While Williamson had developed this idea of the SCREAM TRILOGY, he didn’t stick around to write part 3, which is to some degree, the reason it lacks the bite of the first two films. Ironically, this duty went to Ehren (Arlington Road) Kruger. Though Sans the ‘e’, you gotta ask if it's conincidental that Scream Trilogy Director Wes Craven’s just so happend to be the creator of the most famous screen horror icon of the 80’s, Freddy.......Kreuger, (Nightmare on Elm Street :)

One good thing about the Scream Trilogy is that they have remained very faithful to one another and the main good guys have returned for a third time. Trilogy hero Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) now lives the life of a recluse outside of Hollywood. Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox Arquette) is still the ruthless TV journalist, & now sadly sports a "girl! what’s up with that fringe" styled haircut. Whereas Dewey Riley (David Arquette) has left the police force and is now a security guard for Jennifer Jolle(the very funny Parker Posey) who just so happens to be playing "Gale" in the currently under production STAB 3!

Pretty soon old Ghost face is back, this time NO WAY NEAR as nasty as he’s, err she’s, err they’ve! Been, and the cast of Stab 3 are being offed one - by - one.

Sadly, SCREAM 3 lacks the intensity and black humour of the original, and goes for laughs instead of horror and scares with it’s continuing Hollywood in-jokes, which I must admit are howlers at times (the princess Leia joke is my favourite) Thanks must also go to the comedic talents of Parker Posey who is a hoot as on-screen Gale, and just steals every scene she’s in.

So How Does This Transfer Hold Up?

VIDEO
The general comment about the region 1 DVD version of SCREAM 3 was that it’s good, but suffers from excessive aliasing.
Thankfully, our Anamorphic Widescreen region 4 PAL version shows only slight signs of aliasing, as for the most part it’s very stable with it’s continual crane and steadi-cam shots.
Detail is quite high, and sharpness is pretty good, but colour saturation is often too intense making fleshtones look a liitle pasty and unnatural.
Blacks also come across just a bit too strong with a dense appearance.  By having a lower black level then normal shadow detail is a fraction down.  The Outdoor sequences while having a comfortable controlled look, do really lack that natural outdoorsie feel, (from this lower black level). 

Even so, at the end of the day the problems aren't really that bad and this is a better than average transfer.

Spread over 2 layers of an RSDL DVD, the layer change occurs during chapter 13 at 75:32, right after Stab 3's Gale says "Roman?". Quite well placed to as it’s on an essentially static shot down the stairs.

AUDIO
In a word, Excellent. The 5.1 mixes of the Scream films get better and better.
Musically, Marco Beltrami’s beautifully haunting, [though now a tad repetitive], score fills the room with ambience on the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix.
If you drop by Chapter 8 at about 44:15, you’ll get a nice 5.1 workout with a mixture of discrete surround dialogue spots and a cracker of a house explosion.
I am most pleased to say that here’s a soundtrack that is near perfect in sync, at least on my Pioneer 717. Dialogue is very natural sounding, with just a hint of it seeming ARD produced from time to time.
There is also a secondary Dolby Digital 2.0 surround track provided. It’s also pretty good, but is about 5 dB’s lower than the 5.1 mix.

EXTRAS
Ahhhhh, now these are indeed good.

Starting with a very nice main menu introduction, essentially a montage which becomes the Main Menu. Coupled with a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track, the main menu "selectable options" individually fly in from each side of the screen, accompanied by a "slashing" sound from the respective side channels. Nice touch!

Toping the extras list is the DD2.0 Audio Commentary featuring Director Wes Craven, his long time Producing Partner Marianne Maddalena, and Long time Film editor Patrick Lussier.
All the Craven Commentaries have been great to listen to and this one is no exception. Marianne throws in her 2 cents worth as does Patrick, in fact he could have had a comm track of his own as he had a lot to offer.

There is also an Alternate Ending, which is more of an "extended" ending. You can listen to this 9 minute Anamorphic Widescreen version with either the original audio OR the Audio Commentary! Audio commentaries on Deleted scenes are a terrific addition as it gives you so much more insight into the film making process. LOVE IT!

Deleted Scenes from Scream 2 and 3 have been included. Scream 2 scenes run about 4 minutes whereas the Scream 3 sequences go for 13 minutes. Both are Anamorphic Widescreen with a DD2.0 mix. The Scream 3 scenes also have an audio commentary track!!

Outtakes from Scream 1 and 2 another VERY welcome addition. Some are quite funny with Scream having 4 minutes of outtakes and scream 2’s totally 9 minutes. (both are again Anamorpihc Widescreen with 2 channel sound)

Please Note the above 3 extras have been taken from a low quality source and look pretty nasty, as explained with the pre-sequence title card.

Theatrical Trailers : the USA and International versions, 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, 2 channel sound.

Music Video : Creed’s "what if" featuring David (Dewey) Arquette, and ghost face. (16x9, DD2.0)

Behind the Scenes Montage. A wonderful extra combining bits and pieces and on set footage from all Three Scream films. Each segment has it’s own chapter to boot. MORE MORE!!!! :)

And last, but not least, Cast and Crew Bios with a very decent amount of info on selected cast and crew members.

All in all, you won’t be disappointed with the treatment Scream 3 has received on DVD, even if like me, a lover of the original Scream, thought the film was pretty crappy. Another great effort from Roadshow.