“Scream 3” (2000) suggested that one response to serial killing is to propagate the species. Isn’t that why after so many have died, Dewey (David Arquette) pops the question to Gale (Courteney Cox) and she says yes.
The first three installments of Wes Craven’s “Scream” franchise raised way more questions than they provided answers.
Some, like the notion that a teen with a cell phone was somehow unusual (Skeet Ulrich as Billy in “Scream” 1) now seem quaint.
Others, which were answered as directly as a gunshot, still resonate.
To help us reminisce for the first “Scream” in more than a decade, here’s a brush-up quiz on a few of those:
Q When does a slasher’s knife save a life?
A When the cuts allow an "R" rating, wide release and $161 million in worldwide business. ("Scream" 1).
Q Is it safer to keep your name out of the credits in a teen horror film?
A Not if you're old (i.e., no longer cool). An uncredited Henry Winkler plays the high school principal in "Scream" 1, but his character still dies. Sorry, Fonz.
Q What's a good way to get a sorority girl to come downstairs?
A Throw her off the balcony (as the killer does to Cici Cooper (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in "Scream 2."
Q Why shouldn't a sheriff be thin-skinned?
A Scar tissue from a previous stabbing is what saves Dewey (David Arquette) when he's stabbed again in "Scream 2."
Q When is killing an already dead person not abuse of a corpse?
A When the bodies keep coming back to life in a movie, that's when. "Just in case," says Sidney (Neve Campbell) when she shoots a deceased Mrs. Loomis (Laurie Metcalf) in the head ("Scream 2").
Q Did you hear the one about the Roman who went to the bar?
A His half-sister Sidney (Campbell) jumped up from behind the bar and stabbed Roman Bridger (Scott Foley) twice in the back with an ice pick. When, almost inevitably, he later revived, Dewey (Arquette) shot him in the head ("Scream 3").
Q When is learning your lines not enough?
A When there are multiple versions of the script. In "Scream 3," the actors in a movie within the movie seem to be dying in the order they appear. Who's next? Jennifer Jolie (Parker Posey)? Um, no. Only the rewrite staff and the killer know for sure.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2377 or tmorris@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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