Tim's Movie Review of the Day: 'Scream 3' (2000)

Director: Wes Craven
Cast: Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Patrick Dempsey, Jenny McCarthy, Parker Posey, Deon Richmond, Lance Henriksen, Patrick Warburton

Slashers can be fun. Slashers can be gory. Slashers can be unapologetically cliche. Slashers can...well...SUCK. 'Scream' was a funny but terrifying celebration of genre cliches. 'Scream 2' was the after-party of said celebration, focusing on the rules that define sequels. 'Scream 3', however, is a feeble attempt to bring everybody back in for one more drink. Let me put it this way. When your horror threequel resorts to cameos from Jay and Silent Bob...then that might be a sign that you're milking dried up teets.

Plot Synopsis (Possible Spoilers Below):
The film's opening covers the murder of Cotton Wreary (Liev Schreiber), the man who was once wrongly convicted of the murder of Maureen Prescott, the mother of Sidney (Neve Campbell). "Ghostface" is clearly back and ready to kill. Sidney, who now has a job on a suicide-hotline of sorts, is of course pulled back into the mix, as are Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dewey Riley (David Arquette). As the production of the film-within-a-film 'Stab 3', the threequel to the original film based on the Woodsboro murders, goes through hell, "Ghostface" goes on an unrelenting killing spree of the cast. So here we go again. A new killer. A Hollywood setting. A new set of rules. The same premise. What could go wrong?

What could go wrong, indeed? Everything, it turns out. This film has no idea what to do with itself. Yes, it can be frightening...but it's the same old scares. Nothing has changed. Even though Jamie Kennedy makes a more-than-welcome cameo as the deceased Randy Meeks, his new set of rules ultimately has no input in the story. As he says, all bets are off in trilogy closers. Even the main character is at risk (or so he says). In fact, no character is safe in a threequel. Now as I said before, I couldn't help but enjoy his cameo, but I can't help but feel that it is nothing more than a desperate bid for the sympathies of 'Scream' fans. It's no secret that Randy's death was received with sadness in 'Scream 2'. So how do the filmmakers get around it? Well, how about the old "There's a strong possibility that I will die, so it's time to make an educational video of myself beforehand" cinematic jewel? It's ultimately nothing more than an excuse to give Randy Meeks one last proclamation of rules. But apparently, rules are deemed obsolete after a character dies...

Now whereas the first two films made delightful references to all sorts of horror cliches, this film seems bound and determined to squeeze out as much celebrity eye candy as it can. Perhaps the cheesiest scene in the whole movie is Carrie Fisher's cameo appearance as an employee of the studio making 'Stab 3'. As she says, she auditioned for the role of Princess Leia back in the 70s, but George Lucas gave the part to the one who "slept with the director". Now if that's not a feeble half-hearted attempt at irony, then I don't know what is.

I just couldn't help but feel that this film was a rather lazy effort on the part of Wes Craven. There are plenty of new characters to behold...but do any of them succeed in gaining and maintaining my interest or sympathy? Not really. And as is usual in any mystery film, we do find out who the killer is. Don't expect to be impressed. It's not a character you would've predicted to be the killer nor is it a character that you would really consider worthy of viewing time.

I went into this film hoping for surprises. I really did. Yes...it did do things I didn't expect, but not the good kind. There's a fine line between spontaneity and teasing. This film utilizes the latter. It will hold your anticipation for something big, then hand you something little. It's like inviting friends over for steak, then giving them vienna sausages. Now I can't lie to you. If you are one of those who are easily entertained, then there's a high probability you will enjoy this movie. But for any die-hard fan of the series, expect disappointment.

Final Consensus: 'Scream 3' offers nothing new to the franchise, and branches off into unwanted territory as far as cinematic allusions go.

1/4 Stars