VoyForums
[ Show ]
Support VoyForums
[ Shrink ]
VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 17:35:34 05/23/01 Wed
Author: Griff
Subject: I saw my first two Sky movies today! First up was the remake of Psycho, which was no better than last time and remains one of the most pointless films ever made. I'll do a review... I dunno, some time or other. Not sure if I can tape Psycho IV tonight Rich, but if not I've got a capsule review. Anyway, this was the second movie...


SCREAM 3


After the first two smug, irritating, hackneyed and bewilderingly over-rated movies, here comes the third and apparently final entry in the Scream series. This one sees Kevin Williamson buggering off before the steam that ran out some time ago completely dissipates, and Arlington Road’s Ehren Kruger lowering himself to bashing out a dismal horror sequel based on a few notes scribbled by Williamson on his way out the door. Thankfully Williamson’s absence means the dialogue isn’t as stomach-twistingly clunky as in the previous two films, but this makes the film no better; it’s shite and, surprisingly, it’s also the worst in the series.

What gets on my nerves most about the other Scream movies, and in fact all of Williamson’s films, is that they use every cliché under the sun but laughingly reference them to get off the hook. The films then get labelled ‘post-modern’ and ‘ironic’ instead of being recognised for what they are, which is blindingly unoriginal. Watching this one made me almost yearn for Kev’s anger-inducing brand of lame pop culture gags, because at least there was something to yell about. This time there’s a lot less emphasis on the series’ so-called in-jokes, which are really just pointing out the bloody obvious and expecting a pat on the head for being so clever, but there are still too many ham-fistedly inserted wads of expository dialogue explaining to us silly audience members the rules of horror threequels: all bets are off, anyone can die and there’s usually a supernatural element brought in to spice things up.

But what’s also worth pointing out is that most horror threequels, including this one, have nothing new to offer and merely faff about for two hours with a watered-down rehash of the previous films. Funnily enough Scream 3 never gets around to mentioning this little nugget but seems quite content to heave a sigh and clodhop its way through a tired, tired plot in which the Ghostface mask is brought back into service on the set of Stab 3, the latest in the series of slasher films based on the events of the first Scream. (I still say no real-life murder spree would be turned into a hyped-up explotation pic so soon after the events, at least not one so closely based on the real-life characters.)

One thing the first movie had going for it was that the killers were working to the conventions of horror films, so I suppose at least the cliches had a function, however badly used they were. Here, as in the second film, advice is dished out by that seriously annoying beardo based on the theory that the killer is again a horror fan, when there’s nothing to suggest that. Anyway, at the very least his video-taped monologue is a stupid plot device and an unsubtle way to bring back a dead character; at most... well, anything that gives that irritating tosser more screen time isn’t a good thing. The rest of the characters go through the motions – does anyone care about Dewey and Gayle’s romance any more?

This charmless, hollow bore drags on endlessly, the monotonous scenes in which characters are startled by bumping into each other outnumbered only by the ones in which a ringing mobile phone causes them to jump about like twats. The plot is lazy and padded, none of the jokes are funny, no cliché is left unturned and the only entertainment comes from watching Jenny McCarthy’s breasts jiggle about. At least the others, for all their faults, had a kind of conviction and the actors seemed to enjoy being in them. Here, from the opening phone call murder (which has now become as tedious as the pre-credits Bond stunts) to the interminably protracted ‘revelation’ and finale, this is the wheezy last gasp in a franchise whose gimmick had worn out in the first scene of the first movie.



[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Forum timezone: GMT+0
VF Version: 3.00b, ConfDB:
Before posting please read our privacy policy.
VoyForums(tm) is a Free Service from Voyager Info-Systems.
Copyright © 1998-2019 Voyager Info-Systems. All Rights Reserved.