Neve Campbell is back as Sidney Prescott, the troubled young woman who was terrorised by the masked murderer in the first 2 films. In Scream, Sidney was a year 12 student in Woodsboro high, and in the second film, a college student. In the third movie, she is living in isolation, and has taken on a new identity as a phone counselor working from her home.
Meanwhile, a drama is being played out in Hollywood. The production of “Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro” is halted when two cast members are slaughtered. The first victim is Cotton Weary, the man that Sidney falsely accusing of murdering her mother in the first film. Pictures of Sidney’s mother are left at the crime scene of every murder – pictures no one has ever seen, taken at a time in her life when Maureen Prescott (Sidney’s mother) ‘vanished’ for a short period of time.
Scream 3 constantly leads you off on the wrong track. The identity of the killer is virtually impossible to detect. Like the previous films, there are plenty of suspects. As the body count rises, we are thrown ‘clues’ left and right, which keeps the audience guessing about the identity of the killer. The guessing aspect of the narrative is one of the most engaging parts of the film. Although, guess as we may, I advise not to strain your brains too much over this one – you’ll never get it. In true who-dunnit style, after the killer’s identity is revealed, there is a lengthy explanation scene where the killer lays out his or her psychopathic motivation.
Scream 3 had a strong storyline and I found myself engrossed in it, as it kept the suspense. It was in fact, scary. I often found myself clinging to my boyfriend, getting sucked into the movie. A few “Boo” moments were chucked in for good measure, which makes you jump (err…and scream), and makes the film seem complete.
Although Scream 3 was scary, it was also funny, and in parts sad. Jenny McCarthy was funny as bimbo Sarah Darling (although how much of that was acting is still unclear to me), and Parker Posey played the annoying Jennifer, an actor in “Stab 3” who was obsessed with properly playing her character. David Arquette reprises his role of Dewey Riley, and Courtney Cox Arquette is also back as nosey journalist Gale Weathers, the writer of the book about Sidney’s life, and the movie “Stab”.
Newcomer to the big screen (but not television) is Scott Foley, who played the paranoid director of “Stab 3”, Roman. Other characters were the actors in “Stab 3”, and the bodyguard of Jennifer. The characters in “Stab 3” were not really developed enough, and most were killed off before we had a chance to learn anything about them. This was somewhat annoying, as when you see a film, you usually want to know at least a little bit about the semi-main characters before they are killed off. This factor did not spoil the film for me though.
The whispering in the film was done with some sort of special effect, and it made it feel like the one doing the whispering was in the theatre with me, sitting not too far away. Of course, this was not the case, but it made certain moments seem scarier than they really were. The death scenes were convincing, and very realistic.
Surprisingly enough, Scream 3 was underhyped once released. The reviews I read were so shockingly negative that I was reluctant to see the movie, But again, Wes Craven has pulled through and has come up with just the right ingredients for a great horror film.
I give Scream 3 four stars out of 5. It was a strong film, but the underdevelopment of 1 or 2 of the characters let it down a tad. Nonetheless, it’s a great movie, definitely one to put on your must see list.