With Scream 3, this was the entry that took that solid foundation and for a time - broke it. It's an entry that does not necessarily feel a part of the franchise. It's the weird middle child nowadays. I'm not going to tear apart the film. That is not my intention. However, I am not going to be exactly praising it either.
After the success of Scream 2, the studios were looking for another entry. The public at that point were probably clamoring for more as well. I mean if something's successful - why not keep making more of it. Honestly, that's a sentiment that may work. But after enough time, if you keep making more, you can create franchise fatigue. It's something that has honestly happened with other horror franchises - Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Halloween, the Saw films, and even the Paranormal Activity films are all good examples. The studios kept pushing what they were seeing as successes till the public was done with them.
With this huge success under his belt, Kevin Williamson was even more of a name. He wanted to delve out of the horror genre and tell other stories. He managed to find success over at The WB! (today it's better known as the CW) with Dawson's Creek. It was this commitment to that series that would prove to be a problem for the third entry of his successful series. Williamson did provide a 30 page treatment of what the film could be.
But after Columbine, it was very apparent to the studio that Williamson's original idea would not be feasible. Without an idea, script, or even the original writer, Wes Craven was honestly up against the wall. Yeah, we would have original three stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courtney Cox returning. But that's only a small fraction of what makes the films work. The studio was super keen on having a third entry and so enlisted Ehren Krueger to write the film. But with the way the production went, they were filming as they were writing. Not necessarily a sure fire way to ensure a successful entry.
With this third installment, Scream 3 brought things to Hollywood. It had decided to finally take the mirror from horror films and their sequels to the film-making machine. Honestly, it's a bit of a bold move. In a way, it further develops the tropes that had been established. It also continued the themes present in the series. It also left us seeing Sidney's mother, Maureen, in a new perspective. That's honestly one aspect that I feel works really well. It allows Sidney to see Maureen as just a regular person. She made mistakes and wasn't perfect. Yeah, it's something we had known from the original film. But rounding out the third entry with this, it allows Sidney to take a look at herself as well and figure out who she is.
When you look at Scream 3, it feels a little off. That was the first thing I noticed when I went to see it at the theater with my Dad and Grandma. Yeah, it was the characters that we love and the world that Williamson had made. But something wasn't right. As time has gone on, it's clear that there was a lot of studio pressure. It's something that definitely hindered the film. They were trying to just push out a product and hoping for the same success.
The story for the film is interesting. Ghost Face has returned and is now going after the cast of the new Stab film. It allows things to be a bit different as we see Sid, Dewey, and Gale interacting with their 'Stab' film counterparts. I mean Parker Posey working alongside Courtney Cox is pretty great. Actually Parker Posey is definitely one of the new comers that works super well. It allowed the real to blend with the fiction in a pretty unique way.
The opening film was something that at first I wasn't fond of. Here we have Cotton Weary returning, but he becomes the Drew Barrymore of this film. That's honestly a pretty bold way to begin the film. And it's the best way the film could have opened. Especially after the production had to scramble as an early draft of the script had been leaked. This was definitely something that wasn't exactly uncommon for this franchise already.
For the most part, the kills in this film work. Well outside of Patrick Warburton, that's something that's not his fault. The image of Ghost Face scrambling with a big guy like Warburton is a bit laughable. But everything on this end follows what fans were expecting from a Scream movie.
The revelation of the killer. That's definitely something that felt off. It doesn't help that it wasn't till halfway through production that they had decided who would be behind the Ghost Face mask. So for the beginning portion, Scott Foley feels a bit more light-hearted than in the second half. If they had known from the beginning that he was going to be the one, well it may have helped strengthen the film. For me, I like that he's Sid's half brother. Foley does shine in the second half of the film. When he turns, it's fantastic. The one thing that did feel off is that there was only one killer. That's something that typically felt off compared to the previous films. By this point, we were expecting two killers. And if we would have, it would have been Angelina. It honestly still makes the most sense. Secretly, I am still wondering if maybe she had helped out without revealing it. The reveal that Roman was behind Billy and Stu in the first film. That's where it took a dip in quality. Did we honestly need that little bit of knowledge? All that did was make it seem like Roman was the overarching villain in the shadows of the films up to that point. It was a tad too much.
Overall, Scream 3 may not work as well as the previous films. But it's not terrible. It honestly was the best that Craven and everyone could have done with what they were given. It's just more of a studio product than anything as the studio's fingerprints are all over it.
Rating: 3.75 out of 5.
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