scream


Scream 3 is a 2000 horror film directed by Wes Craven with a screenplay by Ehren Kruger. It is the third installment in the successful Scream series of satirical horror films. It was originally meant to be the last installment of the Scream series, but in 2008, Scream 4 was officially announced by Dimension Films.

The film stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox Arquette, each reprising their roles from the first two films. This is the only Scream film where Cox is credited under her double barrel married name.

This is also the only part of the planned Scream trilogy not to be written by Kevin Williamson, as he was busy working on his short-lived television series, Wasteland. Filming began without a script, with rewrites being rewritten on the day of filming. Ehren Kruger was tasked with and given official credit for writing the script, although he heavily consulted with the film's producers as well as Craven himself for the project.

Plot

Synopsis

As bodies begin dropping around the set of STAB 3, a movie sequel based on the gruesome Woodsboro killings, Sidney and other survivors are once again drawn into a game of horror movie mayhem.

Summary

Scream 3 Opening Title

Having experienced the trauma of the killings at Woodsboro and at Windsor College, Sidney Prescott now lives in a secluded area of California where she works as a women's crisis counselor from her home. Her home has a security gate around it and she is now practically an agoraphobic, only leaving her house to walk her pet Golden Retriever, Cherokee. Her whereabouts are unknown even to her surviving friends (save for Dewey and her father). Gale Weathers has become a largely successful news reporter (of a sensationalist style), thanks to the books she wrote revolving around the murders of the first two films and subsequent films based on the books. Despite the success, it has affected her personal life, as Dewey has apparently given up of any chance of their relationship and is instead beginning to be the bodyguard for actress Jennifer Jolie. Gale questions if everything she has done for her career is worth the prices she has paid.

The Killer calls Cotton in traffic

The film begins when Cotton Weary, the man wrongly convicted of killing Sidney's mother, prior to the first film, is murdered along with his girlfriend Christine Hamilton for refusing to reveal information about Sidney's whereabouts. Suspected of being related to the original killings, Los Angeles Police Department detectives led by Mark Kincaid inform Gale Weathers of Weary's murder, asking if she may know anything about a picture found at the murder scene. When she identifies it as a picture of Maureen Prescott, Sidney's mother, it becomes apparent the killings are linked to her murder.

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Sidney, Gale, and Dewey become involved in investigating. The cast and crew of the latest Stab movie (based upon the events of the previous movie Scream 2) are systematically being killed off one by one; the actors are being killed in the order in which they die in the script.

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Sarah Darling is the third victim of the killer when she is tricked into coming to an emptied office by the killer and is knocked through a glass window and then stabbed in the back. Steven Stone (Jennifer's bodyguard) gets a phone call from Dewey while rummaging through his trailer. After delivering an insult about Tatum, Ghostface emerges from a back room, having used Dewey's voice via the voice changer and stabs Stone in the back. Although Stone fends him off, Ghostface kicks him back into a cupboard, plunging the knife deeper in his back before bludgeoning him several times with a frying pan. Stone manages to muster up enough strength to walk to the front door of Jennifer's house, dying in front of Dewey, Gale, Angelina, Tom, and Jennifer.

Jennifer's house explodes

As paranoia sets in, a menacing fax is sent. Tom Prinze flips a lighter to read the message in the blacked-out mansion, unknowingly falling into the killer's plan, as the fire ignites the leaked gas and blows up the house, killing him and throwing the rest of the cast down the hill. The killer attacks Gale but is deterred by Dewey's shooting.

Gale and Jennifer Jolie meet archiver Bianca Burnette as they investigate Maureen's murder. Sidney meets Angelina Tyler at the movie set, before wandering onto the set and being attacked by the killer, though it seems as if she imagined the whole incident.

