DIRECTED BY: Wes Craven WRITTEN BY: Ehren Kruger
MPAA: Rated R for strong horror violence and language Runtime: USA:116
RATING: 7/10
"RULES OF A TRILOGY: CHAPTER ONE SETS THE RULES. CHAPTER TWO BENDS THE RULES. BUT IN CHAPTER THREE...THERE ARE NO RULES"
What do you know about trilogies?
Rule number 1: Forget everything about what you think you know. Forget everything about the past. Because you will discover things that will make you question your sanity. Rule number 2: Anyone, even the main character can die! Rule number 3: The killer is bigger, smarter, meaner and more powerful than you can ever imagine. Prepare yourself for the most frightening scary movie you have ever seen - your life!
Not many survived 'Scream 2'. Those who have, are now returning to chance their fate once again in 'Scream 3'. Among them: Gale (the cynical journalist), Dewie (the good-hearted cop) and of course Sydney - the innocent victim that bravely vanquishes all her enemies. The bloody unpleasantness of the past is almost forgotten and everyone is moving on with their lives. Well, that is everyone - except Sydney, who lives a solitary life somewhere in the mountains. Meanwhile, in Hollywood, the producers are wrapping up their latest film (based on a 'true' story by Gale) - 'Stab 3'. Everything is swell, until the cast members start dying one by one. And so the remaining cast and survivors must stand together against an invisible enemy that can mimic all voices...
Tiered of Ws Craven's slashers? Calm yourself, because this is the final chapter. Just think of it as a final scream. 'Scream 3' gives Craven the opportunity to play with trilogies. He is almost successful. The first installment was an entertaining combination. It was self ironic and at the same time incredibly intense and at times even frightening. The second one was a total flop that is not worth mentioning. His latest addition feels like 'Scream 1' with a knife in its back. It starts fresh and frightening, with amusing irony and humor, but both the story and suspense die in slow motion, until the last breath of originality fades away completely. Craven begins well, and the first half of the film is wonderful. There are surprises, mysteries and discoveries in every scene. There are some incredibly amusing guest appearances, such as Jay and Silent Bob (from 'Dogma') and Geena Davies (Princess Laya from 'Star Wars'). There is a certain sense of unpredictability. Who will die first? Why? Who is the mysterious killer(s)? And what is the mysterious darkness in Sydney's mystical past? Craven is filling the screen with his trademarks, his light, energetic style, that makes his films incredibly interesting, almost legendary. Unfortunately it all has to end, and it happens all too quickly. Already after 50 minutes the film starts to falter. And by the finale you will discover that Craven has created the exactly same thing that he tried to parodize. It is unfortunate, because the opportunities are there. But Craven is too occupied with his famous original scenes of suspense, that he completely forgets about story development. So, after the killer is presented in all his mystery, the characters are inserted into the story and three people have died, the film turns off the irony and resorts to being simply an entertaining slasher. The film is as frightening as the first, maybe even more. It has a much more surrealistic feel to it, as the audience is experiencing Sydney's paranoiac hallucinations of her past. You can't trust them.
'Scream 3' is probably the most professional of 'Scream'-films. It plays on a much higher technical and visual level than its 'ancestors', which makes it hard to resist Craven's playful thriller. And though it's not a perfect film that anyone will remember after a week, it is a worthy, graceful (and hopefully final) addition to the 'Scream Trilogy'. It is not quite an adrenaline rush, but it certainly is an elegant, mystic and engaging thriller that will provide enough thrills, laughs and screams for one evening.
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