Horrific Inquiry: SCREAM 3 (2000)

Welcome back to the newest, and at times goriest, column here at Film Inquiry: Horrific Inquiry. Twice a month, I will be tackling all things horror, bringing two films back into the spotlight to terrify and frighten once more. And occasionally looking at those that could have pushed the envelope further. Join us as we dive deep into the heart of horror, but warning, there will be spoilers.

We are back with another edition of Horrific Inquiry’s Scream Countdown! With only a month left until the release of the franchise’s fifth installment, this month brings us face-to-face with the latest threat to Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), and Dewey Riley (David Arquette). Yet, where Scream and Scream 2 (and even Scream 4) boasted a finesse to both screen and script, Scream 3 finds itself the weakest. While it retains its Wes Craven feel, the loss of its creator and screenwriter Kevin Williamson is apparent from the moment the film begins. While Scream 3 still provides an entertaining induction into the franchise (at the time of the film’s release just a trilogy), it severely misses its dynamic duo.

Though it is not a failure, Scream 3 boasts its own critical examination of the cinema it lives within, all while continuing the continuity of the first two films. And while far too often unbelievable in its execution and narration (can we talk about the house explosion, please), it lends itself to an entertaining entry, introducing new rules, new characters, and an unbelievable motive.

Killer Opening More Than Skin Deep

From the moment the camera opens, it sets its lens on the Hollywood sign, its size looming over the traffic of the 405. In this opening frame, viewers are not only given their setting but the feeling of power, one that is wielded by an industry that is about to be put under a microscope. As the camera leaves the sign, viewers are reintroduced to Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), whose ambition was on high display in Scream 2 as he chased his Diane Sawyer interview. And it seems the fame that he garnered at the film’s conclusion for being the hero that saved Sidney Prescot and Gale Weathers, has opened up a wealth of opportunities.

It doesn’t take long to feel the change in pace and flow of Scream 3‘s opening scene compared to the previous films. It is quick, seemingly more in a rush to get to the murder than to spend time with its reoccurring character and future victims, unfortunately weighing heavily on the success of Scream and Scream 2. And while the pace leaves much to be desired, it does introduce the film’s elevating technology – a voice changer and the increased presence of cell phones. Cell phones are not new to the trilogy, Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) and Randy (Jamie Kennedy) each utilizing them in the previous films, but the inclusion is more widespread, lending to their increased absorption into society and the increased ability for Ghostface to reach their victims.

And while the technology utilized is elevated, the inception of Scream is as well. As Christine (Kelly Rutherford) is shown in the shower (a taunting detail used to lure Cotton), we see her walk into the bedroom, her towel falling to the floor, the camera capturing as it wraps around her ankles. At this moment, the Scream franchise dives deeper into its inception. Where Scream 2 was horror within a horror (through the inclusion of the fictionalized Stab movie), here Scream 3 captures the opening scene of the first Stab itself (a horror within a horror within a horror). With pace and dialogue aside, it’s in these moments that the opening of Scream 3 excels, creating a continuity that goes beyond reoccurring characters and kills. It is also in this moment that the film continues to challenge its character and audience regarding its killer – “Its always someone you know” (now the current tag line for the future Scream 5). From the very beginning, there is little trust to exist or build.

Welcome Back Sidney

At the end of Scream 2, as the media swarm around the film’s unlikely hero of Cotton Weary, Sidney is seen alone. Her future is uncertain, many left to imagine she may finally have found the peace that has eluded her these past few years. Scream 3 challenges that happy ending, the killer’s phone call to Cotton establishing the first indication that she has in a sense “disappeared”. Viewers are not left wanting, Sidney is immediately brought back into the spotlight following Cotton’s death. But it is not the Sidney Prescott we have come to know.

As she finishes her walk, she is shown with a dog by her side and a plethora of alarm systems to protect her home. Her trust (much like ours following the opening) in others has been completely broken, her only means of survival now in withdrawing from the world. As she settles in, viewers watch as she dials in to a helpline for battered women, providing assistance to those in need, all while using the name Laura. Her lack of trust lives not only in the people around her but even in those who can’t see her.

It would make sense to present Sidney as a broken and haunted soul. For Sidney, she is a victim of trauma – twice. Most slasher sequels and trilogies seem to move in the direction of showing the character healed and whole, only to be rebooked for survival in the next film or never to be seen again. It is refreshing, yet hollow as the film feels more like a platform for Gale Weathers and Dewey Riley than it is an examination of the trauma surrounding Sidney Prescott. While we are shown scenes of Sidney struggling, and questionably going mad, for the first half of the film, Sidney lingers in purgatory waiting for her moment to return to the world. And when she does, take note of the costume designer’s call back to her final outfit in Scream 2.