Gale and Dewey find the killer's outfit

Producer John Milton invites the cast to a party at his house. Director Roman Bridger and Jennifer check out the basement while Tyson Fox and Angelina explore the house. After realizing that the killer has tricked them into congregating at the house, Dewey and Gale split up to round up the cast and escape. Gale stumbles upon Roman's body in a chest, but she meets Jennifer and Angelina. Appearing to be extremely scared, Angelina runs off alone and is murdered by Ghostface. The killer brazenly attacks the remaining four and wounds Dewey and Tyson. He chases Tyson and throws him over the balcony, killing him. Meanwhile, in the shuffle, Jennifer falls into a hidden passage which happens to be connected to the room where Dewey and Gale are hiding by a one-sided mirror. She meets the killer and becomes the next victim in an ironic twist where Jennifer is banging on the mirror from her side to escape her attacker. Dewey then shoots the mirror but is too slow and she is stabbed to death. The killer next attacks Gale and knocks out Dewey. He holds them hostage to draw Sidney to the house. Sidney preempts his moves and shoots him, but before she can release Gale and Dewey, he escapes. Kincaid arrives on the scene and saves Sidney from an attack by the killer, but Kincaid is rendered unconscious.

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The killer chases Sidney to a room, and he reveals himself to be Roman (who had faked his own murder), the connection is that he is Maureen's illegitimate son and Sidney's half-brother. He brings out John (who had been gagged and stuffed at a corner of the room) and kills him in front of Sidney. It is further revealed that Roman is a product of rape, which occurred during Maureen's brief stint as a B-list movie actress. Roman tells Sidney that her mother left her father and cheated on him with Hank Loomis, causing Nancy Loomis to leave her husband. Roman managed to track down Maureen and revealed himself to be her son but she slammed the door in his face. Swearing revenge, Roman told Billy Loomis why his mother had left his father, and convinced him to kill Maureen. Roman also told Billy to have an accomplice who was weak and easily willing to help him out, which turned out to be Stu Macher which ultimately triggered the events of the first movie and that of the second.

The handshake

Tired of hearing another killer blaming the circumstances of their life on her. Sidney berates Roman who gets angered enough to attack her leading to a fight. Roman manages to gain the upper hand but a distraction by Kincaid allows Sidney to grab his knife.

Dewey shoots Roman in the head

He, however, finds Kincaid's gun and shoots her, knocking her down. He shoots her in the chest to be certain in killing her. But Dewey and Gale on the verge of breaking into room distracts him for a moment, when he turns around, Sidney is gone. Roman tears the room apart trying to find her before going to use his cell phone to locate her. Sidney beats him to punch using a phone to catch him off guard before popping up from behind the bar, stabbing him several times in the back before stabbing him in the heart. As Roman dies, Sidney reveals she had a bulletproof vest on as well, commenting they weren't so different. The two siblings seem to reconcile. But just as Dewey and Gale arrive, Roman jumps up to attack them again. But Dewey stuns him with several shots to the chest before, on the advice of Sidney, finishes Roman with a headshot, killing him for good.

Sidney walks away leaving the door open, with no anxiety.

At Sidney's secluded house in the woods, Dewey surprises Gale with a wedding proposal, of which Gale agrees. Kincaid, still recovering from his injuries, invites Sidney to join him, Dewey, and Gale for a movie. Sidney closes her front door, but it creaks open a few moments later. Sidney walks away realizing her long-time fears have diminished and she has new found freedom.

Cast & Characters

Main Characters

Supporting Characters

Minor Characters

Cameos

Rules for a Horror Trilogy

A signature device, started in Scream and continued in future films, was the typical "rules" for that type of horror movie being stated by the characters. In Scream 3, Sidney, Dewey, Gale, and Martha Meeks ( Randy's sister; Heather Matarazzo) watch a video made by Randy (Jamie Kennedy, in a cameo role) before his death in Scream 2; he states that if the third movie is just another sequel, then the standard rules for a sequel (given in Scream 2) apply.

However, "If you find yourself dealing with an unexpected backstory, and a preponderance of exposition, then the sequel rules do not apply. Because you are not dealing with a sequel, you are dealing with the concluding chapter of a trilogy." The rules for the final concluding chapter of a trilogy are different:

Although, in the first few drafts, there was a fourth rule: "Never be alone", but this was taken out because Gale immediately goes off alone afterward.

