The Scream Trilogy

Posted by Bloody Disgusting Staff on October 22, 2004 @ 12:00am

When I was 13, in January of 1997, my father, an undying fan of Horror/Splatter films, packed my whole family in the car one night and took us to see Wes Craven’s SCREAM. We all went with little, if any, expectations and left completely satisfied.

Kevin Williamson’s dark and self-aware script was very smart and gave the film that nice satirical edge that has become its trademark. And all of the kills (primarily the gutting and the garage door incident) were very nicely orchestrated and had never really been done before. It was a nice change in the horror genre. It was nice to see something that was cliche and at the same time completely original. I saw SCREAM twice more before its theatrical run ended.

A year later, SCREAM 2 came out. I was in line for my ticket two days after its release. I had never anticipated a film as I had this. And, well, for ME, it was worth the nailbiting wait.

I was very excited to see newcomer Sarah Michelle Gellar in the ensemble. Jada Pinkett was a nice addition as well. And so was Laurie Metcalf. The expansion of Liev Schreiber’s “Cotton Weary” role was very nicely paid off. SCREAM 2 had some truly great scare sequences. Sarah Michelle Gellar’s sorority house scare was very nice, as was the whole police car incident involving “Sidney” and “Hallie”. Overall, I would have to say I was very pleased with SCREAM 2.

Cut to 2000. SCREAM 3 finally comes into theaters after a delayed release. Not only was it held from Decemeber to February, but there was also an extra year in between. SCREAM came out in 1996, SCREAM 2 in 1997, with only ONE year in between.

You would think that with that extra year the script could have been better developed. I was not completely upset with SCREAM 3. Only for the fact that I expected this one to be less.

What made SCREAM 2 such a worthy sequel was the fact that the same people were involved…same cast, same producers, same director and SAME WRITER!!! I think the biggest problem in SCREAM 3 was the script. Ehren Kruger did an okay job. But he changed the characters. “Gale Weathers” was not as bitchy. “Dewey” was even more of an idiot. And “Sidney”…well, there just wasn’t enough about her. Ehren’s writing for the character of “Jennifer Joile” was exceptional though. I think Parker Posey did a lot to animate her character, but her dialogue was off the wall sometimes. I loved her. And I loved the fact that “Cotton Weary” was the opening victim. It was nice to see a familiar character finally die after two films.

I think that the only two things that carried out in all three films: A) would be Wes’ direction. He really lenses a horror movie quite well. But B) is even bigger. B) would be Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette. All three actors did a marvelous job on their characters. Neve has such a sweet innocence, Courteney’s bitchiness is loveable and David is just someone you root for.

The SCREAM COLLECTION on DVD is excellent. Really a collector’s item for ANY horror fan. I highly recommend it.