Review of Scream 3 (2000) by Kyle S — 05 Oct 2011

The lack of Kevin Williamson is incredibly noticible in the writing of Scream 3. Though not horrible, Scream 3 doesn't have what the other movies had and begins to loose it's steam.

Stab 3 is in production, or at least it was. The next movie based of Sidney Prescott's experience is cancelled, and yet another copycat killer is on the loose. Sidney is being haunted yet again which brings together Gale Weathers and Dewey. All they have to do, yet again, is find out who the killer is, and why he's after Sidney. Kevin Williamson is not the writer for this sequel, and it is noticable. Where the other Scream movies had a black comedy tone about the events and some great dialogue about movies, this movie is more of a slow mystery with even less killing. Scream 1 and 2 were about the cliches of horror movies. Scream 3 is a horror movie cliche. Though the ending is more dramatic and a bit more satisfying than the other 2 movies, this movie is still a big let down because the writing doesn't have the same charm, and the themes and character developements are now boring.

Even with Wes Craven as the director, there's not much to say about this movie. It's the mix of mediocre writing and the same thrills that makes this movie not that great. Though there are still some great moments, both unexpected and creatively shot, some things just don't feel the same as before. You can tell that the filmmaking now is becoming more cliche than genuinely suspenceful. The look of the movie taking place on a Hollywood set is used pretty creatively, but still adds little.

What made the first 2 Scream movies great was that they were aware of the conventions of horror movies, so they were able to find potential for unique suspence, and be fun when they were conventional. Because this movie seems more like a drama than a horror movie, it is slow, covering themes we are already familiar with, and just not being that scary.