Satirical/self-referential style

Once again, Scream 3 uses self-aware characters and generally references itself as a movie most of the time.

Most of the story is set in Hollywood and focuses on the making of Stab 3, the film franchise within the story that is based on the events of the trilogy. For instance, actors (Parker Posey and Matt Keeslar) are playing characters that are actors (Jennifer Jolie and Tom Prinze) playing characters based on Gale and Dewey respectively. There is a constant comparison between the "movie Gale" played by Jennifer and the "real" one.

The character name "Jennifer Jolie" is a combination of Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie. "Angelina Tyler" is a combination of Angelina Jolie and Liv Tyler."Tom Prinze" is a combination of Tom Cruise and Freddie Prinze Jr. "Tyson Fox" is probably derived from the names of Tyson Beckford and Jamie Foxx.

Jenny McCarthy's character, Sarah Darling, complains that she is playing a big character in a Stab sequel who is killed after two scenes. This is exactly what happens to Sarah, and the number of scenes she has in Scream 3.

The characters believe Randy's rules about surviving a trilogy, and by the end, even Sidney herself believes she is in a trilogy. Several scenes take place on movie sets which are actually sets of the first film. The climax takes place in a producer's house, with various movie props and filming equipment figuring prominently. Finally, the movie literally ends with "the door being left open" for future installments.

There are also celebrity cameos (such as Carrie Fisher, Nancy O'Dell, Jay and Silent Bob), and general Hollywood references (including Brad Pitt, Connie Chung, and Seinfield).

In the climax of the film, Neve Campbell is wearing a green top and brown leather jacket, similar to the outfit she wore in the climax of Scream 2.

Cameo appearances

References to people

DVD Commentary

Gallery

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 		Scream 3 has a Photo Gallery.

Trivia

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All Deaths in Scream 3

All Deaths Scenes in Scream 3

Alternate Openings/Endings

Main article: Scream 3: The Assembly Cut

Two alternate openings exist for Scream 3. The first alternate opening played out almost exactly the same way as the theatrical opening, however in this version, Cotton attempts to escape through the skylight in his office and is then stabbed in the leg by Ghostface and dragged back down into the house where he is killed.

The second alternate opening was similar to the theatrical opening, however, Cotton only speaks to Christine through the phone and upon finding out that the killer is in his house, he races home and receives a call from Christine that she is at Starbucks and is racing home to meet him. Cotton searches the house and is called again by Christine who tells him she is home and to open the door. She then instructs Cotton to open the hall closet to get a bat and when he does, Christine's dead body falls out of the closet, revealing that the voice on the phone was Ghostface who then kills Cotton.

The alternate ending was fairly similar to the theatrical ending albeit some different dialogue from Ghostface before he rips his mask off as well as different dialogue during the scene where Roman looks for Sidney in the screening room. Additionally, Sidney has the idea to call Roman and calls his phone before he gets a chance to think of the idea himself.

There are rumours that there is an extended ending where Sidney, Mark, Dewey, and Gale sit down to watch a movie which is a continuation of Randy's tape with a fourth rule for trilogies. There is said to be another ending that was filmed without Mark Kincaid in the event of his character being killed off or his fate being left unknown.

Reception

The film set a record in its opening weekend for the number of screens in the United States: 3,467. This was later surpassed by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) with 3,762.

The film had a sizable opening weekend of over $34 million. It grossed $161 million worldwide.

The film received generally mixed reviews from film critics; according to Rotten Tomatoes' general consensus from critics, Scream 3 became what the series originally started out spoofing, and concluded that it fell back on the typical horror movie clichés.

In a positive review, the Los Angeles Times called the film, "Genuinely scary and also highly amusing", and the BBC stated that "as the conclusion to the trilogy it works more effectively than anyone had a right to expect". Variety also praised the film as the end of the Scream trilogy, saying "Aficionados will be the best able to appreciate how wittily Craven has brought down the curtain on his much-imitated, genre-reviving series" while Empire called it "satisfying" though believed the premise of the series had worn thin.

External links

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Movie Guide