Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: SCENE 15 of Scream 3 (0:55:34-0:59:15)

In this project I attempt to review the entire Scream trilogy scene by scene in chronological order. Heavy spoilers and gore throughout!



SCENE 15 of Scream 3
Length: 3mins 41secs
Primary Characters: Gale Weathers, Jennifer Jolie, Bianca Burnette (Carrie Fisher).
Pop Culture References:

• Star Wars and George Lucas

Thank god that's over! Now we can move on to what Scream 3 does best: Gale & Gale Investigations. It's like Scooby Doo, but with two narcissistic Hollywood types. Of course, even though the worst scene in Scream franchise history is over, doesn't mean the national nightmare that is Scream 3's costume design is also over. No sir, Courteney Cox's unflattering ensembles are still here to stay.



This movie really did overdo the "boo machine" scare tactic. Like, way way overboard with that. These characters are out in broad daylight surrounded by hundreds of people... I mean, Roman's a dumb serial killer, but he's not that dumb.

"What the hell are you doing?"
"Being Gale Weathers! What the hell are you doing?"
"I am Gale Weathers."

Gale weathers is such a complex character, after all.

"Here's how I see it. I've got no house, no bodyguard, no movie, and I'm being stalked. 'Cause somebody wants to kill me? No. Because somebody wants to kill you. So now, starting now, I go where you go. That way, if somebody wants to kill me, I'll be with you, so if they really want to kill you they won't kill me. They'll kill you. Make sense?"
"None."
"You know, in the movies I play as you being much smarter."
"And as a sane person. For you that must be quite a stretch."

You know, Jennifer's reasoning actually makes a lot of sense in a general way, although it also doesn't make sense because if the killer was simply trying to kill off people from the original killings then why kill Sarah after Cotton?

"Need to get in that building?"
"Yeah."
"There a story in that building?"
"Maybe."
"Gale Weathers would find a way."

"Bitch!"

I could watch these two all day.

Flawless. And I kinda love that Marco Beltrami's score takes a turn for the Angelo Badalamenti-meets-Clue in this moment all but completing the film's swerve from slasher to old-fashioned whodunnit mystery. Sherlock Holmesy, even.

"Basements give me the creeps!"
"You'd make a fascinating interview."

Ooh, burn!

And, yes, I am very much aware that somewhere along the line I've stopped even attempting to provide thoughtful, probing insights, and have instead resorted simply to quoting Gale and Jennifer, letting you swim through Courteney Cox and Parker Posey's sublime divinity.

Of all the times to not try and give audiences a fake scare, they go for the scene in the studio basement? That makes no sense. They may Heather Matarazzo's entrance into a boo machine testing suite and yet here all we get is a noise off in the distance. No threatening music cues or prolonged sequence of terror? Sigh. But, then again, maybe they thought Randy's sister was enough to terrify people for days on end and that they didn't need any more? (I'll get over that scene eventually, you guys!)

"Hey, are you-"
"No."
"But you look just li-"
"Like her? I've been hearing it all my life."
"It's uncanny!"
"I was up for Princess Leia, I was this close. So who gets it? The one who sleeps with George Lucas."

Ignoring the fact that the thought of sleeping with George Lucas is now in my brain and can never be erased, the story flies in the face of history, which tells a story of Carrie Fisher and Sissy Spacek being cast in Carrie and Star Wars respectively. They then swapped for some reason and history played out the way it did. Can you imagine Spacek in Star Wars? No, neither can I? Can you imagine Carrie Fisher having the career that Spacek did? No, neither can I. Funny, that. Although, I think there's a story in the Scream 3 audio commentary about this scene (or at least parts of it) being written by Fisher herself, so who knows...

"I don't work for the cops, I work for the studio."
"Really, well, would you work for... the President?"
"The President... of the studio."

"Fifty dollars? What are you, a reporter for Woodsboro High?"

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I'm grateful Scream 3 exists. Parker Posey just tears through this part, doesn't she? I would have placed her in my top five supporting actresses of 2000, for sure (alongside this and Best in Show she was quite prolofic at the time, although I'm not quite sure where she's gone too after Superman Returns in 2006). Anyway, I know we give Ehren Kruger a lot of flack for many of the film's biggest faults, but I can't deny that he came up with some zingers and in this instant didn't even fall back on a Nancy Drew joke like he so easily could have. Amazing.

Of course Sidney's mom never made it big in Hollywood if her stage name was Rena Reynolds!

"Rena Reynolds... stage name."
"You should talk, Judy Jergenstern!"

JUDY JERGENSTERN! I want this frame printed and hung on my wall. It fills me with so much joy.



FLAW-LESS.

I could quote the expository dialogue that links Sidney mother with Stab producer John Milton and his early horror films like Creatures from the San Andreas Fault, Amazombies, and Space Psycho, but let's just bathe in how incredible those fake movie titles are and imagine how wonderful it'd be if they really existed. Preferably starring Parker Posey. Because you know she'd be aces in them. Also: Maureen (nee Rena) was in a stage play called I Want to Scream. Well, that certainly proved prophetic, no?

Scream:
Intro, Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14, Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23, Scene 24, Scene 25, Scene 26, Scene 27, Scene 28, Scene 29, Scene 30, Scene 31 Scene 32, Scene 33, End Credits

Scream 2
Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14. Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23, Scene 24, Scene 25, Scene 26, Scene 27, Scene 28, Scene 29, Scene 30, End Credits

Scream 3
Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14