'Scream': A Look Back at the Trilogy

After more than a decade, the long-awaited fourth entry in the “Scream” catalog arrives in theaters this weekend. The original “Scream,” which was released in 1996, launched this suspenseful series about a woman named Sydney Prescott who is being hunted down by a killer wearing a ghost-face mask. In preparation for “Scream 4,” I pulled out my VHS copies of the first three movies and watched the trilogy this past weekend.

As a long time fan of the series, I am hoping that “Scream 4” is more like the first two installments rather than the inferior third.

[youtube UTWf9QGdJCQ nolink]

—–

Scream (1996): I was thirteen-years-old when the first “Scream” was released so I didn’t see it in theaters. However, after hearing about it a few years later, I was excited to watch it and loved its mix of suspense and witty humor. “Scream” starts out with a seemingly innocuous phone call that turns deadly for a high school teen (Drew Barrymore), who is murdered in her own front yard. It is eventually revealed that the killer’s main target is Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell), whose mother had been murdered a year earlier.

If you like slasher films, the first “Scream” is a great one with self-referential humor and characters who understand the horror genre even as they are being hunted by a killer themselves. Henry Winkler has a neat role as a high school principal but the biggest scene-stealer in the movie is Courteney Cox, who appears as the despicable and manipulative television reporter Gale Weathers.

[youtube 9U87t8x4ix0 nolink]

—–

Scream 2 (1997): “Scream 2” is the rare sequel that eclipses the original. In this story, Prescott is again being hunted by a masked murderer but this time she’s at college where the stakes are even higher. The main cast shows up again and Weathers is as conniving as ever.

This sequel features an intelligent discussion about sequels, violence in the media, and raises some questions about parents being blamed for their the misdeeds of their children. It also features some of the most suspenseful scenes in the series, including a scene where Sydney must crawl over the masked murderer to get out of a police car. She doesn’t know if he’s still alive so the scene is nerve-wracking and extremely suspenseful.

[youtube bYi-rmHfrP8 nolink]

—–

Scream 3 (2000): This sequel pales in comparison to its predecessors. Writer Ehren Kruger, who replaced Kevin Williamson, makes a lot of bizarre decisions in the story. This time, the murders take place while a cast of actors is filming “Stab 3,” which is based on the murders committed in the earlier films. However, Gale Weathers supposedly dies in “Stab 3,” even though she is still alive in “Scream 3.” How does that make any sense? “Scream 3” doesn’t bother to answer that question.

Additionally, Sydney doesn’t arrive in town for a while so she’s missing from the action early on. She’s off isolated in her own home, where she gets visited by the ghost of her dead mother. Randy (Jaime Kennedy), who died in “Scream 2,” also has a strange appearance in “Scream 3” when a videotape is found of him discussing the rules of horror trilogies. There’s a lot to dislike about “Scream 3” but I think it’s still worth watching for the three main characters alone. It’s a decent slasher movie. Nothing more.

With over a decade since “Scream 3” arrived in theaters, I’m hoping that “Scream 4” will bring the life back to this series. Kevin Williamson has returned as the writer so I have high expectations for the film. If his script is as good as the first two films, the fourth entry will be worth screaming about.