Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: SCENE 10 of Scream 3 (0:32:46-0:35:31)

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



SCENE 10 of Scream 3
Length: 3mins 15secs
Primary Characters: Detective Kincaid, Detective Wallace, Gale Weathers, Dewey Riley, Roman Bridger and Jennifer Jolie
Pop Culture References:

• Hannibal Lector and Se7en (examples of similar scenarios given)
• Jane Pauley (Dt Wallace jokes about her)

More of the whodunnit aspect of Scream 3, here. The other two definitely had this aspect, but in line with Scream 3 being a riff on older horror films rather than the slashers of the first two entries, the mystery angle is far more prominent here. The franchise was always a bit better because of this angle, but if they were going to do that then I wish they'd made the mystery solving scenes a bit more punchier, like the Randy death scene in Scream 2 or better integrated into the horror genre like all of Gale's snooping throughout Scream.

"The old killer playing with the cops routine. Very Hannibal Lecter, very Se7en."
"Doesn't the killer come after the cops in those movies?"
"Usually one cop makes it... and one cop doesn't. Usually."
Another reason to dislike the Adam Brody/Anthony Anderson characters in Scream 4 is that the very reason for their existence was already actually utilised in Scream 3. They were there to provide the comic dialogue about cops who are one week away from retirement dying and all that, but did everyone just forget that they were in Scream 3 doing the same? Maybe Kevin Williamson wrote that scene of Scream 4 and hadn't actually even watched Scream 3 because he felt bitter about how it all went? Just like he apparently did with Scream 4. Hmmm.

Meanwhile, more blood in this long shot of Sarah Darling's crime scene that there actually was in the scene itself. I guess she fell on a lot of glass?

I love that Dewey and Gale just show up at a crime scene and somehow get inside when not even Detective Wallace is aware that they (well, Gale Weathers, at least) is working with Detective Kincaid. Whoever let them in is doing some sloppy security detail!

"The produces told us that there are three different versions of the script. Something about wanting to keep the ending off of the internet."
I definitely think Scream 3 (and later Scream 4) went too far into the self-referential territory. At least for less obsessive fans. Like I've noted already, the films that Scream 3 appears to be referencing most are its own franchise with far less nods to Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street and so forth. A line like this one only works for people who have followed the Scream franchise well enough to know the stories about how the Scream 2 screenplay was leaked online and that the film had to be rejiggered as a result. So, while lines like this amuse people like myself, most viewers were probably like "haha! the internet! :/"

Peter Deming is the director of photography on Scream. According to this shot he is also the director of photography of Stab. He likes his Ghosty slasher flicks! Plus, further on from what I was saying up above about Scream 3 taking after older, less slasher-bred horror films, the font used is like some Creature from the Black Lagoon style typeface. Which seems odd for the movie within the movie, but makes sense for Craven and his crew having a bit of fun on the set of Scream 3.

Meanwhile, how amazing is Parker Posey's expression here. Gawd, she's amazing in this movie.

She renders me speechless (er, wordless? typeless?) sometimes, honestly.

In a moment of accidental actorly goofiness, I somehow managed to inadvertently catch Scott Foley looking directing into the camera during this speech about how innocent he is that he didn't really call Sarah Darling before she was killed. I'm going to take this is a subliminal way of clueing the audience in on who the killer is (er, Roman Bridger) and not just Scott Foley being a big dumb dummy.

Have I mentioned I don't like Scott Foley in this movie and think he's a dope? Yeah. Like, all the killers have their own way of masking the fact that they are indeed the killer. Roman Bridger's is to whine himself into looking innocent, apparently. Where everyone else seems to be having a bit of fun with the whole thing, Roman just sits around moping and whingeing. Even the reveal sequence is more of his crying, but we'll get to that later, obviously.

Wow. I didn't realise I felt so harshly about this topic until I typed it down just now. The more you know...

"God, Roman. Remind me not to sleep with him again."
She is a goddess.

GODDESS!

She deserves a Las Vegas show starring Cristal Connors, that's how much of a goddess she is!

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

Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: SCENE 21 of Scream 2 (1:00:19-1:06:10)

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



SCENE 21 of Scream 2
Length: 5min 51secs
Primary Characters: Gale Weathers, Randy Meeks, Dewey Riley, Joel the Cameraman and Ghostface
Pop Culture References:

• Jennifer Aniston (A joke is made about Aniston and Gale Weathers)
• Saved by the Bell (Joel wishes they'd discuss something more "Saved by the Bell-ish")
• Malcolm X (Joel references him)
• Showgirls (Randy's "favourite scary movie")
• The House on Sorority Row, The Dorm that Dripped Blood, Splatter University, Graduation Day and Final Exam (Randy's suggestions for the killer's favourite movie)
• OJ Simpson, Ted Bundy and Charles Manson (Randy suggests these as other killers worth copycatting)
  

And so we come to this scene. We all knew we'd have to look at it eventually, but it's always sad when it comes around and it's all "but... but... RANDY!" Let's push through, okay? Let's navigate our way through this traumatic scene together.


