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Every horror franchise has its outlier, and for Scream, it's the third installment. Join us as we re-evaluate Wes Craven's trilogy-capper, highlighting its thematic depth, memorable characters, and why it deserves more credit from horror fans.
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00:00Every horror franchise has its black sheep. Not a demonic lamb in the vein of the 2006
00:06New Zealand cult horror movie of the same name, Black Sheep, but an outlier entry whose gifts
00:12either weren't immediately recognised or that continues to be a divisive part of a given series.
00:20For Halloween, it was Halloween 3, Season of the Witch. For Nightmare on Elm Street,
00:25I'd go for the first sequel, Freddy's Revenge. Both films have more or less developed into cult
00:31favourites in the decades following their releases, albeit with the caveat that franchise
00:35diehards may still subscribe to the idea that they're anomalies, films that shirk the conventions
00:41of their respective predecessors and are therefore more of a curio or outright not good than a true
00:48component of the canon. But I'm a bit of a freak, and there's nothing more appealing to me than a
00:54controversial horror movie sequel. There's the aforementioned duo, The Exorcist 3,
01:00which is legitimately one of my favourite films of all time, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2,
01:05and the list goes on. But if there's one horror sequel I'll go to bat for more than any other,
01:11and one that I was genuinely surprised by how much I ended up loving and making like a core pillar
01:16of
01:17my personality, then it would have to be Wes Craven's Scream 3.
01:22Hey everyone, happy spooky season, I'm Ewan, this is Wild Culture Horror, and it shouldn't have been
01:27that much of a surprise that I ended up really liking the third Scream film, given my favourite
01:33of the series for the longest time has been Scream 2, which I think is just a generally scarier,
01:39more confident, and emotionally raw entry than its predecessor, but Scream 3's reputation does
01:45precede itself and going in for that first watch a few years ago, I was fearful, like there was
01:50genuine peril. People were telling me to just skip it and go straight to 4. And I get why. Like,
01:57it's the first Kevin Williamson-less entry in the series, being written instead by Aaron Kruger,
02:04it was blighted by production issues, and is more comedic and less violent than the first two films.
02:10And to that, oh boy, a pretty notorious retcon in its finale, which is genuinely bad and ironically
02:19succumbs to a three-equal trope in its attempts to satirize them, and yeah, it's no wonder that
02:24Scream 3 hasn't gotten its flowers for as long as it has. But this is very much a case of
02:31the pros
02:31outweighing the cons for me, both for Scream 3's technical and narrative merits and my own genre
02:38preferences too. And also the fact that it has a secret weapon and her name is Parker Posey. Like,
02:44genuinely the best Scream character ever. The bit where she's taken up smoking again and then just
02:49casually climbs into Patrick Wilburton's arms in a moment of pure sadness. Relatable. Iconic.
02:56That, to me, is cinema. Look what they did to me, Dewey! I mean, I love it. It's just,
03:02it's the best. It's the peak of the franchise. I'm saying that right now. But first, a bit more
03:08context. Scream 3 picks up a few years after the events of Scream 2, the doy, with Neve Campbell's
03:15Sydney Prescott living a life of isolation but also resilience. She's wisened to her unwanted
03:21celebrity and has attempted to take back some control of her life, working at a crisis hotline
03:26for Women in Peril until that safety net is shattered by a new ghostface killer who kills
03:32her. She's caught and weary and essentially forces Sid to head to LA and search for answers.
03:38There, we catch up with Dewey, now a consultant for the STAB franchise, and Gale, the latter of
03:44whom is still cashing in her checks, exploiting the Woodsboro drama, and whose relationship with
03:49Dewey has once again fallen apart. They're joined by STAB 3 actress Jennifer Jolie,
03:56a lord and savior Parker Posey, and her bodyguard Patrick Warburton and Stephen Stone, plus other
04:01cast members of STAB 3, its director Roman, played by Scott Foley, and Detective Mark Kincaid, played
04:08by Patrick Dempsey. Murder and mayhem ensue in typical Scream fashion, with the real and fake
04:14Woodsboro contingent having to work together to uncover this new ghostface, and figure out their
04:19ties to Sid's mother Maureen, who the film reveals was an actress in Hollywood three decades prior,
04:25and whose story is intertwined with the industry's history of abuse and misogyny.
04:30From this setup, Craven's film comments on multiple compelling themes, including the
04:35disposability of victims of crime and how they're often twistedly absorbed into the entertainment
04:40business, the difficulty of carrying trauma and figuring out how to accept it and live with it,
04:47and most presciently, Hollywood skeletons and its history of abuse and exploitation,
04:53which led to Scream 3 experiencing something of a reappraisal in the wake of the Me Too movement.
