Scream 3

Name: Scream 3
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Comedy
Released: February 4, 2000
Duration: 116 min
Rating: 56
Cast: Courteney Cox, Neve Campbell

2000

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 625 Ratings

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8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 625 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

Dimension Films | Release Date: February 4, 2000 | R

Starring: Courteney Cox, Neve Campbell

Summary: Stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courtney Cox Arquette are back for more in the chilling final chapter of this phenomenally popular and frightfully entertaining trilogy. While Sydney Prescott (Campbell) lives in safely guarded seclusion, bodies begin dropping around the Hollywood set of "Stab 3," the latest movie sequel based on theStars Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courtney Cox Arquette are back for more in the chilling final chapter of this phenomenally popular and frightfully entertaining trilogy. While Sydney Prescott (Campbell) lives in safely guarded seclusion, bodies begin dropping around the Hollywood set of "Stab 3," the latest movie sequel based on the gruesome Woodsboro killings.… Expand

Director: Wes Craven

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Comedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 116 min

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Critic Reviews

Jack Mathews

For the initiated, the third time's a charm. For everyone else, it's just a scream. Read full review

John Patterson

It's a pleasure to report that Scream 3 is an absolute riot, jammed with spicy cameos. Read full review

Susan Wloszczyna

(Craven) and his Scream dream team have done a frightfully good job of killing off and wrapping up the popular horror series. Read full review

Lisa Alspector

Slower, more earnest, and not as gory. Read full review

Ann Hornaday

Even if Scream 3 lacks the punch and verve of the first two installments, it manages to wring some ironically metaphysical comedy from the movie-within-a-movie motif. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Maitland McDonagh

It's got turns, it's got an attractive cast that gets shish-kabobed with ruthless regularity. It's just tired. Read full review

Michael Atkinson

Logic, motivation, suspense -- anything that might make the film frightening or resonant -- is buried under Dolby blams, medulla-shaming dialogue, and a rain of overdubbed hunting-knife schwings that grate like a 3 a.m. car alarm. Read full review

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User Reviews

ScarTissue1990

Jan 20, 2013

I'm gonna go against the crowd and say that this was my favorite installment of "Scream." It has a a good plot, a good music score, a great cast, everything that's suppose to be in a film. I also liked the small tastes of humor that were presented through out the film. Great movie! TheI'm gonna go against the crowd and say that this was my favorite installment of "Scream." It has a a good plot, a good music score, a great cast, everything that's suppose to be in a film. I also liked the small tastes of humor that were presented through out the film. Great movie! The "Scream" Trilogy is the best horror trilogy of all time.… Expand

26 of 35 users found this helpful269

Movie3

Jul 15, 2018

Excellent movie, and a rarity that a 3RD horror sequel can do so well! This one is sort of different as it feels like they soft pedal the horror/gore and amp up the comedy and story telling. It still works, but I think some people were put off by that. One of my favorite series in horror EVER!

3 of 5 users found this helpful32

Robinson2511

Jul 12, 2014

Ask people what they think of the Scream trilogy, & usually their exact words will be: "Liked 1, liked 2, didn't like Scream 3", so this film is the end of the scream franchise, (well, for following 11 years anyway) and it's disliked by a lot of people, personally, I think this is my secondAsk people what they think of the Scream trilogy, & usually their exact words will be: "Liked 1, liked 2, didn't like Scream 3", so this film is the end of the scream franchise, (well, for following 11 years anyway) and it's disliked by a lot of people, personally, I think this is my second favourite scream film, just under Scream 1 and above Scream 2, however the main thing that puts a lot of people off, is its lack of originality and freshness, and it's easy to see that this film feels almost as created as the 'I know what you did last summer' franchise, but I think that this film is very entertaining, this film was given a whopping $40million budget and you can see where the money has gone, I think the finale in Milton's gigantic mansion is the best finale of the franchise, & this is why this film sits in second place for me, while it is cheesy, it is entertaining, and should be given a shot. (it's also the only film in the franchise that made me jump several times, just saying!)… Expand

3 of 20 users found this helpful317

GavinC

Jul 27, 2009

Though producing a scare now and then, it certainly isn't as entertaining as the previous two installments.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

MovieManiac83

Apr 22, 2015

They say the third time's a charm. In the case of the Scream movie series, the Wes Craven/Kevin Williamson collaboration credited for having revived the slasher genre in the '90s, this cliché proves to be a falsehood. The most recent (and hopefully final) chapter in the comedy/horror trilogyThey say the third time's a charm. In the case of the Scream movie series, the Wes Craven/Kevin Williamson collaboration credited for having revived the slasher genre in the '90s, this cliché proves to be a falsehood. The most recent (and hopefully final) chapter in the comedy/horror trilogy comes across as a lame regurgitation of material already presented. There are no real surprises, and the whole affair has the feeling of something left too long in the pot to stew. The life and energy is gone. What began as a lively, intelligent series suffused with self-referential humor has turned into just another slice-and-dice-by-numbers affair. Scream 3 isn't just the weakest of the movies, it's the kind of thing that the original Scream lampooned with affectionate glee.

Scream 3 features three good moments, but they're hardly enough to save the movie from the tedious spiral of repetitiveness it is trapped in. The first is a from-beyond-the-grave video lecture by Randy (Jamie Kennedy), who offers up the "rules of the trilogy." For example, "events in the third segment always go back to the beginning" and "even the hero can die in the final chapter." (One that he doesn't mention, and which proves true in this case, is that the final installment of any trilogy is usually the worst. The examples Randy cites, Star Wars and The Godfather, are classic examples of this.) Then there's a brief cameo by cult heroes Jay and Silent Bob, who are given a couple of lines (well, at least Jay is. Finally, Carrie Fisher appears as a receptionist who bemoans not having gotten the part of Princess Leia in Star Wars because she wouldn't sleep with George Lucas.

When it comes to storyline, character development, and pacing, Scream 3 strikes out. The movie drags along from one predictable slaying to the next, and the only real scares along the way are the "boo!" moments when something innocuous jumps out of the shadows just before the real killer strikes. Meanwhile, the level of humor in Scream 3 is way down. Parker Posey (as the actress playing Gale in the Stab series) has a few amusing lines, but the ironic dialogue and cute references to other horror films, which were wearing thin in Scream 2, are now positively threadbare.

Once, I wrote that Scream 3 would have to do something radical or inventive to avoid becoming tiresome. Unfortunately, there's nothing here that even the most inexperienced horror film fan would call innovative, and the predictable result is a movie that pales in comparison with its predecessors. Thus far, 2000 has been a very bad year for films, and Scream 3 does nothing to reverse the trend.… Expand

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

MattBrady99

Oct 16, 2021

Not great by any means, but also not that terrible.

However, is it just me or did Wes Craven and writer Ehren Kruger tried to call out Harvey Weinstein, the producer of the movie, because characters constantly kept mentioning "sleeping with the directors and producers to get certain jobs"Not great by any means, but also not that terrible.

However, is it just me or did Wes Craven and writer Ehren Kruger tried to call out Harvey Weinstein, the producer of the movie, because characters constantly kept mentioning "sleeping with the directors and producers to get certain jobs" and "Hollywood is full of criminals whose careers are flourishing."

Very scary, but not as scary as Courtney Cox’s hair! I mean, what the heck was that!?… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

j30

Nov 27, 2011

A poorly executed film that nearly fails on all levels. It's not scary, it's not funny or clever, it's just a drag.

0 of 29 users found this helpful029

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8	#8 Most Discussed Movie of 2000
91	#91 Most Shared Movie of 2000