"Sidney wasn't killed in Woodsboro."
"Wasn't for a lack of trying. The killer's trying to finish what was started."
Here it is folks! The very dead centre of the entire Scream trilogy! This very shot is, if I have my maths correct, the dead centre and it's quite fitting that it's in one of the entire franchise's greatest scenes and features three of everyone's favourite characters.

While this is indeed quite cool, it's also depressing because I'd intended on having this project finished months ago and yet we're still only at the half way point. I just... ugh.


"When did she start smoking?"


"Ever since those nude pictures on the internet."


"It was just my head... it was Jennifer Aniston's body."
Teehee. I love that Gale Weathers lives in the same world as Courteney Cox. It still bugs me that only Aniston and David Schwimmer of her Friends co-stars got references. Although what could you say about Matt LeBlanc?


"Time out! See, now I don't need to be hearing about no dead cameraman, all right? Now I'm warning you guys, I am a verb away from vacating these premises. I'm gonna get me some coffee, donuts, prozac, see if I can find some crack, special k, x - not Malcolm - and I'll be back when you're talking about something a little bit more Saved by the Bell-ish, all right?"
Joel the Cameraman goes off on this little spiel when Gale says there were more victims "before the home stretch", two of which include Tatum and Kenny the Cameraman. I would've thought their deaths were indeed part of the home stretch, but as we've already established Gale's recollection of the events of "the Woodsboro murders" is a bit, shall we say, off.

I accidentally paused on this next shot:


"LOL"


"Not interrupting anything, am I? You three look deep in thought."
Uh-oh! I love this line reading by the way. Not so much the "knife scraping bone" line that was re-used in Scream 4 (although I like that even in Stab 7 Gale was still able to take inspiration from real life!) There's a playfulness that is so sick and twisted without being overtly grisly. I love it.


So much of what typifies the Scream films (or, at least, the first two and some of the fourth) is evident here. The little chuckles that come about from stuff like this where all three look around like they're lost, and yet its juxtaposed against the very real threat. I think it works particularly well here since that creeping thought that "oh no, one of them will die!" is such a terrifying one since we love these characters so much. And then to have it play out in broad daylight? That was a stroke of genius.


I've spoken at length about Wes Craven's use of space in these films. Framing his shots with optimum levels of uneasiness and tension. Always making sure the viewer is aware of what's around the target like Casey standing in front of those patio glass doors or Tatum being shot walking into the garage from the living room location of the party so we know how close she was to everyone else.


"What's your favourite scary movie?"
"Showgirls - absolutely frightening.
This line disappoints me. I would have thought Randy would be able to see the inherent greatness within Showgirls! Although, I guess, the two years between Showgirls and Scream 2 wasn't enough time for it to have accrued the good will that it has today. The line works well as a funny way to cap a Scream 2 trailer, but my love of Showgirls means the line irks me.


"What's yours? Wait, let me guess: The House on Sorority Row? The Dorm that Dripped Blood? Splatter University? Graduation Day? Final Exam?
I like how once the telephone call comes though, the point of view of the scene becomes much more voyeuristic and a bit dizzying as it rotates around Randy and uses slight "Steadicam" style filmmaking as we follow Randy around and being very conscious of where he is amongst his surroundings.

The only one of the films Randy mentions that I have seen is The House on Sorority Row, which I discussed just last week! I've tried to see the others but they're unavailable here. Very disappointing.


"Who's this?"
"Who's this?"
"Gale Weathers, author of The Woodsboro Murders!"
Behold the best line reading in all of Scream 2! Love it! I hope that at some point in my life I write a book called The Woodsboro Murders just so I can quote this line like I do others in the films. "Glenn Dunks, author of The Woodsboro Murders!" Amazing.


"FUUUUCCCKK YOOOOUUUU!"
I kinda love that Mrs Loomis aka Debbie Salt - who we know is the one who gets "knife happy" with Randy since she admits it in the climax - knows all this stuff about how Randy will "never be the leading man" and "never get the girl" because I like to imagine that Billy and his mum used to sit around and talk about his friends and what cinematic archetypes they fill. Well, until she skipped town like the exceptional mother that she is :/


So sneaky with the composition of those frames. It's Gale's van, it must be innocuous, right? Nope. Think again "dead boy."


Yeah, I'd make that face too if some random stranger tackled me from behind. O_O


Silly Randy, you should be trying to be around people! Ghostface can't exactly attack you around others. Love this shot though, don't you?


