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SCREAM reinvented modern horror and now stands as a classic of the genre. For fans of the original, SCREAM 2 was a good follow-up. SCREAM 3 is a disaster.

The first place to look for the reason would be in the writing credits. SCREAM creator Kevin Williamson wrote the first two films, but Ehren Kruger (THE RING, THE SKELETON KEY) tackled the third. He tries too hard to copy Williamson’s hip self-referential style and fails miserably. One of the major problems of the film is that it’s made for people who have seen the first two films. I think people who haven’t seen the first two films, or haven’t seen them recently even, will be lost.

Another problem is that Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell, THE COMPANY) is really short changed in the film. She’s theoretically the central character in the film, but most of the screen time and action is consumed and driven by the Dewey Riley (David Arquette, READY TO RUMBLE) and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox, TV’s FRIENDS) characters. In SCREAM 2, the bickering relationship between the two characters was interesting, but here it’s just irritating and redundant.

The plot of the third film brings the three survivors of the first two films to Hollywood, where “Stab 3” is being filmed, which is based on the “real” killings. Soon the actors are being knocked off in the order that they die in the film. This premise is really lame, because we don’t care about these characters at all. They’re just actors who have no emotional connection to the main characters who we care about.

The film is filled with bad jokes, too many characters just to throw us off the identity of the real killer and too much plot. The development of Sidney’s character is truly the only consistent bright spot in this otherwise boring horror/comedy retread. I gave SCREAM 2 two and a half stars when I first reviewed it. I was way, way too harsh on that film. That film is amazing compared to this pitiful desecration of a venerable series.