Review of Scream 3 (2000) by Spangle — 28 Oct 2017

The third entry in the iconic slasher movie spoof franchise, Scream 3 is a film that still maintains the same level of fun as its predecessors and is mildly scary, but it is such a mess in execution that it is hard to claim Scream 3 is actually a good film. Due to horrible acting, too many meta references to the series itself, and an annoying continuance of calling out classic slasher tropes only for that exact element to be included in the film, Scream 3 falls apart. However, where the film truly sputters is in how it strives to just re-create the original film through not just references, but by literally returning to the set itself. Trying too hard to be irreverent and funny in depicting that level of metahorror, Scream 3 just winds up stepping in the same footprints as the original and the sequel, while falling into all of the same pitfalls along the way.

One of the worst elements of this franchise is the inclusion of Randy or anybody who explains what this entry of a horror franchise typically includes. It is funny to some degree in calling out classic horror franchises and how true it often is, but in the context of the film itself, it just serves to sum up this film too much. Scream 3 is one of those spoof franchises that believes it can use the same tropes as the films it spoofs as long as it calls out how it is a trope and places its tongue firmly against its cheek. Unfortunately for Scream 3 and any other film that tries this, it only winds up being incredibly annoying to watch. Scream 3 knows exactly how silly the third entry in a horror franchise can get with unstoppable killers and revisionist history in the series, yet it opts to go full bore into both issues and more. It hardly even spoofs them anymore either, it just mocks the tropes and then uses those same tropes, which somehow makes it worse than the films it mocks due to this self-referential angle. In the same vein, Scream 3 cannot help but mention the events of the past films. Though it creates a compelling case in this film with the resurgence of a killer who leaves behind pictures of Maureen Prescott, the film's continuous referencing of the prior films feels like the new writer trying to remind himself of what happened as it progressed through the script. Every scene seems to have at least one reference to past events that brings newcomers to the series up to speed and allowed the writer to remember for himself. For those who watched the first two, Scream 3 winds up embodying the worst quality of many sequels in how it wrongly believes that just because it tosses in this fan service, it can get away with not being that good in its own right and just rehashing what made the originals so good. This does not work in the film and, together with its meta humor about the horror genre as a whole, Scream 3's reliance upon plot rehashes and refusal to innovate on its general narrative (once more, the film is just Sidney running from Scream with the help of Gale and Dewey, which is tiresome by this point) winds up turning this sequel into a poor re-enactment of its predecessors. Though still mildly fun and scary, Scream 3 just plays like a reminder that, if you do like these characters and scenarios, your time would be better spent watching its predecessors.

Where Scream 3 is successful, however, is in its setting. While it does derive some horror from the inclusion of Maureen's ghostly voice, Scream 3's setting on the set of the fictional film Stab 3 and how it uses it to critique Hollywood is rather fun to watch. In many ways, Scream 3 is almost more of a critique of the Hollywood system than it is of horror films. Critiquing the way in which women have to sleep with men for parts, the way in which they are abused by powerful men, how serious directors have to make crappy sequels to get clout, and how stupid sequels are in general, Scream 3 is a film that is deeply Hollywood and yet it is unafraid to mock Hollywood and call out the abuses in place. The irony that Harvey Weinstein produced the film does seem lost on Scream 3, however. Fortunately, the smart critiques of Hollywood are not lost with the film having a fun time traversing the minefield that is Hollywood and mocking the absurd system that gave rise to a third, unnecessary Scream film.

Mildly funny and occasionally scary, Scream 3 is a film that is too caught up in calling attention to horror tropes and referencing its predecessors to carve out its own path as either a horror film or a member of the Scream franchise. As a result, it just spoils itself by calling out exactly what will happen and it does so while just following a very similar to the original. Fortunately, the added twist of the Hollywood setting is a nice touch, even if its reveal of the killer and its revisionist history about the previous films is really stupid (dumber than usual too since it said it would happen).