REEL REVIEWS COLUMN: 'Scream 3' could be too clever
JAMIE ANNEL
"Scream 3"
*** out of ****
This final installment of the "Scream" trilogy broke box-office records in its opening weekend, and with good reason. It’s a well-acted, clever slasher movie. Its only downfall is that it may be too clever.
In this installment, the murders revolve around the filming of the horror flick "Stab 3," the first "Stab" having been the film-within-a-film in "Scream 2." So in addition to already familiar characters like Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox Arquette), we get the characters that play those characters. (Confused yet?)
The most significant new relationship is formed between Gale and Jennifer Jolie (Parker Posey), the flighty actress who plays her. Dewey is a consultant on "Stab 3" and has never gotten over his infatuation with the "real" Gale, so of course he falls for Jennifer, the "fake" Gale. The interaction between these three provide the movie with its best moments.
The setting of Hollywood adds a fresh twist to the series: not only does it allow director Wes Craven to do some ingenious casting (Jenny McCarthy as a B-movie actress, Carrie Fisher as a studio archivist) but it makes for some genuinely creepy moments that cleverly echo the original (and still the best) "Scream."
Unfortunately, the ending drags on too long, and the identity of the killer is not as shocking as it was in the previous films. Still, "Scream 3" is an excellent way to wrap up the most original horror series in film history.