Scream 3
**1/2
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Odeon (Manchester City Centre)
Released in the UK by Buena Vista International on April 28, 2000; certificate
18; 117 minutes; country of origin USA; aspect ratio 2.35:1
Directed by Wes Craven; produced by Cathy
Konrad, Marianne Maddalena, Kevin Williamson.
Written by Ehren Kruger; based on characters created by Kevin
Williamson.
Photographed by Peter Deming; edited by Patrick
Lussier.
CAST.....
Neve Campbell..... Sidney Prescott
David Arquette..... Dwight 'Dewey' Riley
Courteney Cox Arquette..... Gale Weathers
Patrick Dempsey..... Detective Mark Kincaid
Scott Foley..... Roman Bridger
Lance Henriksen..... John Milton
Jenny McCarthy..... Sarah Darling
Parker Posey..... Jennifer Jolie
The character Neve Campbell plays in "Scream
3" has been so badly shaken in the first two movies that she now
lives in Monterey with a reclusive anonymous lifestyle. When she finally
drives to California to join in with the rest of the action, she's quieter,
thoughtful and more authoritative. Watching this makes us realise what great
potential Campbell has for performing in serious drama. I kept fantasising
about writing a great screenplay for her, to showcase her captivating presence
and win her international acclaim.
It's not just time for Neve to move on, though,
but everyone involved. When the original "Scream" was released in 1996, it
was a stunning comic idea -- a film with the structure of a slasher pic in
which the characters knew all the clichés and had self-referential
conversations about them. Unfortunately, the idea was copied, and quickly
became a cliché in itself. Now almost every American movie starring
kids under 20 is filled with smug, cynical allusions to pop culture that
just make us groan and yawn.
Given that its options are limited and it's the
third trek over the same ground, "Scream 3" does a pretty good job of engaging
us. The filmmakers have announced that it's the last in the series, and while
I'm not about to complain, at least their latest work is watchable. It comes
up with a pretty ingenious way of generating more jokes, in fact, by setting
its story in Hollywood, and featuring the production of a movie called "Stab
3". A horror movie, wouldn't you know it, based on characters from the first
two "Scream" pictures.
This gives the director, Wes Craven, and his
screenwriter, Ehren Kruger, the freedom to blur the line between what's going
on in the 'reality' of the story and the world of movies. The plot involves
another mystery about who is perpetrating a murderous rampage, and at this
point in the trilogy we've been introduced to so many characters with so
many conflicting personality traits that there is indeed a fair amount of
suspense about the identity of the killer. In the end, Craven and Kruger
come up with an unpredictable and arbitrary solution, but hey, at least we're
not bored, as we were in "Scream 2". That sequel made a bad mistake in thinking
it was a real horror movie, and ditching the humour.
"Scream 3" is generally easy to watch, with colourful,
sexy visuals, and although its form of parody is becoming old hat, there
is enough successful ironic chatter to get us giggling. As I've suggested,
it's better than "Scream 2". But somehow it doesn't work well enough to
recommend. The idea has been stretched too far. They should have made one
movie, and called it quits.
My biggest concern is that a lot of the violence
is excessive for a lighthearted flick. Every time a knife is pulled out,
for example, there is a disgusting metallic 'zing!' on the sound track, and
a bright gleam on the screen. People get slaughtered in cruel, not amusing,
ways. Unnecessary. Sick.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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