"Why copycat to high school loser ass dickheads? Stu was a pussy-assed wet rag and Billy Loomis - Billy Loomis? What the fuck? Jesus! What a rat-lookin', homo-repressed mama's boy. Why not set your goals higher, huh?
And I like the casual inclusion of "Loomis" and "mama's boy" into the conversation. Stu doesn't get a last name, but Billy does. We need to remember that name, that's why. And the "mama's boy" is yet another slight reference to Billy's mother that would go otherwise unnoticed unless you knew who the killer was. I keep quite dialogue from this scene because I think it's so well written and structured, don't you? Such rhythm.


:(

Meanwhile, there's symmetry once against between Scream and Scream 2 in the way that Randy nearly died first time around by not paying attention behind him and here goes and does it again, but isn't quite as lucky.


Love this shot! In fact, it's not just my favourite shot in this scene, but it's definitely one of my favourite shots in the entire movie. No particular reasoning behind it, I just think it looks nifty, although it does give us that great van opening van door reveal a few moments later. Plus, the idea of Ghostface looking around after having just smashed in the window of a news van is humourous.


Arty shot alert!

I find it interesting - and it goes on to that theory about this scene being directed in such a voyeuristic manner - that we're never inside the van. Not for one second. Filming Randy's murder from the outside of the van adds an even bigger dollop of tragedy to it because we can see how close he is to help with that group of hip-hoppers walking by.

And, furthermore, by filming from the outside we miss seeing someone so beloved getting - to quote Maureen Evans - "cut the fuck up". We don't need to see it in order to recognise the terror of it unlike, say, Cici. The scene is vital and a bit heartbreaking all on its own without having to actually witness the knife going in and out of his flesh.


What have we learnt from all of this? If Gale Weathers shows up in a news van, you best not get near it, because eventually blood is going to be dripping out of it. Probably YOURS!

...or maybe not.


Gale head title of "oh no..." when they realise they can't see Randy.





And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the best scream in the Screams. Casey's mum sure had a doozy, but there's something about this one of Gale screaming for Randy that kills it (er, pun unintended).

For a movie franchise that is called Scream, Craven refreshingly didn't use many moments like this where it's like there's a drum roll and a "here it comes!" announcement in neon. Like when movies use their title in the dialogue and sometimes it just sounds silly! We don't need every character belting out a scream that could shatter glass.


I'd scream like Gale too if I'd just discovered that. Poor Randy. :(

On one hand I'm sad that Randy had to die, but I'm glad they had the balls to do it. In Scream 3 they say "all bets are off" and that "anyone can die", and yet it's Scream 2 that adheres to those rules more than Scream 3.

Over at Scream-Trilogy.net many people discussed the trailers and ads of Scream 4 to such a degree that they figured they knew who died in what order and how. Many said the Weinsteins were releasing too many clips and all that, but many of them seem to be unaware that the trailers for the first three were equally spoiler-filled. Looking at the trailer for Scream 2 now and it's quite obvious that Randy dies and, hell, they even show Cici being thrown off the roof of the sorority house! Silly people have no memories. <-this had nothing to do with anything, I just felt like mentioning it.
I love that this scene ends on such a sombre note with some sort of sad, lonely gong note playing over this shot of an empty college campus. Almost like a moment of reflection for Randy, letting us calm our nerves after the jolt of electricity that this scene is. This brief overhead shot of the campus is like the dot at the bottom of this scene's exclamation point. "This shit is real, you guys!" And I love the way it completes the eventual diminishing of people from the campus as each of these overhead shots has included fewer and fewer people. The ranks are thinning!

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

The Creature from Nomi's Lagoon

This is a part of the "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" series over at The Film Experience. Do click over there if you're haven't already. You'll have to pardon Kyle McLachlan's arse, obviously, but you've probably been trying to forgive that for years so why stop now?

It's hard to decide my favourite shot from a movie such as Showgirls, one of the greatest movies ever made and filled with a smorgasbord of possibilities. Do I choose the one that is technically the best (there are a lot, it's actually photographed quite well), the one that makes me laugh the hardest (there's a lot, it's actually one of the funniest movies ever made) or choose one half way?



I like how even when there's no reason for Verhoeven and his crew to have anything other than a darkened room with a spotlight he still goes all out and bedazzles the set with strip lighting and the brightness of Nomi Malone's (Elizabeth Berkeley) top in that second still is quite eye-catching considering what Crystal Connors (Gina Gershon) is wearing (ie; not much at all). In the top one, the way Nomi steps into the frame might make viewers actually think the filmmakers had an idea as to what they were doing it comes off as that professional!


