Scream 3
Scream 3, released in 2000, the second sequel to Scream, concluded the original trilogy and moved the action to Hollywood, where a third Stab film is being made. This film targeted trilogies and the inner workings of the film industry, and is the only film in the series not written by Kevin Williamson. It's usually treated as the Black Sheep of the series, with weaker writing and less of the series' trademark humor, although of course, Your Mileage May Vary.
Tropes used in Scream 3 include:
- Arc Welding: The killer, Roman, reveals that he was the one who originally convinced Billy and Stu to start killing, making him directly responsible for the events of the first movie and indirectly responsible for the second.
- Big Bad - Roman was the one that convinced Billy and Stu to become killers in the first film, and was indirectly responsible for Mrs. Loomis wanting to avenge Billy's death, plus Mickey, Jill and Charles fame-seeking motivation for being the next Ghostfaces. Furthermore, Roman was the lone Ghostface killer in the third film, so one could arguably consider him as the Biggest Bad for the series, at least for the original trilogy.
- The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: Subverted when Ghostface throws his knife at Dewey, and it hits him on the handle side. It still hurts enough for him to fall down the stairs.
- Cameo:
- Jay and Silent Bob appear on the movie set of Stab 3. In their own films, they interrupt the filming of a fictional Scream sequel.
- Roger Corman also has a cameo as a studio executive.
- In-universe, Cotton Weary shoots a cameo for Stab 3 As Himself.
- Heather Matarazzo appears as Randy's sister.
- Carrie Fisher appears ... as a woman who is always mistaken for Carrie Fisher, and is very annoyed by it. She also accuses Carrie Fisher of sleeping with George Lucas to get the role.
- Chekhov's Handgun: This little dialogue says it all.
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Kincaid: (hands Dewey his pistol) Take this GET THE SON OF A BITCH!! he does get him. |
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- Dawson Casting: Happens in-universe. Sarah is 35 years old, but her character in Stab 3, Candy, is only 21.
- Death by Sex:
- Lampshaded by Randy, who taped a video prior to his death just in case, and blames what became his eventual death in the last film on the fact that he had sex with a girl in the video store.
- One of the most Egregious instances ever: Angelina gets killed literally seconds after revealing that she slept with the producer to get the role. Damn, do the rules strike fast! Doubles as a Death by Irony, since Angelina played Final Girl Sidney in Stab 3, and yet she herself failed to follow the rules that Final Girls are to obey (but then again, so did Sidney herself in the first film).
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: Cotton.
- Dumb Blonde: Sarah, who mistakenly believes that Psycho's famous shower scene was in Vertigo instead.
- Frying Pan of Doom
- Genre Savvy: Dewey tells Gale that a woman called WPD asking for the file on Sidney's whereabouts, for research. The cops said no and the woman refused to give out her name. Dewey removes Sidney's file to be safe. The police station later gets broken into and ransacked by someone looking for the file and to an extent Sidney.
- Horrible Hollywood
- Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday: It's Roman's birthday.
- The Ingenue: Angelina. It's all just an act, though. Underneath this persona, she's actually a foul-tempered bitch who slept with the producer to get the role of Sidney in Stab 3.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Liev Schreiber (as Cotton Weary) has a cameo at the beginning. He is talking on the phone with his agent, complaining that the only gig he could get is a cameo at the beginning of Stab 3.
- Also, the Stab 3 cast can't predict their characters' fate: the script is being kept under wraps to avoid it being leaked on the Internet. This happened during the production of Scream 2, and may have lead Craven & co. to change that movie's outcome: in a leaked version, Derek and Hallie were the killers.
- Lighter and Softer: De-emphasized explicit violence in favor of humor, due to being made post-Columbine.
- Made of Iron: Randy's "trilogy rules" state that, at the ends of trilogies, the killers become supernaturally strong and tough, and can only be killed through decapitation, cryogenic freezing or other extreme means. As it turns out, he's partly right. The killer is able to survive multiple gun shots, because he's wearing a bullet-proof vest.
