Scream 3 Reviews

Third time lucky? Not this time. The second sequel to Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson's hugely popular SCREAM isn't a terrible stalk-and-slash movie. It's got twists, it's got turns, it's got an attractive cast that gets shish-kabobed with ruthless regularity. It's just tired; if you're the kind of person who wants to see things like this, you've already seen lots of things like this. Poor Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), survivor of the first two movies, is hiding out in a fortified house in the woods, hoping that if she lays low enough, no psychos will bother her. It's giving away nothing to say her hopes are quickly dashed. "Stab 3," the ongoing movie franchise based on Sidney's ordeal, is in production at Sunshine Pictures, with veteran horrormeister John Milton (veteran horror actor Lance Henriksen) producing eager beaver Roman Bridger's (Scott Foley) feature-film debut. But someone's using a big sharp knife to fillet the cast and crew, which gets all the familiar faces — reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox Arquette), Deputy Dewey Riley (David Arquette), and, of course, Sidney — back into play. New faces include Detective Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey); Jennifer Jolie (Parker Posey), who's played Gale in all the "Stab" movies; B-movie starlet Sarah Darling (Jenny McCarthy); and spooky ingenue Angelina Tyler (Emily Mortimer), who's playing Sidney in the new movie. The picture is jam-packed with in-jokes and cameos. Sunshine Pictures evokes the real-life Full Moon Productions, and exploitation veteran Roger Corman, the model for John Milton, appears as Milton's boss. Carrie Fisher shows up as a Sunshine old-timer who's had it up to here with being told she looks like the star of STAR WARS; Jay and Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and director Kevin Smith) stroll by; and deceased video geek Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) makes an ingenious appearance. But it all feels a bit tired, right down to the rehash of Nick Cave's supremely spooky "Red Right Hand" on the soundtrack. Been there, done that.