Scream 3

I think there is something in the nature of a trilogy that makes us believe that it's good, even when it might not be. Perhaps if a franchise has got to the stage where they are being funded to make a third film, it must be entertaining. A lot of other people must have made the decision that we'd enjoy this, somewhere out there in movie-land. Certainly I'm not saying that the Scream movies are bad. I've always found them enjoyable, although I'm beginning to find there's a limit to how many times I can watch them. Reviewing them all recently, I haven't been as entertained as I once was. The third film in particular felt fairly perfunctory. There's nothing new here, really. We've seen enough people killed in enough ways for it to not be scary or funny any more. The self-references do reach a new high - the plot revolves around the production of 'Stab 3', and one scene involves actors being faxed lines about what's going to happen next - but this is hardly a reason to like the film. In fact, the post-modernism seems to become emptier and emptier upon revisits. It is funny in parts, but when we have to have another scene where Dewey Riley and Gale Weathers talk about how they fell out and might get back together again, we know we're watching one sequel too many. With those two, and Sidney Prescott, the series did create strong characters, and perhaps did have potential, but it almost takes itself too seriously here. What I've always found strange is that Scary Movie spoofs Scream, when the original Scream was a spoof itself.