Scream 3

Scream 3” (2000) was a huge financial success, just as its predecessors, “Scream” and “Scream 2,” were, but the reviews were not favorable to the “Scream” franchise this time around. By the time “Scream 3” finished its theatrical run, the “Scream” trilogy had amassed about $480 million at the box office on a total budget of around $76 million. Indeed, the success of the “Scream” series has resulted in a cultural phenomenon. One can easily see the influence of the “Scream” movies in the teenage horror series “Final Destination” and in the parody series “Scary Movie.” When I looked at the cover of  “Scream 3” (2000), I could not help think that it closely resembles another movie, “Final Destination” (2000), since the DVD covers for both movies are identical, and both movies were released a few weeks apart. Nonetheless, with the “Scream” phenomenon, the filmmakers and other studios started borrowing the slasher concept to such an extent that by now it is difficult to know who had the idea originally.

“Scream 3” scored an average 5.8 at IMDb, with Rotten Tomatoes giving it a fresh rating of 38%. So, what went wrong? First, writer Kevin Williamson, who wrote the first two movies, didn’t write the script for the third movie. Surely, the film builds on the characters created by Williamson, but the writing, overall, is messy and the characters too contrived. Williamson’s earlier “Scream” scripts had a lot of positive merits: great, thrilling sequences; the right mix of drama and humor; the film geeks, and, above all, a satiric tone. However, “Scream 3” sorely misses the point in all these areas.

Instead of being a satire, “Scream 3” ends up being too serious. Of course, the film again begins with a killing sequence, but by now we are all familiar how the killer operates.  The entire movie takes place on the sets of a fictional Hollywood movie, “Stab 3.”  Using Hollywood as the backdrop, the film references the impact of violence in movies, but it does not invite any interesting social discussion as in the second movie. While the first two movies function truly as slasher flicks with horror elements, “Scream 3” is more of a whodunit movie with an investigative approach. Furthermore, the filmmakers’ inability to add appropriate thrilling moments only slows down the pace in the middle act. There are no teenagers except Sidney (Neve Campbell), and the remaining characters are adults, depending on how you judge their actions. Nonetheless, the missing teenagers means that the film is devoid of repeated references to Hollywood movies in relation to the actual movie’s story. A few teenagers from the previous films are shown as film buffs, and that adds a little intelligence to the plot. Even so, the previous movies were personal in nature in their relationship to the main protagonist, but “Scream 3” gets too personal and quickly fades into a brainless and unfocussed flick.

The climax, in which the ghost-face killer appears, runs a bit long. The entire sequence takes place on the sets at Hollywood, with characters running around with no action plan. For instance, Gale (Courtney Cox Arquette) watches the killer slay another victim, waits for a few seconds, and then screams; waits again, and then screams. It’s as if she remembered that she has to scream, even though how stupid it might sound, considering we are into ten minutes of this chase. As the characters hustle around, Dewey (David Arquette) remembers that they need to call the police, and all this time Gale is carrying a cell phone. These characters have been trapped in similar situations before, but the timing of their actions is surprisingly unintelligent. Common sense escapes these characters, thereby making them look dumb. Eventually, I ended up disliking most of the film’s characters; even Sidney’s character is lost in the plot with her creepy hallucinations.

The satire evident in the earlier movies is missing, too. What’s more, the seriousness added to the characters and the plot makes “Scream 3” another run-of-the-mill movie. The film runs aimlessly for two hours and fails to entertain as a slasher horror flick. In the end, “Scream 3” runs by the numbers and fails to develop any excitement.

Video:

Earlier this year, Lionsgate obtained rights to release Miramax films on Blu-ray, and the “Scream” trilogy is first release for Miramax under the Lionsgate banner. “Scream 3” comes to Blu-ray for the first time and with a generally good-looking 1080p transfer, encoded in an MPEG-4/AVC codec, and presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1.

The 1080p transfer is clean, with no dirt on the print; however, a few white specks do pop up, although they are never intrusive to the overall viewing experience. A nice layer of grain is retained throughout, giving it a film-like texture. The close-ups are solid, with realistic skin tones. The detail is generally consistent but lacks depth in several scenes, especially in long shots. In the nighttime sequences, sharpness suffers and the blacks aren’t solid enough. Occasionally, the transfer comes across as a bit flat, with both the sharpness and detail varying from scene to scene. Likewise, the daytime scenes are beautifully presented and generally bright looking. Then, too, the colors are vibrant and deep, with plenty of reds.

Audio:

We get a lossless 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track that performs well. The front channels drive the audio for the most part. The dialogue is crisp and consistently audible. Subtle surround noises are active through the rear channels, especially the creepy voice from Sidney’s mother. The track comes to life in the action sequences with its punchy gunshots. You can hear bullets and explosions clearly, and the bass is used to good effect. Overall, this is on par with the audio track of “Scream 2.”

Extras:

All the extras from the previous DVD release are carried over for this Blu-ray release.

First, we get an audio commentary track with director Wes Craven, producer Marianne Maddalena, and editor Patrick Lussier. The trio talk about the screenplay, the new killer’s imagery, the idea of using Hollywood on the sets, and their favorite scenes from the film.

Next, we get several deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by the filmmakers. Following this, there are several outtakes.

Up next, another short featurette, “Behind the Scenes,” takes us to the actual locations for all three movies. The disc ends with a theatrical trailer and a few TV spots.

Parting Thoughts:

“Scream 3” failed to thrill me in any way with its worn-out formula. Its characters are too serious and the script is all over the place. The film is missing critical components that made the first two movies hugely successful with fans and critics.