Editorials
Ghostface Glossary: A Guide to Every Horror Reference in ‘Scream 3’
Welcome to the Ghostface Glossary, a guide to every horror reference and nod throughout the first five films of the Scream franchise.
After a lot of pausing, rewinding, and zooming in, as well as researching, we’re catching all of the many horror-specific references Williamson, Craven, and Co. included in this beloved postmodern slasher franchise. If we’ve forgotten any glaring ones, kindly let us know.
This guide will exclude homages from previous Scream films and their respective sequels— we’re only looking at outside horror franchises and inspirations, because any red-blooded Ghostface fan is likely already aware of those. (Goes without saying that the beloved faux franchise ‘Stab’(s) 1-8 will also not be counted, since, even though our neon green ‘Stab’ t-shirts and mock VHS tapes feel very real, it’s still a very fake franchise). If we’ve forgotten any glaring ones, kindly let us know.
“Mother will protect you from the Boogeyman!”
Infamously rewritten and rushed due to Kevin Williamson’s other commitments and studio impatience– as well as the events of the Columbine High School tragedy of 1999– Scream 3 is the first film (and arguably only film) within the franchise to feel as if…it wasn’t written by a horror movie fan. With fewer and lesser-inspired horror trivia questions and innuendos, writer Ehren Krueger salvaged what he could of 3’s production troubles and, instead, focused on the rules of a movie trilogy and the darker side of Hollywood, in which Maureen Prescott had once been a wannabe starlet who was assaulted at the home of a horror filmmaker. It’s all relevant subject matter– but the film sorely lacks that horror-loving Kevin Williamson charm, and often contains the exact horror movie clichés its preceding films satirized. (Even the opening sequence with Cotton doesn’t really call back to much of anything horror-related.)
Regardless, here are the horror movie homages that we did get in Scream 3!
‘Christine’
Christine (1983): With no “What’s your favorite scary movie, Cotton?” in sight, we settle for this first reference in the opening sequence of Scream 3: Cotton’s girlfriend Christine, named after John Carpenter’s adaptation of our favorite killer Plymouth Fury movie.
The Shining (1980) and Funny Games (1997): Christine barreling through the door and swinging at Cotton with a golf club evokes Jack and Wendy energy in the Kubrick classic, as Wendy swings around a bat to defend herself against her husband in a matter similar to Christine in 3. In Michael Haneke’s Funny Games, the monsters in the form of a pair of young men take this golf-club-used-as-weapon trope to an insanely chilling level, in order to torture an innocent family.
Halloween H20 (1998): When we first get a glimpse of Sidney’s whereabouts in 3, she’s living alone, in an isolated, gated area in Northern California, with her golden retriever and high-end security system. So is another final girl, Laurie Strode, twenty years after Samhain night in 1978, within fellow Dimension film H20. Additionally, producer John Milton’s mansion, featured in the third act, was also used as a set piece in H20.
Roger Corman (director of The Little Shop of Horrors, Dementia 13, The Pit and the Pendulum, etc. etc.): “King of the B-Movies” Roger Corman makes an appearance on the set of ‘Stab 3.’ The list of horror movies that Corman has directed/produced/starred in/been associated with is endless. The ironic humor lies in his role of being an uptight studio exec that discourages Roman from violence in film. If you recall, he’s the producer of Dementia 13, in which Casey’s dragging body scene takes inspiration from in the first Scream.
Psycho (1960), Psycho II (1983), and Psycho III (1986): When Sidney gets a dreamy visit from her dead mother during one of Scream 3’s hokiest scenes, the film recalls Norman’s interactions with Mother, especially in III. The scratches against Sidney’s window also have Salem’s Lot (1979) written all over it.
Vertigo (1958): The laughably cringe Sarah Darling mixes up “Vertigo” with Psycho, when talking about the shower scene. Come on, even a rookie would know that one.
‘The Silence of the Lambs’
The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Se7en (1995): Detective Kincaid (who would later become the future Mr. Sidney Prescott) tells his partner that the killer’s habit of leaving a photograph at the scene of each body is very Hannibal Lecter-esque. And his and partner Wallace’s plight, he notes, is very reminiscent of Mills and Somerset, in Se7en.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994): The Scooby Doo 3 gang receives a deadly fax of the ‘Stab 3’ script, a la Heather Langenkamp stumbling upon a script for the movie-within-the-movie in Craven’s first meta slasher classic.
Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932): Kincaid is apparently a big classic horror guy, as this movie poster can be seen inside his office walls.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987) and Alien 3 (1992): In the late Randy’s post-mortem video taped speech regarding the rules of movie trilogies, he warns that anyone can die, including the main character, like Nancy in Dream Warriors and Ripley in Alien 3. That means you, Sid.
Psycho II again, (1983): When Sidney hears the “voice” of her mother Maureen calling her, we get another callback to the underrated Psycho follow-up, in which Norman believes he’s hearing Mother. Similar to II’s antagonist Lila Crane, Roman is also trying to mess with Sidney’s psyche with a fake version of her mother’s voice. Norman, Roman, and Sid = mommy issues.
‘Halloween’ (1978)
Halloween (1978): The fake voice of Sidney’s mother assures that she will protect her from “the Boogeyman.” Nobody in horror movie history encompasses the Boogeyman more than Myers.
The Devil’s Advocate (1997): Producer John Milton, who worked with/had known Sidney’s mother during her brief stint in Hollywood and whose house Maureen was sexually assaulted in, is named after Al Pacino’s Satan character in The Devil’s Advocate.
The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (1973) and Teen Wolf (1985): While Angelina and Tyson explore the Milton mansion, they notice a movie poster for the fake film ‘Weredad!’
Clue (1985): In attempts to escape Ghostface, the cast of ‘Stab 3’ and the rest of the gang discover secret passageways inside the Milton Mansion.
‘Evil Dead 2’
Evil Dead II (1987): In fellow slapstick fashion to ED II, Ghostface chucks a knife at Dewey’s head, to which he catches the handle to his forehead and clumsily tumbles down the stairs.
Halloween II (1981): Roman revealing himself to be– surprise!– Sid’s murderous, abandoned brother, just like Laurie discovers with Mikey. But neither Roman or Michael ever manage to get the best of their sisters.
Happy Birthday to Me (1980): The night of the party at Milton’s mansion is Roman’s 30th birthday. It’s Roman’s party, and he can kill if he wants to!
Basic Instinct (1992): Sidney defeats Roman with an icepick, exactly like Tatum said she could in the first movie.
Thanks to IMDb and the Zack Cherry YouTube channel for picking up a couple this writer had missed for this comprehensive guide.
‘Scream 3’
The problem with filming sequels back-to-back is that, unless you can afford expensive reshoots, there’s no easy way to adjust course in between movies if fans react badly to where the story is headed. That’s why it’s important to have a complete narrative thought out well in advance lest you accidentally kill a budding franchise.
However, this isn’t always the case. Every once in a while, it seems like the cinema gods smile upon certain chaotic productions and gift moviegoers with complete franchises that feel like more than the sum of their hastily produced parts. Ted Nicolaou’s Bloodlust: Subspecies III is precisely one of these miraculous pictures, with the raw talents of the artists involved (as well as the continued support from Romania) turning the feature into an effective conclusion for a series that kind of made things up as the filmmakers went along.
That’s why I’d like to invite my fellow readers to join me on this third part of our journey through the Subspecies franchise as we look into Bloodlust and talk about how it remains a surprisingly satisfying finale to the original trilogy.
A Trilogy Planned on the Fly
Released only a year after Bloodstone found plenty of success in rental stores and mail-in VHS catalogues worldwide, 1994’s Bloodlust was produced at the same time as its predecessor in (mostly) the same locations and with the same team. This means that the movie benefited from all the same upgrades as Bloodstone, with the crew now being more experienced with the ins and outs of surviving a low-budget Romanian production and the cast really settling into their characters.
At this point, everything from location scouting to the makeup process had been streamlined, with Wayne Toth and Norman Cabrera, the main duo behind special effects, even switching out time-consuming prosthetics for latex gloves in order to speed up Anders Hove’s monstrous transformation. The titular “subspecies” demons were also once again relegated to a mere cameo appearance due to the laborious puppetry required to bring them to life.
