Editorials
‘Scream 3’ May Be the Most Maligned Sequel But It’s Still a Fun Scooby-Style Slasher [You Aughta Know]
Hello, true believers, and welcome to You Aughta Know, a column dedicated to the decade that is now two full decades behind us. That’s right, it’s time to take a look back at one of the most overlooked decades of horror. Follow along as I do my best to chronologically explore the horror titles that made up the 2000s.
We were cruising into the first leap month of the first leap year of the new millennium. Savage Garden had once again taken the radio waves by storm with their hit “I Knew I Loved You” and many moviegoers were flocking to theaters to see the queen bee of the rom-com (at the time) Sandra Bullock in 28 Days. Horror fans, on the other hand, were headed out to see the third entry in Wes Craven’s critically acclaimed horror franchise. That’s right, it’s February 4th in the year 2000 and Scream 3 is here to forever give us that haircut and eternally become the most divisive in the series.
Scream had become a surprise hit and Dimension Films knew it, rushing out Scream 2 scarcely a year later. Both films raked in cash compared to budget so the studio decided to give Craven and company even more money and a little more time for the third entry. A country that was still reeling from the tragedy in Columbine gave the studio pause as to whether to even proceed with the film. It was decided to start production but lean into the humor that always existed within the series, making the gore and violence secondary.
Craven had been contracted out for two sequels already and Kevin Williamson had crafted a rough outline for what was to come in the movie way back when he pitched the original Scream. Williamson had become too busy to fully develop the script and Ehren Kruger was instead hired, using notes from Williamson and research from the first two films, as well as working within the confines of the studio’s decision to stay away from school settings; thus, the move to Hollywood.
We all know the story here: A new Ghostface has appeared to once again torment Sidney and the other Woodsboro survivors, this time menacing the cast and crew of Stab 3, the proposed final film based upon the Woodsboro Massacre seen in the original Scream. A new level of meta for a franchise already notorious for its commentary on the slasher genre. Scream 3 was not well received, ended up making less money than its predecessors, and horror fans were left dissatisfied. The movie has spent years being chastised for it’s strange celebrity cameos, Scooby-Doo approach to horror, and OH MY GOODNESS WHO DID THAT TO COURTENEY COX?! Listen, I’m here to defend a lot of this movie but that hair cut? Inexcusable. It’s a punishment to Gale and us as fans.
Kruger unfairly often gets the finger pointed at him for this messy entry into the much beloved slasher series. Sure, has he written some questionable films? Absolutely. I’m looking right at you Transformers: Dark of the Moon. But he also wrote The Ring, which is one of the most iconic and terrifying horror films ever made. So let’s be aware that he has some talent and some cred. As is often the case, the studio interference is really where a lot of Scream 3 starts running into problems. Dimension became obsessed with the idea of more comedy and less violence, less blood, less murder. It’s the reason we spend so much of the movie with the goofy buddy cop motif of Parker Posey and Courteney Cox, the over the top antics of the Stab cast, the Jay and Silent Bob cameo, etc.
“Hey guys, you know this horror movie that has always been witty and smart but never an out-and-out comedy? Let’s have some yucks!” Studio interference is the worst. It’s not just that either. Neve Campbell only had 20 days of film time available which is why she becomes a largely secondary character and we spend so much of the movie playing “Where in the World is Sidney Prescott?” Due to time constraints and studio notes, some pages were being written the day before filming which led to strange character arc inconsistencies and seemingly dropped storylines. Kruger originally had intended to present Sid as an almost “Linda Hamilton in T2” version of the character but action leanings were scrapped for more laughs. Hell, we even almost had a version where Matthew Lillard returned as Stu, who had secretly been manipulating murders since the first film, and another where Randy lived but was in secret hiding after Scream 2. Alas, both ideas were considered too wild or still too close to the school settings of the previous movies.
All is not lost, however. Once you sift through the wacky red tape and tonal shift, Scream 3 still has a lot going for it. Craven is still here, working alongside people he knows well, and because of this we get some character dynamics that are entertaining and genuine. The way Craven reminds us that these characters truly know each other because of a bond through tragedy, the slow but big hug between Sid and Gale, Sidney still desperately calling out for Dewey on the set of Stab; he has a way of making this film about murder and mayhem also feel like a well worn-in hoodie that we love to wear.
