9 Reasons Why Scream 3 Is Not QUITE As Bad As You Remember It
While it will never live up to predecessors, Scream 3 still has some interesting features.
People often see Scream 3 as the bastard stepchild of the franchise. It's the instalment we all watch for no other reason than we have just watched the first two, and it seems like the thing to do.
The movie was troubled from the get-go with reluctance from Wes Craven to direct again, Kevin Williamson being unable to work on the project and a production rush. Throw in real-world events forcing creative changes just before filming started and script leaks; it is a wonder the film is at all watchable.
Scream 3's crimes are many, including a reveal that acts as a convoluted and unnecessary retcon to plot and character elements from the franchise's first two instalments. Tonally, this third Scream outing has more in common with the "Movie within a movie" world of Stab or even the Scary Movie films than it does with the other sequels. Scream 3 is neither intentionally funny nor horrific for most of its running time, which is odd for a film billed as a horror-comedy.
However, Wes Craven is still a master of the genre, and if anyone could make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t, it would be him.
9. It's Aware Of Its Flaws
One of Scream’s most distinctive features is its self-awareness and not being above taking shots at its characters, their mistakes and the franchise in general. Look no further than the film studies debate on the declining quality of sequels in Scream 2 for proof of this. This trend would continue into the third instalment of the franchise.
In the first two movies, film fan and former video store clerk Randy Meeks supplied much of the meta-commentary. Having met his demise in the second film, writers came up with a way of shoe-horning Randy back into the film; a video of him pointing out the many flaws and potential pitfalls of trilogies. At this point, Miramax was still using the original "spec" scripts by Kevin Williamson, which was for a self-contained trilogy and not the franchise the Scream movies would later become.
The film is littered with broad attempts at humour and stuffed full of cameos, some of which work, like Carrie Fisher, and some that completely miss the mark, like Jay and Silent Bob. A few lines either break the fourth wall and call out how ridiculous the situation the characters find themselves in, or make subtle winks to the audience about the diminishing returns on ongoing film franchises.