened in Colorado and Connecticut..." And this is where I, being a fanboy, step in and correct: the films are based on murders that took place in California (Woodsboro) and Ohio (Windsor College). In fact, an audience member in Scream 2 who is watching the first Stab even says, "...all these kids got killed a year ago in California."

So what I thought was going to be an authentic Stab experience turned into just another YouTube fan vid. I understand that the director tried to put his own spin on the idea, but I feel as if he should have stuck to the original formula...and perhaps filmed it in "Stab-O-Vision" (haha, I kid).

In the end, Stab 4: Fresh Blood feels more like a Scream fanfilm than a Stab sequel (since that IS what they were going for) -- get my drift?

But, if you've got loads of free time and can't think of any other way to spend it, check this out by visiting he Stab Movies YouTube page.

On a related note, some (maybe most) of you have heard back-and-forth stories regarding Joshua P. Dudley and his promotion of the film. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

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