Movie review: Scream 3

In this installment Sidney is safely hidden away at her house in the woods but, that doesn’t stop the body count from adding up on the set of the movie Stab 3. The movie is based on the Greensboro killings, the focus of the first Scream movie.

Liv Schreiber (Cotton Weary), Neve Campbell (Sidney), Courteney Cox (Gale), Patrick Dempsey (Det. Kincaid), Scott Foley (Roman), Lance Henriksen (Milton), David Arquette (Dewey).

Once again, Sidney and friends are drawn into the horror movie game of death. With an all-star cast and trade tongue-in-cheek humor, this is another quality entry into the Scream series. The plot of this originally thin film is becoming even thinner and very worn out at this point. The twists needed and introduction of new cast members in this entry didn’t do it any favors in my opinion, resulting in a film that almost feels like it was dumbed-down for broader appeal. I dislike comparing films but compared to the first two, this one just doesn’t do it.

Acting by the veterans is great as always but the newcomers just didn’t seem to bring the energy and instead seemed a bit too campy.  The plot twists and turns got a bit hard to swallow by the end of the movie and the stupidity of some of the characters after being through as much as they had was just ridiculous.

Camera work, sound, dialogue, special effects were all top quality as they have been throughout the series. Craven did a good job with this one but, they are trying to milk a plot and theme that has obviously gone dry.

Watch this one to see more of the series if you were a fan, skip it if you weren’t.

Take the R rating a bit seriously with violence, blood and guts, and a generous sprinkling of f-bombs. Teens and above should be okay with this one.

Released: 2000
Reviewed: 12.21.15
Star rating: 4 out of 5
Genre: Horror, Slasher and Serial Killer Movies, Horror Parody, Horror Satire, Teen Screams

copyright ©2015 Dave Riedel

Follow me for current reviews!