- Murder Simulators: One of the producers of Stab 3 notes how violence in cinema has become a touchy subject recently; the unstated-yet-obvious cause of this is the fact that, a year before, the Columbine massacre took place. They also speculate that Cotton's murder may have been by a deranged fan.
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Milton: Detectives, there's no reason to presume that Cotton's death had anything to do with this movie, is there? |
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- Needle in a Stack of Needles: The killer conceals their location by hiding in a rack of Ghostface costumes.
- Not Afraid of You Anymore: In the beginning, Sidney is revealed to be living as a recluse, convinced it is the only way to stay safe from psychotic killers from coming after her, and killing those around her. She lives in the middle of nowhere, locks and sets an alarm on her gate before locking and setting the alarm for her house. In the end, in a moment that is both awesome and touching She leaves her gate open behind her, and doesn't set the alarm for her house. When the wind blows the door open, she looks at it and walks away.
- One-Scene Wonder: Kincaid's partner is easily one of the most entertaining character's in the film, but gets less screentime than most of the others.
- The Other Darrin: In-universe, Stab 3 sees the replacement of Tori Spelling as Sidney with Angelina Tyler.
- Red Herring: Detective Kincaid is implied a number of times to be the killer, in fact, his innocence leads to a Plot Hole/What Happened to the Mouse? incident. It was never explained how the real killer got Sidney's phone number, and Kincaid used Dewey's phone just before the scene in which Sidney gets the phone call from the killer. And it doesn't explain why he had all those newspaper clippings on Sidney in his desk, but the ending shows him now all chummy with the main three.
- Secret Keeper: Sidney is living as a recluse, convinced it's the only way to stay safe. The only people who know where she is are her father and Dewey.
- Shipper on Deck: When Kincaid is leaving Wallace behind to investigate Sunrise Studio alone, Wallace jokingly accuses him of going to buy flowers and candy for Sidney.
- Shut UP, Hannibal: The killer Roman explains that he is Sidney's half-brother, and fires off a bunch of reasons as to why he committed the murders. Sidney then cuts him off, saying she's tired of all the bullshit that the killers she has encountered have told her, and says that all of the reasons she has heard are just pathetic excuses that the killers use to hide the fact that they kill people simply because they enjoy doing it. This leads to a rather large Villainous Breakdown.
- Stage Names: It's revealed that Sidney's mother Maureen was a failed actress who went by Rina Reynolds. In the same scene, it's also revealed that Jennifer's real name is Judy Jurgenstern.
- Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome: Cotton.
- Tempting Fate:
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Sarah: Guys, we are not in any danger. |
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- That Makes Me Feel Angry: Played with. Disguised as Dewey, the killer has a phone conversation with Jennifer Jolie's bodyguard while he's looking through Dewey's trailer. When he insults "Dewey" over the phone, the killer responds with "That makes me... angry!" (with a definitive emphasis of rage on that last word), while bursting in and stabbing him in the back.
- Theme Naming: A number of characters (Angelina Jolie Tyler, Jennifer Aniston Jolie, Tom Cruise Prinze) are named after real-life actors. Fitting, since the characters are actors themselves, and in Jennifer's case it's actually a Stage Names.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: When Dewey catches the the killer by surprise, he retaliates by throwing his knife at Dewey... though it's hilariously averted as the handle side hits him square in the forehead.
- Tonight Someone Dies: Randy mentions that the rules of the trilogy mean that someone big is going to die before it's over. He's wrong though, Sidney, Gale, and Dewey all live.
- Video Will: Randy's tape, also counts as The Tape Knew You Would Say That somehow
- Wild Mass Guessing: The cast of Stab 3, since they don't have the full scripts for the movie (to keep the ending from being leaked), indulges in this while on-set. Angelina (the actress who plays Movie!Sidney) speculates that her character might even be the killer this time.