04:58In fact, on that note, there's a really great article from Emma Fraser published by
05:03Syfy in 2020 that I want to signpost here. In it, she describes Scream 3's storyline as being
05:10steeped in Hollywood shame. And while stopping short of describing the film as actually good,
05:16there's a valid, extensive critique about how it approaches the topic and the messiest structure of
05:21the plot, it's a fantastic comment on the film's intertwining legacy with Hollywood's own troubling
05:27off-screen context, of which the Scream franchise is inextricably linked, on account of the involvement
05:33of the Weinsteins as producers from the first film through to the fourth.
05:38I wouldn't be lying if I said that this prescience is what makes Scream 3 so great to me. While
05:44it is a core
05:45part of its legacy, I do think its actual filmic qualities, despite again that humdinger of a
05:51finale, are what cemented as a worthwhile addition and perhaps rightful conclusion to the franchise.
05:58The neo-noir stylings really work for me here, as does the humor and character drama involving Gale
06:05and Dewey, and also Sid herself. There are also some really great set pieces. Nothing on the level
06:12of the recording studio in Scream 2, but one highlight is where Sid gets chased through the
06:17set of STAB 3 and it's like she's running through an artificial nightmare. A monument to her own trauma
06:23filled with facades and veneers. A perfect visual metaphor for how the film recontextualizes her past,
06:30but also the paranoia and deception she's had to deal with since that first film.
06:35And again, on just a pure fun vibes level, we have Parker Posey's Jennifer Jolie, who is an absolute
06:43joy from the minute she shows up to her unfortunate exit towards the end of the film. Posey brings all
06:49her indie charm and comedic timing to the part, but Jolie's vapid pettiness playing off excellently with
06:55Courtney Coggs' Gale. And yeah, also the hair bun cigarette look is burned into my brain. I'm genuinely in love.
07:03She's like, smoking. Literally. Which, actually, while we're on this topic, if we can get Kirby back for Scream 6,
07:11then why the hell can't we have Jennifer back for Scream 7? Explain that, will you, with all your science?
07:18Yeah, that final shot does show that she's, um, extremely dead, but be audacious.
07:24Posey has said herself she'd love to come back, and if you Scream 4 freaks get to have your Kirby
07:29moment, then god damn it, me and the five people who also love Scream 3 should get to have this.
07:36It's only fair. In fact, I'm gonna form a Parker Posey collective movement right now.
07:41We'll bring in the Josie and the Pussycat fans, the Party Girl fans, and also the White Lotus crowd too.
07:47Make it happen. Leave it with me.
07:51I'm probably gonna fail in this endeavor, but you know, there's always hope. There's always hope.
07:57We can just hope and pray.
07:59Is my love for Scream 3 some kind of Parker Posey induced mania, you might be asking?
08:05Maybe. Potentially. There's a distinct possibility it could be.
08:09But also, if you'll permit me for a moment, I do think that this third film is a great trilogy
08:15capper, and if not for the sequels that came after, which have ranged from okay to pretty good,
08:22it's also a perfect send off for Sydney.
08:25Yes, again, the third act twist involving long lost relatives and scheming and retcons is eye
08:31rollingly bad, but at least for Sydney, Craven does find a way to end the story on a really high
08:38note.
08:38We return back to her house in the daytime, surrounded by friends and loved ones,
08:42before she looks anxiously at her open door and then, after one pensive moment,
08:48she leaves it open and goes to join them. It's genuinely such a great way of showing that Sid
08:53has been able to put all this horror behind her, and also that she'll be able to approach the future
08:59even with the potential of further tragedy. It's empowering, uplifting, and after all that Sid and
09:05the gang have been through, a well learned moment of peace and happiness.
09:10So, is Scream 3 a perfect movie? Nah, not at all. Is it as good as the first two?
09:16No, not really either, but it is far from the disaster it's been made out to be, and dare I
09:22say,
09:23one that's aged far better than Scream 4. Not to yuck anyone's yum, because I know a lot of people
09:29really liked that film too, but if I was going to choose between them, it's Scream 3 all the way.
09:35You could also like, maybe give it Scream 4's finale instead, because that does go extremely hard,
09:41but otherwise, yeah, you come up against Parker Posey in a straight shootout, you lose that battle.
09:48You lose that battle every time. Just a little The Other Guys reference for you there, um, where am I
09:54going with this? Right, yeah, no, Scream 3, good. Messy, but good, and a film I really do think
10:01people should give a second chance. Well let me know your thoughts on Scream 3 down in the comments
10:06below. Are you pro Jennifer Jolie propaganda, or do you think that I'm just saying a lot of guff?
10:14Let us know down there, drop the video a like if you enjoyed it, and subscribe to War Culture Horror
10:18so you don't miss more fun hot takes like this every single week. Either way, I've been Ewan,
10:24thanks for watching again, and I'll hopefully catch you next time. Bye!
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