Scream 3 (5 Stars)

As I mentioned in my review three years ago, most fans consider "Scream 3" to be inferior to the first two films. In that review I strongly disagreed. Over the last week I've been discussing the Scream films with my friends, and I found that they're unanimous in thinking it's the weakest film in the original trilogy. Some even go as far as to call it terrible. For that reason I watched it critically today, trying to find faults in it.

The only possible fault I could find is the use of dream sequences. At two points in the film Sidney sees a terrifying ghostly apparition, only to wake up and find out that the threat isn't real. Maybe Wes Craven was imitating things he had done in his Nightmare on Elm Street films? I don't know who was responsible for the dream sequences: Wes Craven as director, Kevin Williamson as the producer/adviser or Ehren Kruger as the screenwriter. Personally I find dream sequences very dissatisfying. In my opinion dreams were over-used as a plot device in the first two seasons of "The Sopranos", which was in all other respects a brilliant television series. In "Scream 3" the dreams are moderately annoying, but they don't last too long before the real action continues.

I can't agree with any other criticism of the film, for instance that the plot and the character development are weak. The film is the logical conclusion of the theme that began in the first film. In "Scream" the characters are aware that they're in a horror film, in "Scream 2" the characters watch a film about themselves, and in "Scream 3" the characters go onto the set of a film to meet and bond with the actors who are playing them.

It's also a progression over time. In "Scream" the characters are at school, in "Scream 2" they're at college, and in "Scream 3" they're working. I have a personal preference for high school films, but I still like the sequels.

Maybe "Scream 3" is slightly, very slightly weaker than the first two films, but I still insist on giving it a full five star rating. I'm willing to discuss this with anyone who disagrees with my opinion.