I like how this shot not only embraces the fake Las Vegas vibe of it all - all that soft lighting to make wash away the ugliness, the fracturing personalities of Crystal and the idea behind how much work goes into such perfect show business skin tones - but does so whilst alluding to the fabulous excess of the "wire hangers" sequence from Mommie Dearest. Am I the only one whose ever picked up on this? The way Crystal has her face lathered in cream while embarrassing those beneath her just screams Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford.


The pole lick is absolutely disgusting in every conceivable way (and just what are her fingers doing? playing the clarinet?) and it makes me descend into fits of laughter every time. Showgirls never gets tackier!


This entire scene is memorable because the dance that Glenn Plummer's "James Smith" (yes, that is his character's name) does is one of the most ridiculously choreographed pieces of shit I've ever seen AND Nomi seems to have this giant talent for learning dance steps within a matter of milliseconds. I chose this shot, however, because its quite a telling moment for the film. Sums up the silly impracticality of everything these characters do, but does so through a prism of filtered light and arresting imagery (his hands on her breasts reminds me of the incredible Jungle Fever poster from 1991. It's also the scene featuring the infamous "I've got towels" line, but we won't go there today.


This shot? Well, it's like the pièce de résistance for Showgirls, isn't it? A culmination of everything that is ridiculous and absurd about it. This shot has male and female nudity (you just can't quite see hers), neon palm trees, dolphin water fountains and champagne, because nothing says excess like pouring expensive French wine over a woman's breasts in a pool under a stream of water flowing out of a dolphin statue.

My favourite shot from Showgirls, however, is this moment that comes after Nomi gets shot down hardcore by Crystal (she's gettin' too old for that "whorey look", you see). The music is completely different to anything else in the movie, you might actually be mistaken for thinking it's a lost track from the Thelma & Louise soundtrack, and it shows a more contemplative Nomi, a more serious self-reflective Nomi. You could say it's a completely different Nomi from the rest of the movie and that this scene feels more mature than the rest, what with its moody skies and restraint... of course, that is before you realise that the way this shot is framed makes it look like Nomi has a giant red neon monster emerging from her vagina!


And, let's face it, there's surely no other shot in the entirety of Showgirls that's quite as ingenious about what it wants to say about women's sexual organs, that they will devour you whole, and what it has to say about the way some people are just bursting with creative flow and that sometimes, just sometimes, this leads them to do bad things.

Showgirls, a masterpiece for the ages.

Click over to The Film Experience for more Showgirls goodies.

Black + White Friday: Showgirls

Spurred on by the encouraging results that we experienced two weeks back when we turned Lust, Caution into a black and white heaven, I thought I’d start up a regular series going by the wildly elaborate name of “Black+White Friday". Each Friday I will take a movie and we’ll see what it would have looked like if it had been filmed in glorious black and white. I actually meant to start this last week, but the computer I had access to wasn't co-operating.

Today I thought I’d take a look at that oft-maligned comedy classic, Showgirls. Will it turn into a mysterious film-noir about the seedy underground of Las Vegas' showgirl scene? Will it become a Russ Meyer epic? Or will it remain just the same? Considering a big swag of Showgirls plotting takes it's cue from black and white classic All About Eve, I actually think it's entire appropriate to experiment with this title. Let's take a peak. (Warning: Some of these images may be a smidgen NSFW)


What an epic first image, no? :P


Can you imagine All About Eve if Eve's first sighting of Margo Channing was like this? "Fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night" would get a whole different meaning, no? ("bumpy" meaning "full of tits", see?)


If it weren't for that silly lollipop ring then this might (read: MIGHT) look like a film about two badass undercover female cops on the mean streets of Vegas who pretend to be prostitutes so they can weasel their way into the life of Pimp McGee. Unfortunately, the black chick becomes addicted to the drugs and the emotion-free sex and the poor white chick must turn on her in order to catch McGee and his coke dealing empire. Alas, that damn lollipop ring ruins it all!


It's like a scene out of some long lost Fellini movie!


He's the private dick trying to find evidence against Pimp McGee, without realising that she's undercover and is doing the exact same thing. You know these two are doomed though, right?


It's like Ziegfeld Follies! Just... ya know, not!


This bit just makes me giggle uncontrollably whether it's in black and white or colour.


Nope, not even black and white can make this bit classy.


I just happened to pause on this frame when a camera flash bathed Elizabeth Berkeley and thought it looked kinda of creepy. It looks like an underground fetish movie filmed on dingy 8mm. Or perhaps Beyond the Valley of the Dolls in Las Vegas?


I don't remember All About Eve having a "steamy" lesbian kiss, so I'm glad Paul Verhoeven thought it wise to throw one in for people who thought that 1950 Oscar winner was just too gosh darn prudish.

So, basically, in conclusion it turns into some weird mishmash of All About Eve, a lesbian version of 48 Hrs, whatever movie Fred and Ginger you enjoy the most and the Audrey Horne storyline from Twin Peaks! Sounds about right...