In the mid 90s, horror was in trouble. All the 80s slashers had run their course, and all attempts to revitalize those franchises tended to land with resounding thuds. Jason, Freddy, Michael Myers. They had all died and come back so many times, with origin stories that fans didn’t buy (The Thorn anyone?) studios could no longer make people show up for their once favorite boogeymen. Leprechaun wasn’t the answer, Leatherface was going to video, and all others were sure to follow. Then 1996 rolled around, and a then unknown writer by the name of Kevin Williamson wrote a script that would eventually be directed by Freddy creator Wes Craven. This script would be turned into Scream, and horror was once again the talk of the town. But with sequels and even a TV series left in its wake, not to mention countless imitators, is the series finding itself in the doldrums that all it parodied were when its concept as originally realized? Join myself, Matthew Goudreau, and Jim Law as we answer that question and go through each movie of the franchise one by one.
Scream 2 was released to monumental success. Miramax Films, still smelling blood in the water, felt the need to once again capitalize on its popularity and do another entry to make its franchise into something the horror genre almost never made: a successful trilogy. But even after promising a trilogy of scripts, original writer Kevin Williamson left his baby to direct the passion project Teaching Mrs Tingle. Director Wes Craven, having longed to be rid of his horror stigma, was also hesitant to come back. The only way he would do so was if he was given the Meryl Streep violin movie Music From The Heart, which Miramax did in order to save their cash cow. Even star Neve Campbell saw a massive rise in stock, as she still had a full time TV gig in Party of Five. Also on her slate was a role in the Bette Midler starring film Drowning Mona, limiting her to only 20 days of shooting on Scream 3. On top of everything going on behind the scenes, a massive school shooting known as the Columbine High School Massacre had Hollywood at a stand still as to whether violent entertainment was good for an at this time more wholesome starved public.
So even with all this going against it, did Scream 3 turn out ok? Join myself, Jim Law, and Matthew Goudreau as we go over step by step whether it was a good idea to go through with the project, or if it was better left alone after 2.
Scream 3 (2000) (?/10, ?/10, ?/10)
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