While our ending is perhaps the least tense of the franchise, some of our middle set pieces bring a different type of horror to the world of Scream. Sidney has a dream of an ethereal version of her mother calling to her in lilting terror in a scene that has a distinctively supernatural feel to it and evokes a different fear than we’re used to with Scream. Kruger and Wes have a lot of fun with Sidney running around the set of her own home from the first movie, specifically homaging the original while also bouncing Hollywood unreality into it, all leading to yet another truly chilling scene with another almost otherworldly being covered in a blood splattered sheet. Plus, no one is here to say that Posey didn’t fully lean into her role; and she didn’t just chew that scenery, she devoured it.
Scream 3 is still arguably the weakest entry in the oeuvre of Scream. However, that doesn’t mean it’s beyond redemption. It’s easy to point at the flaws. SERIOUSLY?! THOSE BANGS. Yet, Kruger did inject the movie with some terrifying and very different flashes of fear. Our cast is the most comfortable with each other that they have ever been which creates a place of belonging and gosh darn it, this far removed from expecting something closer to the first two entries, it’s so much easier to just have some fun with the whodunnit Scooby Doo mischief that Dewey and Gale are aw-shucksing their way through most of the movie.
Jinkies. Scream 3 isn’t that bad at all.
College kids, strippers and vampires—those were Donald P. Borchers’ only requirements when he approached Richard Wenk about writing and directing a movie for New World Pictures. As requested, Wenk cooked up Vamp (1986), a tailor-made blend of the decade’s teen movie craze as well as its horror boom.
Grim and earnest stories were still very much a part of the ’80s horror landscape, yet Vamp is something of a comedy. One difference between it and, say, Saturday the 14th, though, is the former avoids using schtick. Wenk’s movie proves that horror comedies also don’t have to subtract thrills from their recipes. Of course, it takes a minute before reaching that point; college antics and culture shocks preface this one macabre misadventure.
Vamp‘s initial setup is apt for a typical college-set, sex-driven comedy; to bribe their way into a fraternity house, two pledges (Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler) go looking for some adult entertainment. Without wasting time on any further exposition, the characters embark on an all-in-one-night trip that quickly detours into terror.
To procure their elusive MacGuffin—a stripper willing to gyrate for some frat boys—Keith (Makepeace) and AJ (Rusler), plus a third wheel named Duncan (Gedee Watanabe), trade the safety of their remote college campus for the seediness of some unnamed city. The setting is recognizably L.A. by day, but as soon as night falls, downtown, along with the characters, slips into a kind of surreal universe. Director of photography Elliot Davis gave this early entry on his prolific résumé an unusual yet distinctive look; that Mario Bava-esque, magenta-green lighting is omnipresent, so much so that it’s almost its own character.
Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler in Vamp
The faint comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s After Hours are merited, although not just because of Vamp’s distinguishing nighttime aesthetic. Save for the primary characters, the supporting roles in Wenk’s movie are also quite colorful and transactional in their behavior. The difference here, though, is the additional urge to ruin Keith and his friends at every turn. Some of that harm is humorous and tolerable enough, whereas the moment Vamp dishes out its first fatality, it’s abundantly clear how this movie qualifies as horror.
Vamp falls into that category of horror movie that reveals its genre with a scream rather than a series of whispers. The opening scene can function as a hint of what lies ahead—things are not at all what they appear to be—but otherwise, Wenk is more than happy to hold off on the horror. When that time does come, though, it catches the viewer off guard. In addition to the pure shock value is that sudden decision to upend the movie’s foremost feature. Or so it would seem.
If afraid of major spoilage, those new to Vamp would be wise to stop reading here. There’s just no skirting around the fact that the central fellowship in this buddy movie hits a serious snag when AJ is killed. That development causes the story to become more of a “long, bad night” journey for Keith and his romantic interest. So while Wenk scores points for subverting expectations, there is also a touch of sadness in his decision. Because if Vamp does anything well, it’s making the characters likable.
Something that comes easily to Vamp—and other teen horror movies from this same era—is its ability to invent young characters worth caring about, or at the very least, are interesting and not so immediately off-putting. More impressive is how Wenk did all this without actually fleshing out those characters. Still and all, Keith and his kind are a grade above cookie-cutter, and in some cases, aren’t completely devoid of growth.
