A Review by Wes Ray - The Wes Craven who directed the shockingly gritty rape/murder film THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and the disturbingly atmospheric THE HILLS HAVE EYES is not the same man who directed an uninspired mess of missed opportunities and gasp-less surprises which tries to pass itself off as a horror film known as SCREAM 3. I loved the original SCREAM and it's sequel SCREAM 2, so I was expecting another fun, lightly suspenseful film cut from the same cloth. Well, I was very wrong. Wes Craven has had disappointing films before (SHOCKER, DEADLY FRIEND, and THE HILLS HAVE EYES PART 2 to name a few) so I really shouldn't be as shocked as I am about this film being a failure. But somehow I am shocked. The first two were great, and I thought Craven really had a knack for the SCREAM franchise since he successfully directed the first two instead of handing it off to other directors to make a mess of (which happened with his other big horror franchise film, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET). Something went wrong somewhere. Let's examine the situation. Note, though I didn't particularly like this film I will not give away the ending.
After surviving the previous installments of the series, Neve Campbell's character decides to go into hiding, seperating herself from society by becoming a women's help hotline counselor. She doesn't even leave her home to go to work, she is that paranoid about killers wearing "Ghostface" masks trying to murder her. A second sequel to the film based on the events in SCREAM is being made, but one of the cast members is murdered. Soon others are murdered, and Neve discovers that the killer ultimately wants her dead as well. Not much of a plot, but this is a slasher film so I can let that slide usually. Typical slasher situations are set up, the body count rises, and everyone is left trying to figure out who is behind the "Ghostface" mask even up until the very end. That's what SCREAM was. A sort of parody of the slasher genre, which slightly bordered on self-parody. But that was it's charm. A sequel wasn't really necessary, but up until the horrible main ending of SCREAM 2, I really enjoyed it as well. Unfortunately, SCREAM 3's lousy ending doesn't leave me as forgiving as I was about SCREAM 2's ending. SCREAM 2's ending was somewhat plausable and interesting, although unsatisfying and far-fetched. SCREAM 3's ending is so shamelessly concieved (and when I say 'ending' in reference to these films, I mean the resolution and revealing the identity of the killer) and out-of-left-field, that I honestly couldn't believe Craven had it end that way. Not just the movie to end that way, but the entire trilogy to end that way. To have that "plot twist" (if you could call it that) being the backbone of the entire trilogy just didn't work for me. I wish I could discuss it in more detail, but I will respect those who read this review and still with to watch the film. The whole last thirty minutes really didn't work for me, and somehow it ruined most of the film for me.Of course, SCREAM 3 isn't THAT bad. I could easily watch it over any of the I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER films or any other teeny-bopper horror film that has tried to copy off of SCREAM in the past few years. However, it is missing flair in it's writing and flair in it's direction. The original screenwriter who wrote the first two movies chose other projects to work on instead of this one. Though Kevin Williamson was responsible for writing lousy films like THE FACULTY and I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER, I felt his presence in SCREAM 3 was needed badly and the film suffered because of his non-script involvement. One thing I'm upset about is that there are NO HORROR FILM REFERENCES IN THIS MOVIE. SCREAM was loaded with them (remember Drew Barrymore hanging from a tree in reference to a classic horror film death in Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA?), and SCREAM 2 had enough to keep me on my toes and put a smile on my face, but SCREAM 3 had no homages or references (except one tiny mention of my favorite Alfred Hitchcock film VERTIGO). In other words, the series' original basis was abandoned, just to bring us another standard slasher/whodunnit film. Instead of being a parody and admirer of horror films, SCREAM 3 comes across as the type of film we laughed at in the first two. It has become a full-fledged self-parody. This, I think, is at the heart of SCREAM 3's problems. The other problems sort of branch out from that.
It had it's share of good qualities though. Most of the cat-and-mouse chase sequences were well done and quite tense. I was also impressed by a couple of really eerie nightmare sequences. Craven has a knack for adding really effective nightmare sequences in his films (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT, and THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW contain my favorites of his) and SCREAM 3 is no exception. The cast does fair for the most part, with no real standouts except for Parker Posey who plays an actress portraying Courtney Cox's Gale Weathers in the movie-within-a-movie "Stab 3." She stole the show and had me smiling every minute she was onscreen. I can forsee a great career coming her way. Be on the lookout for this girl. The death scenes were bloody, but disappointing in their lack of originality. What about something like the garage door death in the original SCREAM? Nothing quite that original was shown in this one. I won't even go into how many lame jump scares there were in this film.
How a man who directed some of the scarriest films of all time can direct a film with such a sappy, uninteresting, and above all, happy ending is beyond me. I wanted to see something really different happen at the end of this. I wanted someone to die that you normally wouldn't think would die. I wanted originality and I got a happy/sappy/lame ending instead. I now call this the House on Haunted Hill syndrome. The Deep Blue Sea syndrome will fit as well. Regardless, I was unsatisfied for most of this film's running time. The surprise cameos were a little fun, but they didn't add a whole lot. I don't forsee true fans of the first two liking this film very much. So much of what made the first two interesting is missing in this one. Craven's direction was only fair/so-so and I really couldn't recommend this film to die-hard fans of Wes' work. Instead they should rent THE HILLS HAVE EYES, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, or THE PEOPLE UNDER THE STAIRS. It may make a lot of money, but SCREAM 3 will ultimately be forgotten by most fans. Would the film had been any different if Kevin Williamson had written it? I'm not sure. I do know that something big was missing and I think they should've waited till Williamson's calendar wasn't as full. Maybe then we'd finally have a solid conclusion to a horor trilogy. As it stands right now, no horror trilogy has had a great final chapter. DAY OF THE DEAD was very boring and nowhere near as scary as DAWN OF THE DEAD. And don't even get me started on Sam Raimi's first venture into sell-out land with the conclusion of his EVIL DEAD trilogy known as ARMY OF DARKNESS.
See this film only if there's nothing else you have seen at your local theater. The SCREAM trilogy has two proud entries, at least. Go rent those instead. Rated R for Violence, Gore, and Language. My Rating - **