"Scream 2" and "Scream 3" on DVD

Horrors!

Scream 2

by Les Enser

Heee’s baaack! How can it be! It sure looked like Sidney (Neve Campbell) had done the old ghoul in on the first installment of Scream, which had audiences sitting on the edge of their seats. This time around it looks like someone is trying to bring back the horror to a College campus and attempting, once again slashing and gashing, to make his or her way through to Sidney.

The story unfolds with a copycat killer re-inacting a sequel to Sidney’s previous horrific experience and has local authorities, the media and of course Gale Weathers, played by Courteney Cox… the opportunistic TV reporter, to find out who the killer is.

Dewey (David Arquette) also returns to save Sidney from sure death.

The DVD retains the aspect ratio of Scream 2 in the 2.35 letterbox format. The razor sharp color and contrast are evident on this disc without any visible artifacts. Overall this disc has excellent picture quality with Sidney’s texture and sheen evident on her brown leather jacket before the climax of the film. The sound quality reveals every steely slither of the masked demon’s killer knife as he pulls it out of its sheath to annihilate unsuspecting souls. Overall this disc is pleasant to look at, besides the blood and gore. The Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound featured good ambience and plenty of spaciousness, almost like being there.

The only disappointment on the disc is the lack of interactivity in the DVD menu. There is not much to see other than a trailer and basic text information on the stars. Overall though, Scream 2 is worth watching on some cool and gloomy Sunday afternoon.

Scream 3

by Johnny Bray

It's very rare that I sit down to a movie with the absolute lowest possible standards, and still come out disappointed. But every now and then it happens.

Wes Craven brings us the third and apparently final chapter in the Scream trilogy (which just means they have to offer him more money to make the next one). However, it turns out to be exactly like the first two, only not as good.

Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox Arquette and David Arquette are all back reprising the roles they played in the previous Scream films. Campbell is Sidney, the girl everything revolves around, Cox is the bitchy journalist, and Arquette is the clumsy guy who manages to come out on top every time.

In Scream 3, the movie Stab 3 is being made, and it's based on Scream 1 and 2. Scott Foley plays the director of the movie, and Parker Posey plays the girl who plays Courtney Cox in Stab 3. The movie plays exactly like the first two movies, with some killer in a ghost outfit going around and killing everyone based on certain "rules" that must be followed. All the characters know all the rules, yet they seem to get killed anyway.

A very interesting point, is how in the first movie, Sidney mentioned how stupid it is that the lead character always runs up the stairs when she should be running out the front door. In Scream 3, Sidney is out front of the house built to represent hers in Stab 3, so she goes in and up the stairs when the killer is after her. She falls out the window, lands in front of the house, then goes back in and runs up the stairs.

Does anyone else have as hard a time understanding this as I do?

While watching the first two, I managed to have the killer pegged in the first fifteen minutes. This time it took me till about halfway through. Kudos to them.

The biggest mistake I made, was watching this movie with a bunch of "Scream keeners". Every time the killer reared his ugly head, whether it be frightening or not, they were screaming their heads off, all the while me saying "shut up, I'm trying to sleep."

I'm willing to be a man and admit that I did jump once. However, I'll also admit that it was when I was very comfortable and starting to fall asleep. All of a sudden, I heard a loud scream, and I jumped. I'd waste electrons telling you the plot of Scream 3, but if you've seen Scream 1 or 2, you already know it, scene for scene.

Scream 3 is a scare-less waste of two hours and however much money you spend on it. Unless of course, you are a Scream keener.

Audio and video quality of the DVD are very good. The video is widescreen, enhanced for 16x9 TV's, and the audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround

The "Collector's Series'"DVD has lots of extras, though I can't figure out why they'd bother. There's a running commentary from the director, outtakes, a "Behind the scenes" from all three movies, deleted scenes with commentary, Commercials and trailer, a "Creed" music video, cast/crew bios.

Scream 2 and Scream 3, from Alliance Atlantis Home Video

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