The only real hiccup came from the fact that actress Denice Duff had replaced the first film’s Michelle (Laura Mae Tate) and was immediately expected to portray the character as both an innocent victim in part II and as a secondary villain in part III. According to behind-the-scenes interviews, the hectic production schedule that blended two different movies meant that Duff would often find herself having to alternate between two incredibly different versions of Michelle during the same shooting day – though it’s obvious that she’s having more fun with Bloodlust’s more traditionally vampiric version of her character.
In the finished film, we pick things up immediately where the previous entry left off as Rebecca (Melanie Shatner) is forced to leave her vampire sister Michelle (Duff) behind in the dungeons of Castle Vladislav due to the rising sun. This allows Mummy (Pamela Gordon) to use Michelle’s blood to revive the vicious Radu (Hove) so that he may continue his quest for the coveted Bloodstone – a magical artifact that perpetually drips the Blood of Saints.
Meanwhile, the dreamy US embassy agent Mel (Kevin Blair) agrees to help Rebecca plan a rescue mission, though they’re unaware that Radu has become infatuated with Michelle during his attempts to guide her growing bloodlust. This all culminates in a climactic confrontation meant to tie up all of the series’ loose ends in one of Full Moon Pictures’ most ambitious productions.
The Evolution of Radu
Like its predecessor, Bloodlust: Subspecies III was also warmly received by fans who argued that the series was an even bigger success than Full Moon’s other major horror franchise, Puppet Master. This praise wasn’t unanimous, however, as 1994 had seen the rise of a more modern breed of sexy vampire popularized by Anne Rice, with old-school Nosferatu like Radu being viewed as obsolete when compared to the likes of Lestat and Gary Oldman’s take on Dracula.
In a way, one might argue that Nicolaou’s film is something of a swan song for the classic vampire story, as Bloodlust combines all of the traditional elements we tend to associate with these tales into a single tragic yarn that ties a neat little bow on Radu’s story as well as the old-fashioned monster movies that he represents. The finale remains shocking despite the fact that this is the third time we see Radu get brutally killed onscreen, with the brief tease that he may one day return feeling more like a nod towards the nature of evil rather than sequel bait.
The film dabbles a bit in gothic romance and even explores the inherent power fantasy behind transforming into an immortal creature of the night, but the filmmakers never lose sight of Radu as a demonic force even when he’s willing to betray his beloved Mummy for Michelle’s sake. In fact, his twisted “love” for his fledgling makes him even creepier as we get the feeling that his passion comes from a dark and disturbing place.
Anders Hove is at his absolute best in this film, with the effects department boosting his moments of what the younger generation would call “aura farming” whenever Radu emerges from shadows like a 90s version of Count Orlok. There are even a couple of surprisingly effective jump-scares here, which is why I’d argue that Bloodlust cements Radu as one of the most memorable cinematic vampires of all time despite his humble origins.
Subspecies Saves Its Best For Last
Nicolaou and Vlad Panescu also saved the best for “last” (more on that in a bit) regarding the film’s visuals, with the cinematography and overall atmosphere of Bloodlust absolutely surpassing what we saw in the previous films. Everything feels appropriately climactic this time around (including the wonderful soundtrack that was co-composed alongside an authentic Romanian orchestra), and I appreciate how this is the fastest-paced entry in the trilogy since the film doesn’t need to waste time setting anything up.
Bloodlust still suffers from some of the same low-budget blemishes as its predecessors, but there’s so much creative passion here that no amount of wonky effects work or stilted dialogue can get in the way of appreciating the flick’s gothic grandeur. That’s why it’s not surprising that the movie’s definitive(-ish) ending would later be retconned as fans begged for more Radu.
Of course, the next entry in this series would be a different kind of vampiric endeavor altogether, with the filmmakers attempting to engage with the same trends that ultimately killed Radu and his antiquated kin. That, however, is a story for another time. For now, I’ll merely insist that Bloodlust: Subspecies III remains a highlight of Full Moon’s expansive catalogue and is definitely worth seeking out today.
You must be logged in to post a comment.