Gail and Dewey

For the last two films, the conclusion of each brought Gale and Dewey together, seemingly promising a happy ending for their stories as well. But much like Sidney, they too have had their struggles. Gale is the first to reappear in the film, her ”cutthroat” seminar maintaining her ambition and drive, initially presenting little growth. While we get exposition that reestablishes Sidney over the course of the first film, Gail is reestablished in a flash, almost immediately pulled into the action of the latest murders. As Detective Kincaid (Greys Anatomy’s McDreamy aka Patrick Dempsey) enlists her help in understanding the latest crimes after a photo of Maureen Prescott appears at the murder of Cotton Weary and Christine. It is a murder mystery that challenges our and the character’s understanding of the past, though it does take the film a bit to get there.

As Gale begins to try to make sense of the latest mystery at hand, she arrives at the closed soundstage of Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro (here itself continuing the inception as it is toted as the “third and final”) where she finds herself reunited with Dewey and meeting her onscreen doppelgänger, Jennifer (Parker Posey). It’s from this moment that the film truly begins to feel like a vehicle for Dewey and Gale, their investigation and the intensity of their interactions leading to a promise for a reunion and even maybe a little something more.

A Critical Examination of Hollywood

Where Scream felt at times as though it was mocking horrors of the past, here Scream 3 feels as though it is mocking the film industry itself. And much of this feeling is retrospectively based. While there are cameos of Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith), as well as the late, great Carrie Fisher playing Bianca the Carrie Fisher look alike, there is an awareness of more going on below the surface in the environment the film’s set in. While it starts off simple, its mockery is a potential reason for the film’s cheesy one-liners and cliches, with magical music and head snaps from Dewey when Sidney arrives, it descends into something darker. As Gale, Jennifer and Dewey uncover more information than the Homicide Detective Kincaid, what starts off as a simple slasher devolves into the underbelly of Hollywood. And with the fall of Harvey Weinstein, as well as others, it is hard not to feel Scream 3 didn’t point fingers long ago.

Discovering that Maureen Prescott was once an actress under the name of Rena Reynolds at Sunrise Studios, the same studio that produces the Stab films, a bread crumb trail leads the group to understand that Maureen was brutally taken advantage of by Stab producer John Milton (Lance Henriksen) and the men at the parties he used to throw in the 70s. As Milton explains, the parties were for girls to meet men who could give them parts if they made the right impression. He admits they may have gotten carried away, but that the girls knew what they were getting themselves into when they attended. And while the film keeps the “make the right impression” idea alive through Angelina Tyler (Emily Mortimer), who admits she achieved the role of Sidney by sleeping with Milton, and Bianca, who admits she was so close to the role of Princess Leia but wasn’t the one who slept with George Lucas, the film takes it one step further.

As we reach the film’s climax, or the “Final Act” as Ghostface calls it, the remaining cast members of Stab, as well as Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, are lured to Milton’s home under the pretense that it is a Birthday celebration. As the drink mostly to cure their depression as the Stab 3’s production had been shut down, the group discusses the rumors of a secret screening room within Milton’s home. As they embark on a hunt to track it down, breaking a vital Scream rule stating “I’ll be right back”, they end up discovering more than they bargained for – and so does the audience. While it becomes a vehicle for a fast-paced kill count, this portion of the film does discover the secret screening room, as well as the two-way mirror in the secret soundproof hall. As you connect the pieces, not only were women taken advantage of, there were other parties involved, violating through their watching eyes and intentions.

And while it is not indicative of a specific situation, collectively Scream 3 is an eye-opening and critical examination of what was known to be going on, that was allowed to go on, and was essentially ignored.

Conclusion: Scream 3

Scream 3 is not a film whose addition to the cannon will reverberate going forward, Scream 4 practically ignoring its existence. And while not the best of the four, Scream 3 boasts its own success in its critical examinations and its entertaining slasher take on a trilogy. Through means of clairvoyance, Randy is far from forgotten, returning to the gang one last time to relay the rules of a trilogy. As he says, trilogies are about returning to the beginning to discover that what you think was true never was – and most importantly, no one is safe.

And while it stays within the framework of its predecessors, Scream 3 breaks free of its restraints. For the first time in three films, there is only one killer rather than two. As Randy says, “you’ve got a killer who’s gonna be superhuman”, in which case you do not need a partner. You can achieve it all. And while it embraces the idea of a sole killer for the first time, so too does the idea of a sole survivor come into play (possibly the only element of this film that carries weight into the fourth film). As Roman Bridger (Greys Anatomy‘s Scott Foley) is revealed to be the killer, he discusses his plan to not only kill Sidney, Gale, and Dewey, but to frame Sidney for the latest murders, effectively turning her into the villain. As Roman’s confidence builds, he reveals that he will be the only one that survived the attack, the hero and the sole survivor. While he does not harp on the concept, it removes the need of a partner for the blame to fall on. It is also an element that truly elevates Scream 4, and one whose inclusion here helps to increase the film’s continuity going forward.

Scream 3 may be the perfect example of unnecessary sequels and Hollywood’s increasing need to pump out films for pure profit, but below the surface lies a film whose eyes are open to the environment it resides within. Entertaining and an easy watch, Scream 3 promises to be more than expected.

Next Month, the Horrific Inquiry Scream countdown returns with Scream 4!