”Anyway, the reason I am here is to help you so that my death will not be in vain; That my life’s work will save some other poor soul from getting mutilated. If this killer does come back and he’s for real, there are a few things that you gotta remember. Is this simply another sequel? Well if it is, same rules apply. But-here’s the critical thing-if you find yourself dealing with an unexpected back story and a preponderance of exposition, then the sequel rules DO NOT apply. Because you are not dealing with a sequel, you are dealing with the concluding chapter of a trilogy. . .”

With “Scream 4” having opened across the country we thought we’d take a ‘Stab’ at a “15 things you didn’t know about….” for each previous film in the series. Some bits will be known, some bits won’t be, and other bits will simply be recollections of rumours that surrounded the franchise – and believe me, having run this site for 13 years or so, I’ve heard them all when it comes to “Scream”.

So lets take a look back at the previous three films in the series- yes, there were three; oh I suppose “Scream 3” resembled a ‘Jay and Silent Bob’ movie more than it did the second sequel to one of the smartest horror films of the ’90s though so that’s likely why some may have unconsciously forgotten it exists, fair-as-muff -complete with fluffy facts and don’t-give-a-damn trivia.

We will likely do “Scream 4” at the end of the series so people have enough time to check it out before we potentially drop minor spoilers and expose technical gaffes.

Today, we remember “Scream 3”.

Scream 3 (2000)

Synopsis : Stars Neve Campbell, David Arquette, and Courteney Cox Arquette are back for more in the chilling final chapter of this phenomenally popular and frightfully entertaining trilogy! While Sidney 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! And when the escalating terror finally brings her out of hiding, Sidney and other Woodsboro survivors are once again drawn into an insidious game of horror movie mayhem! But just when they thought they knew how to play by the rules, they discover that all the rules have been broken! Featuring hot newcomers Parker Posey (THE HOUSE OF YES) and Jenny McCarthy (DIAMONDS) in another stellar ensemble cast, SCREAM 3 offers an unmatched mix of thrills, laughter, and suspense that bring this spine-tingling saga to an unforgettable conclusion! l.

Clint says : Talk about a trojan slipping off a once solid Johnson.

Naturally, having loved the first two films in the horror-rejuvenating series I rushed out to see this thing first day – we even went Gold Class (ya know? cheese platters, premium seating, cask wine)! Yep, big shot college kid – using student loans to pay for movies… rock on! But still, never have I regretted paying the extra for Gold Class like I did the night I saw “Scream 3” – well, “Jurassic Park 3” comes a close second. “Scream 3” was not worth the sixty or seven bucks I paid that not. Cheese had been better too.

Like a reformed drug addict around a restroom needle dispenser, sometimes we just don’t learn though; six months later, I did the weirdest thing… I decided to buy an imported DVD copy of the film when I spotted it in a local store. Again, I paid a premium – it could be that I was smoking something that day (known to happen occasionally when you’re a uni student) or it could be that I just wanted to have the entire “Scream” trilogy on my shelf, but one thing’s for sure, I probably could’ve saved myself quite a bit of money had Wes Craven quietly whispered in my ear that the sequel was “merely OK, Clint”. Maybe I was caught up in some kind of “Idle Hands” or “Body Parts” movie where my wallet was, well, not actually mine, and it had a mind of it’s own – and for some reason, wanted me to spend money on lousy movies?

Alas, “Squeak 3” was what it was – a messy not-very-interesting and predominatly, ‘dumb’ conclusion to a series that had made it’s name for being one of the smarter of the slasher pics. Great cast – and wonderful to see folks like Lance Henriksen, Carrie Fisher and Patrick Dempsey (pre-“Grey’s Anatomy”) back on the big screen – but writer Ehren Kruger, replacing series staple Kevin Williamson, wrote a “Scary Movie” sequel – as opposed to a “Scream” sequel – and just slotted Sid (Campbell), Dewey (Arquette), Gale (Cox) and, er, Jay and Silent Bob in there. Oh, and just in case someone from the Academy might’ve been watching, they’ve put Jenny McCarthy in there too. “Scream 3” isn’t the worst sequel ever made (that honor might go to “The Hidden II” – anyone seen that shocker!?) but it’s definitely one of the more insulting ones… it and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystall Skull” should’ve been aborted before the first trimester. (Clint Morris)

