Buena Vista (Miramax) press materials/production notes.

Released theatrically in the USA December 20, 1996.

The teenage denizens of a quiet small town find their calm lives shattered when a brilliant, twisted psycho killer uses his love of horror movie conventions to set up his victims. A clever, often funny thriller from the creators of "A Nightmare on Elm Street." Don't open the door!

"...In addition to a strong surface sheen, Craven has put together a strong ensemble cast..."

"...A deft, funny, shrewdly unsettling tribute..."

"...It's sensational in both sense of the word: a bravura, provocative sendup of horror pictures that's also scary and gruesome..."

"...Cleverness and self-awareness....The glee in all this knowingness is infectious..."

"...The satire is more sophisticated....Director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson have sharpened the focus along with their copycat killer's knives..." -- 3 out of 4 stars

"...Sneaky....Sharp..."

"...There are some welcomely unexpected plot twists: you'll never guess the whodunit until it's revealed in the final frames..."

Desperate to escape the demons of her past, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) discretely cocoons herself in a remote, high-security ranch house in the woods of Northern California, where she works as a phone counselor for a crisis hotline. She's content to remain in quiet seclusion, but finds herself once again facing mortal danger when the masked killer Ghostface (named for the Munch-inspired costume) begins cutting into the cast of STAB 3--the schlocky series of slasher films based upon the Woodsboro and Windsor College murders. One by one STAB 3's stars meet grisly deaths at the hands of the psychopath, who--armed with a cell phone, a copy of the film's screenplay, and an arsenal of B-movie cliches--gleefully hunts down and eviscerates his victims. The killer's modus operandi adheres to the "rules" of engagement codified by the great film trilogies STAR WARS and THE GODFATHER, which dictate that in the third chapter, anything goes. Now Sidney must return to "Woodsboro"--recreated as the set of STAB 3--and team-up with cut-throat reporter Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), small-town deputy Dwight "Dewey" Riley (David Arquette), Hollywood detective Marc Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey), and the remaining cast of STAB 3 in order to stop the killer before he makes his final cut.

"...SCREAM 3 is a crafty and well-crafted wrap-up..."

"...The Hollywood setting allows for a pleasant succession of in-references and gags..."

Includes deleted scenes.