Scream 3 (2000)
Welcome to the final act.
The final act is here as the end of the month draws near. Alright, it’s not quite the final act they implied when it came out - but money has a way of changing that sort of thing. For our purposes though, the end of October does end my excuse for doing horror movies, and it’s been a fun jaunt revisiting these with someone who hasn’t seen them - and getting some extra thoughts on them from an outside source at the same time. Dust off the ghost face and shine your flair, it’s time for Scream 3.
We’ve got a thing going at this point, and I’m sure you know how it works. Suddenly, killer starts killing - some familiar some not - and it all seems to center around one Sidney Prescott. This time around however, it’s almost more like an accursed movie, as the set of in-movie movie Stab 3 is experiencing some problems with a body count. It would appear the killings are trying to draw Sidney out from hiding, and nobody is free of suspicion - and nobody is free from the chopping block! As even the movie will point out though - it’s the third act of a trilogy, so all the rules are off the table, and the past is most likely going to come out and haunt someone.
As you might have guessed, the movie is also more than happy to point out and play with tropes. Sometimes it works good - for example, how it plays with a past that wasn’t really that big of a deal to somehow pull more movie from a series that arguably didn’t really need it - and to make it not feel that forced and play quite nicely with the idea of continuing to use characters that already exist without raising too many questions. When it works a little bit less, it comes down to characters making some rather dumb decisions - sometimes even just after pointing out how dumb the decision might be.For people that might bother though, it does feel a little less offensive when you realize it’s a bunch of in-movie actors, and most people don’t expect the world of knowledge out of the acting world.
The characters feel pretty well done as well. Although the movie is still somewhat Sidney-centric, you get a lot more screen time action out of Gale and Dewey this time around - which is a welcome shift that makes it feel a bit more fresh without impacting overall attachment. The killer, although still quite prone to being defeated by doors and taking the dramatic over-stab through a window or door or table also feels much more dangerous. Although there is a bit of a near-supernatural element to Ghost face this time around, they also seem to be much more thoughtful and less prone to making you wonder why they did or didn’t do something, or how they got somewhere.
Movies are a real cutthroat business.
The actors do a great job. Yes, there’s a time or two - or maybe that’s a character or two - who doesn’t feel as thoroughly well done as others, but it’s hard to say if it’s not intended given how much of the movie plays into movies - again. I think there’s more complaints to be had against character actions then there is actual actors doing a good job with what they have here, and there’s plenty of emoting and intent behind plenty enough of the actors. That said, if I had to point out anything it would be just how hammy the two cops feel - almost like someone tried to stick a cheesy buddy cop flick in as a side-line. It entertains me, but might bug someone whose taking things way more seriously. I don’t know how serious you expect to take things when Silent Bob and Jay randomly show up though.
And on that note, the pop culture is out in full force in this movie - and it’s not just about horror movies either. Besides your favorite two mall rats, you’ll also get a highly entertaining Carrie Fisher cameo, a minor role for Lance Henrickson, and the rest of the main cast. Movie callbacks, genre callbacks, some minor “movies don’t kill people” commentary - all things that can easily help make a person have much more fun with the movie. The references aren’t all just external and fourth-wall though, as it does even take the time to self-reference itself and past events, and break the occasional pun at the audience expense (unless you like puns, then it’s all the better).
The effects department does their job wonderfully. Being that it’s also at least partially in movie mogul mansions or on a sound stage, we get a nice mix of places and costumes. Yes, most the costumes are pretty what you’d expect - but in particular there’s a basement full of props that has some cool stuff, and although they might have toned back the violence as far as the graphic nature of it, there is a plenty high enough body count to go with that painting the sets red. That soundtrack helps support whats going on, or chiming in some popular at the time music to fill out the background. It’s all put together well, and I really can’t think of much else to say about that besides it’s good in the neighborhood and always fun to see movies that also show a little of the movie-magic on screen before it’s been polished up to look like a movie.
Ding-a-ling-a-ling!
You may find it hard to replace the first Scream with one of it’s offspring. Honestly, I feel you wouldn’t be considered crazy to say the first is all you need - but if we want to throw this one out as a stand alone then you’ll end up missing a lot of backstory nuance relying only on the recaps and important fill-ins the movie gives you. That being said, it could stand on it’s own two legs, it just becomes far less impactful as you miss out on the overall arc of Sidney. As a sequel, it’s much better than the second, in part because it feels more cohesive and thought out on the story side of things, but also there’s a lot more moments where characters just make good decisions. None of the series has been badly put together, but for sure there’s just more fun to be had on 3 than in 2, but if your looking for the one that’s the actual classic you should still stick with the original.