Let's see, where were we?
Oh, yes. We're in Hollywood, on the set of "Stab 3," an another sequel in the saga of the Woodsboro murders.
Before that, though, we are on a Los Angeles freeway where a boyhood friend of slasher victim Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) gets a strange phone call.
Rushing home he enters his apartment and ...
Welcome to Wes Craven's "Scream 3." And like the first two movies in the series, this one is mixes an awareness of the slasher movie genre with audience expectations. But by now the formula is a bit stale, so the audience is - if not ahead - at least able to keep pace with Craven and screenwriter Ehren Kruger.
OK, so back to the lot of Sunrise Pictures, where a replica of Sidney's house stands on a closed set and a cast of two-dimensional types sit around complaining about the script and their parts.
Of course, now the cast members begin to get bumped off so ...
Enter the famous newswoman Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox Arquette, as she now bills herself) to get the scoop. And who better, since she was a player in alll the previous action and even wrote a book about it.
Also on hand is Dewey (David Arquette), the film's technical adviser and Gale's former boyfriend, who still carries a torch.
Ain't love grand. What better to reunite two former lovers than a good serial killing spree.
As for Sidney, she is holed up somewhere with enough security locks to keep out the CIA. But the ghost-masked killer learns where she is, so she flees her isolation, heads for L.A., hooks up with Gale and Dewey and we're off to the races.
At about 1 hour and 50 minutes, "Scream 3" drags. There is too much exposition, the pace is uneven and the rationalization for everything two complex. There are too many characters, too many red herrings and the finale is a disappointment.
But what the heck. The movie will make money because those who were fascinated by "Scream" and "Scream 2" won't be able to resist this outing.
Craven offers some good scary moments and a few goosebumps, but it seems so formulated, so rote. It lacks a freshness. The movie has a deja vu, haven't we been here before, feel.
The cast just goes through its motions, no one stands out and no one does anything special. "Scream 3" is just more of the same old, same old
Even cameos by Roger Corman, Carrie Fisher and Kevin Smith as Silent Bob and Jason Mewes as his motor-mouthed pal from "Dogma" cannot enliven the plodding proceedings.
It is time to retire this worn out series. Come on, Wes. Put the knives and ghost masks away and keep them locked up. Move on. "Scream 3" is like the party guest who stayed too long and wore out his welcome.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net
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