Scream 3 is a 2000 film - the third installment in the successful Scream series of satirical horror films. It was originally meant to be 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 part of the Scream trilogy not to be written by Kevin Williamson, as he was busy working on his short-lived television series Wasteland. Ehren Kruger (writer of the film Arlington Road, who would later go on to write the screenplays for The Ring, The Ring Two and The Skeleton Key) was given the task of writing the script based on notes Williamson himself had sketched out.
Having experienced the trauma of the killings at Woodsboro and at Windsor College, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) 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. Her whereabouts are unknown even to her surviving friends (save for Dewey, played by Arquette, and her father). Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox Arquette) 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 dating actress Jennifer Jolie (Parker Posey). Gale questions if everything she has done for her career are worth the prices she has paid.
Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), the man wrongly convicted of killing Sidney's mother prior to the first film, is murdered along with his girlfriend Christine Hamilton (Kelly Rutherford) for refusing to reveal information about Sidney's whereabouts. Suspected of being related to the original killings, Los Angeles police detectives led by Mark Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey) 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.
Sidney, Gale and Dewey become involved in investigating. The cast and crew of the latest Stab movie are systematically being killed off one by one; the actors are being killed in the order in which they die in the script. Sarah Darling (Jenny McCarthy) 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. As paranoia sets in, a menacing fax is sent. Tom Prinze (Matt Keeslar) 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 (Carrie Fisher) as they investigate Maureen's murder. Sidney meets Angelina Tyler (Emily Mortimer) 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.
Producer John Milton (Lance Henriksen) invites the cast to a party at his house. Director Roman Bridger (Scott Foley) and Jennifer check out the basement while Tyson Fox (Deon Richmond) 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. Extremely scared, Angelina runs off alone and is murdered. 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.
The killer chases Sidney to a room, and he reveals himself to be Roman (who had faked his own murder), the connection being 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 Mrs. Loomis to leave her husband. 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. Eventually, Sidney shoots Roman, but he is wearing a bullet-proof vest. He shoots her back, but she too was also wearing a bullet-proof vest, and stabs him in the heart. Dewey and Gale finally arrive after their attempts at opening the secret passage Gale notices that Roman was indeed the killer. While they're asking if Sidney is OK, Roman springs to his feet wielding a knife. Dewey fires numerous shots to Roman's torso then, Sidney exclaimes; "Head!" so Dewey shoots Roman in the head and Roman dies.
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.
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 complains that she is playing a bit character in 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, Seinfeld).
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.
A signature device, started in Scream and continued in Scream 2 and Scream 3, was the typical "rules" for that type of horror movie being stated by the characters. In Scream 3, Sidney, Dewey, Gale and 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:
- "You've got a killer who’s gonna be superhuman. Stabbing him won’t work, shooting him won’t work. Basically in the third one, you gotta cryogenically freeze his head, decapitate him, or blow him up."
- "Anyone, including the main character, can die. This means you, Sid."
- "The past will come back to bite you in the ass. Whatever you think you know about the past, forget it. The past is not at rest! Any sins you think were committed in the past are about to break out and destroy you."
Although, in the first few drafts, there was a fourth rule: "Never be alone" but was taken out because Gale immediately goes off alone afterwards.
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