15 Things You [Possibly] Didn’t Know :

It was, to say the least, a troubled production. If it wasn’t enough that Kevin Williamson didn’t return to write the film (he was shooting his directorial debut “Teaching Mrs Tingle” at the time), Ehren ‘Arlington Road’ Kruger’s script was such a misdirected, tonally-awry mess that quite often pages were only ready on the day of filming. On top of that, there were scheduling problems with some of the actors – Neve Campbell, for instance, was only available for twenty days, which explains why Sidney is in the film less than Gale and Dewey. In the new documentary “Still Screaming”, Craven said : “Oh, [Scream 3] was a nightmare. Kevin wasn’t available and Ehren, bless his heart, and I and another writer worked on that script all through production. I went back and watched all three films and I had a lot of fun with all of them. That last one was more towards Scooby-Doo and less Scream.”

After the horrible Colombine school massacare, and the consequent aftermath which saw many parties going after violent video-games and films, the Weinsteins’ were said to have asked director Wes Craven to ditch all blood and violence from the film. Recalls writer Kruger, “Wes […] said ‘Be serious, guys, Either we make a Scream movie or we make a movie and call it something else. But if it’s a Scream movie, it’s going to have certain standards.'”

Williamson’s original treatment for “Scream 3” was to be set in Woodsboro, where the ‘Stab’ movies now lens. Kruger thought the location should be somewhere “bigger” this time, so in his rewrite, changed Woodsboro to Hollywood. #fuckup124

Williamson’s original opening sequence would’ve “saw Sidney and a friend being attacked at home, and then Sidney ultimately killing the killer – and unmasking the killer – and it’s some fan and this drives her into hiding.” Wonder who that killer was? anyone? anyone!?

Arquette and Cox had married a month before filming and were enjoying their honeymoon when they were called back to Los Angeles to shoot “Scream 4” – – yes, that’s why Gale looks like a frickin’ pumpkin in some scenes! She’d been roasting in the sun the past coupla weeks!

“Buffy” alum Charisma Carpenter had tested for the role of Christine, Cotton Weary’s girlfriend. Ten years later, Carpenter would be cast as Jason Statham’s girlfriend in “The Expendables”. Miss out on a part in one crappy film? there’s always going to be another! See!

Alicia Silverstone, as heavily rumoured in the lead-up to the film going into production, was offered a role in the film (Angela I believe) but passed. She had much better things to do with her time like… um, er,….I’ll have to get back to you.

Media weren’t allowed to see the film until two days before the film opened – and that included interviewing media (who would normally be able to see the film a couple of weeks in advance). The film wasn’t tested either… if it had’ve been, the Weinstein’s might have realized they had a dog on their hands.

Just as he’d done on the last sequel, Craven filmed several alternate endings so that not even the cast members truly knew who the killer/s were. (Ehren, right?)

That big house that the “Stab 3” actors are based out of? That’s “Grease” director Randal Kleiser’s (cast members were said to have “got chills”, ones that were “multiplying”, when they first walked into the large mansion).

These days you’d be courting him for months, what with “Grey’s Anatomy” being the success it is, but in 2000 Patrick Dempsey could be hired at the 11th hour – just as he was on this production. Dempsey was literally hired the day before production began. McUnemployed, ya see.

Jamie Kennedy’s character Randy was always going to be in the film, but before they went with the idea of a ‘post-mortem video’ appearance, the producers toyed with the idea of having Randy – who seemingly died in “Scream 2” – survive the events of the last movie. The only reason Craven had decided to have Kennedy reprise his role as the late Randy was because he’d been receiving hate mail from those who despised his decision to knock off the character in the previous pic. Craven obviously didn’t get my email about Jada Pinkett.

Tea Leoni nearly had the Parker Posey part. That’s the Naked Truth. Sorry, being a Bad Boy.

Emily Mortimer’s character Sarah was originally going to be the film’s second killer, but Bob and Harvey nixed the idea – that would, you see, be plain silly.

Wanna know who the killer was to be if Craven had shot Williamson’s script? Stu, played by Matthew Lillard – or atleast that’s the story Lillard, hot off his success in, er, “Wing Commander”, relayed to the press at the time.

Next : “Scream 4”
Previous :“Scream 2”

Let’s talk below – tell us when you first saw “Scream 3” and your reaction?