Grace Jones in Vamp
Vamp appeals with an assorted cast of characters. No two are the same, nor are they operating on the same wavelength. The cinematically extroverted AJ, whose actor conveyed charm and vulnerability in near equal amounts, comes alive when he’s at his most undead. Makepeace then makes the chronically cautious Keith a sympathetic fellow, even as he’s more and more affected by the night’s bizarre events. Meanwhile, Duncan is indeed the designated loser of the whole bunch, but Watanabe still manages to humanize him. As a bonus, the role didn’t require him to pull a Long Duk Dong.
As for Dedee Pfeiffer, she is plain adorable as the mysterious After Dark server nicknamed “Amaretto”. She spends all night fixing her dress strap while at the same time trying to get Keith to remember how he knows her. As their offbeat romance grows, it becomes another highlight of this movie. Whether or not Pfeiffer’s character is really a vampire also creates some welcome tension in the story.
Like a lot of its contemporaries, Vamp went on to become a bit of a cult classic. That current status is determined by several factors, but without a doubt, the casting of Grace Jones is the most considerable. The image of her writhing on that unique-looking chair, a Keith Haring original, springs to mind whenever this movie is brought up.
Chris Makepeace, Billy Drago and Paunita Nichols in Vamp
Prior to that first display of unequivocal horror, local vampire queen Katrina (Jones) took to the stage and delivered a strip show like no other. One would expect nothing less from that renowned model and performance artist. By now reports of Jones’ tardiness on set are no secret, yet it’s also hard to deny her commitment to the part of Katrina. It was, in fact, Jones who took charge of her character’s appearance—on top of Haring painting her body and that now-iconic chair, she had Andy Warhol handle her costuming. And not too many actors could seize a room’s attention without saying a single line of dialogue.
In 2022, Vamp received a retrospective novelization from Encyclopocalypse. This literary union of preexisting source material—Wenk’s original screenplay—and new ideas from author Christian Francis amounts to a more comprehensive visit to the After Dark Club. The basic story there is no different than what’s shown on screen; however, Francis gets creative with the characters’ origins and designs, and he enhances a number of key scenes.
The novelization expands on the urban and social decay of the main setting, and supplies a background for the After Dark Club. Sandy Baron’s character, Katrina’s emcee and familiar, is given ample motivation for sticking around; up until the fiery end, he is loyal to his friend and former business partner “Squeak”, who looks like he was “fed through a combine harvester, and left as nothing more than a heap of mangled remains”. Then there is Billy Drago’s character Snow, the leader of a street gang called The Dragons. His reason for menacing Keith and AJ is more altruistic than in the movie; he and his peers act tough to scare off any potential food for the vampires.
Lisa Lyon in Vamp
If not for all the backstories, Francis’ Vamp would be a hell of a lot shorter. Instead, this tie-in read dives into how AJ met Keith—the orphaned Anthony Joseph hailed from a broken home back in Brooklyn—and how their friendship flourished over the years. Keith’s archership is no longer just an assumed part of his entire being; it’s a confidence-building extracurricular for a boy who got picked on before coming into the protection of the new kid in town. These supplemental, in-depth looks at the protagonists, plus their close connection, are maybe unnecessary. The movie already did a fair and concise job of addressing their platonic intimacy without the need for flashbacks and insights, specifically in that scene where AJ lays it all out as he sacrifices himself.
Where the novelization gets off course is its approach to the minor characters. Intermittently backstorying the likes of Katrina’s indentured servants, Seko (Leila Hee Olsen) and Vlad (Brad Logan), ends up disturbing the flow of the writing. Was it absolutely essential that readers know Vlad was the Grand Duke of the House of Romanov, or how Snow’s accomplice Maven (Paunita Nichols) became so dentally challenged? No, not really. However, one’s mileage with these random biographies may vary.
The novelization is a more substantial experience, but for a movie like Vamp, less is more. And as plentiful as they are, it never simply coasts on its campy charms, either. The character work sits comfortably in that realm between cursory and meticulous, the script is sharper than first realized, and Greg Cannom’s vampire makeup is straightforward yet effective. Most of all, the movie didn’t squander its out-of-the-box concept. Richard Wenk made his vision of a “comic nightmare in which just about anything that can go wrong does” come true, and it is very enjoyable.
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