Scream 3

Plot
In the third installment of Wes Craven's Scream series, Scream 3 takes the franchise to a new level by shifting the setting from the small town of Woodsboro to the bright lights of Hollywood. After suffering through two brutal murders and a series of gruesome killings, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her group of friends have finally settled down and are starting to live their lives. However, with the release of Stab 3, a third film based on the Woodsboro murders, Sidney's past comes back to haunt her once again. Unlike the first two films where the setting was relatively contained and the focus was on the high school or college experience, Scream 3 brings a new level of sophistication and a more prominent Hollywood backdrop. As a result, the stakes are higher, and the movie mirrors the real-life changing dynamics of the film industry during the late 90s and early 2000s. Sidney's stay in Hollywood becomes even more complicated when it is discovered that Stab 3, the movie based on Woodsboro's infamous murders, is being filmed on the premises. The film, which stars Johnny Lee (Scott Terra), a new victim, poses a threat to the group when they start dying off, one by one. The script of the film contains elements that mirror very closely the true murders, although the film contains violent endings to everyone, unlike real life. Furthermore, the character of Roman Bridger (Scott Foley) receives considerable attention early in the movie with the assumption being made by many, the character and his connection to Sidney proved to have some surprises that audiences of the time were wholly unaware of upon his film premiere. As the film progresses, the group discovers that the new Ghostface killer has become far more elaborate and complex, unlike the first two films. Instead of being one individual, the killer is comprised of multiple assassins working together with various motives that become increasingly twisted as they draw nearer to their target, Sidney. Indeed the writers explored new areas, by providing three female victims, along with their connection to Sidney's actual life also in their motive to end her. Among the more memorable scenes in the movie is when Sidney discovers the depth and complexities involved in the film-making industry, particularly through her interactions with Roman and the Stab 3 cast. In an almost nostalgic nostalgia filled scene, she attends her own film's premiere party, only to realize that the violence and mayhem caused by the real-life Ghostface is once more echoing itself in the film based on her experiences. In addition, Roman, whose mysterious past ties him closely to Sidney's tragic childhood, attempts a unique form of reparation while simultaneously employing cunning ploys to reveal more about his bond to Sidney's past, and slowly becomes a true menace. This eerie series of events contributes not only to the surprise but, at the same time increase tension as Sidney is forced into a position where she's frequently double guessing whether her character and story even belongs to reality. These multiple lines blurring scenes make the viewer wonder and guess through the film what is fact and what is fiction. Another major talking point is Scream 3's use of meta, and how it reflects upon itself as it goes back and forth over these conflicting possibilities. Often blurring the line and interweaving them simultaneously within an overarching motive for the entire new killing story. Sidney Prescott, played once again by Neve Campbell, walks viewers through it all, forcing survivors to hold their breaths in the hope of minimizing fatalities. But even as new facts start emerging to point to her being the actual next target her fierce resilience – and the emergence of a shock new nemesis, Amber and others kill for her, – they take us very real and somewhat jarringly once it actually occurs and very directly before our viewing eyes what was essentially, in all reality, truly becoming absolutely tragic, this she cannot live down.
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