Spooky Season 2022: Scream 3 Review

There is much to say about Scream 3. For one, its a huge departure from the two films that preceded it. The reveal was boring and predictable, the characters are simply uninteresting, and the meta-ness leans too much towards the simply ridiculous. That being said, there is no denying that the film is an absolute riot.

In Hollywood, Stab 3 is in the middle of production, with Gale Weathers (Cox) and Dewey Riley (Arquette) on set as advisors. However, when a new killer decides to pick off the cast one by one, it is up to Sydney Prescott (Campbell) to come out of hiding and take down the new copycat.

Scream 3 is definitely the oddball of the franchise. The film is so bonkers and off the rails that it doesn’t feel like a Scream movie. It goes deep and occasionally a little over-the-top with its commentary but unfortunately, it isn’t tight or well thought out enough to work and was messy as a result. On the other hand, this makes the film so much more entertaining and fun. Similarly, there are some cameos scattered throughout that were great but mostly unnecessary featuring the likes of Carrie Fisher, Jay and Silent Bob, and even Craven himself.

The plot on the surface is quite interesting and in line with the Scream franchise but as a whole, it was all over the place more often than not and never really came together. Meanwhile, the writing isn’t as deep or as layered compared to the previous films in the franchise. The B-plot is completely unnecessary and is by far the worst part of the film and would have been better without it. 

The voice changing/mimicking device, was an interesting McGuffin that led to some cool moments but ultimately took away from the film. Some of the deaths were cool and unique, even if some were again too over-the-top. The voice changing device did built tension, making the scenes more suspenseful and exhilarating and contributing to some interesting deaths.

The cast of Scream 3 was once again great with the main trio leading the way thanks to their amazing chemistry. The new cast are quite engaging especially Parker Pose who is an absolute joy to watch as Jennifer Jolie, an actress who plays Gale Weathers in Stab 3. Similarly, Patrick Dempsey’s Detective Mark Kincaid was a shady character meant to arise suspicion by viewers in the hopes of having them second guess themselves but the identity of the true killer was fairly predictable though their reasons for doing what they did were quite surprising and certainly unexpected.

At the end of the day, Scream 3 may be the weakest in the franchise, however, the infectious amount of fun that beams from it somewhat makes up for most of its faults.

*still courtesy of Dimension Films*

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Olly Dyche

Journalist, Writer, Film Critic and Professional Nerd. You will probably find Olly at the cinema chomping down on some popcorn and taking in the glorious visuals of the latest theatrical release.