Scream 3

I am a fan of the Scream trilogy and they are the only horror movies that appeal to me. I think that Scream 3 really excelled above Scream 2 and in some ways above Scream, and this was due to a new writer, Ehren Kruger. Kruger even manages to tie truth into the script, revealing the real reason why Scream 2 was a box office flop. One character says that it had something to do with "keeping the ending off of the Internet" which is how the ending to Scream 2 was prematurely released.

The characters and their traits are still the same, and movie trivia is still thrown around which blends it into the original Kevin Williamson style. Brought back to life is also the small one-liners made famous in Scream such as "What’s your favourite scary movie?" and "I’ll be right back" which add to the effect of the trilogy as a whole. In the original Scream, "I’ll be right back" was said by the killer and this occurs in Scream 3 as well giving many parallels between the killers of Scream and Scream 3.

The script is sharp and witty, offering many one-liners and cameos (in a way). Throughout the movie you can see various people popping up including Jay and Silent Bob (Dogma, Chasing Amy, Clerks, Mallrats), Carrie Fisher (everyone knows her as Princess Laya in Star Wars), Jamie Kennedy reprises his role as Randy in a brief interlude explaining his movie rules again and also to a point Jenny McCarthy. There is a lot of play on words, and especially confusion between characters as the cast of a new movie Stab 3 are being killed. The original Gail Weathers is back again, but also duelling for survival with the Stab 3 Gail Weathers who is marvellously played by Parker Posey. She is just hilarious with her quibbling between Cox-Arquette and really adds some life and bounce to the film. The script itself really ties up all loose ends that the previous two films create, and closes off the possibility of a fourth installation as the past about Maureen Prescott (Sidney’s mother) is all wrapped up and everything just neatly falls into place.

The video is just superb, and is a great transfer from Village Roadshow. The colours were bright, vibrant and well defined, which crisp and sharp shadow detail. I was just amazed at the clarity of the picture – this being one of the best that I have seen. The film was shot on 35mm film using anamorphic lenses, and framed in the real widescreen aspect of 2.35:1. The entire disc is 16x9 enhanced, from the feature to the menu screens.

The audio track is in either Dobly Surround 5.1 or in Dolby Surround 2.0. The dialogue is clear throughout the film by all characters without the audio equipment being turned up to stupidly high levels prior to watching. The rear Left and Right channels are used to build up tension throughout the film by either using vocal calls such as in Sid’s room on the set of Stab 3, or by building up the score from the back to wash over the audience. Sadly, however, there is absolutely no use of the .1 channel, which really would add a lot of depth to certain scenes.

Speaking of the score, it is written by Marco Beltrami who also wrote the scores for the previous movies which means that themes from the earlier movies such as Sid’s theme or Dewey’s theme are revived successfully. I think that this is the best Scream score yet, and it ties the trilogy up nicely.

Audio Commentary: This is a very decent audio commentary, featuring Wes Craven, Marianne Maddalena (Producer) and Patrick Lussier (Editor), and the three seem to get on so well, building on each others ideas and really giving and entertaining, yet informative commentary to the film.

Alternate Ending: Like most of the special features on this disc, this is in the Low Resolution Film Editing System format which I think is just appalling for the available technology. The Alternate Ending isn’t anything really thrilling, just a longer version of the current ending, and with the poor image quality a lot of the detail is lost due to the dark surrounds of the climax. However, there is the Audio Commentary for all the deleted scenes from Scream 3 which does give an insight into why specific things were cut.

Deleted Scenes: Scream 2: There are two deleted scenes from Scream 2, and my first question – why are they on the disc for Scream 3? The two scenes are nothing really thrilling, and don’t add to Scream 2 at all. Again, they are in the Low Resolution quality, which really detracts from what could be one of the better transfers. Scream 3: The first two scenes are just re-shoots of the actual opening sequence. The first one is nearly the same, however the second re-shoot is much better and I think would have suited the film better as it explains the voice box and also adds to the confusion of personalities that the film conveys. The third deleted scene is just a longer version of Sarah’s arrival at the studio to meet Roman. The final scene is just a different set up of another scene, exactly the same lines, just the actors are organised differently. Overall, nothing thrilling with these deleted scenes with no scene introductions as on the Final Destination disc.

Outtakes: The Outtakes are taken from the original Scream, and also Scream 2, and they really show how often Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox Arquette) can stuff up. I think that these outtakes are funny, especially for a horror genre where not many laughs are expected.

Theatrical Trailer: This is the original trailer that was released over the internet with a special introduction from Wes Craven. This is a really nicely constructed trailer, in Dolby Stereo 2.0.

International Trailer: The international trailer is just a longer version of the Theatrical Trailer, and it has voice-overs which tells more about the story, and shows more from the film and also the actors say more in the trailer. I loved the Theatrical Trailer, and really loved the International Trailer.

What If – The Creed Music Video: This song is the opening track to the film’s soundtrack, and is just the video clip that stars David Arquette. The video didn’t seem very smooth to me, it was as if it were skipping frames.

Behind The Scenes Montage: The Behind-The-Scenes has nicely been cut into three chapters for making navigation easier between the three movies. Yes, all three movies have a look behind the scenes. They have background music, which are songs sampled from the specific movie’s soundtracks. The Scream 3 footage could also be cut into a Bloopers part as a portion of the footage are bloopers. At one point, Neve Campbell’s stunt person can be seen, when the timer is at 5:54.

Biographies: These contain the usual information, and are very comprehensive and informative.

I am one of the very few people that enjoyed the final installations of the Scream trilogy, and specifically Scream 3. I saw it the day of its release in Australian cinemas and I remember being freaked out by the effective surround soundtrack. The film still offers a few good jumps and is a must for any DVD collection as it nicely shows off the surround sound in both the feature and even the loading of the menus, as well as the crystal clear image quality which DVD trailers boast about. However, the image quality of some of the special features is very disappointing but why cry over spilt milk? Overall a brilliant job from Roadshow.