Only now does it occur to me... SCREAM 3

Only now does it occur to me...  the seven faces I did not expect to see in SCREAM 3.  And, no, I will not be referencing the Jay and Silent Bob cameo appearance, because that would be just silly.  As for the film itself, it's fairly enjoyable– at it's best it feels like WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE, and at it's worst, well, it feels like SCREAM 3.  Anyway, on to those unexpected faces:

#1.  Legendary producer/schlockmeister Roger Corman as one of the producers on the fictitious film-within-a-film, STAB 3.

#2. Lance Henriksen as "John Milton," another one of STAB 3's producers.

You wish he had more screen time, but he still gives a touch of weight and a lot of "evil eye" to what is basically a throwaway role.  I think he's supposed to be the bizarro, low budget James Cameron or something, because there's a poor man's TERMINATOR-style robot in his office (Lance also appeared in THE TERMINATOR, ALIENS, and PIRANHA II).

#3.  Patrick Warburton– aka Elaine's on-again-off-again boyfriend "Puddy" from SEINFELD.  

He plays a short-lived bodyguard who is, basically... Puddy.

#4.  Heather Matarazzo, aka Dawn Wiener from WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE.

Definitely one of those actresses whose first high-profile role was so raw and real that she will forever be identified (at least with me) as that character.  She has a fun, bit part as a former flame of the Jamie Kennedy character from SCREAM and SCREAM 2.

#5.  A Whit Stillman lead.  (Matt Keeslar, from THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO.)

Longtime readers of this site know that I'm a Whit Stillman fanatic, and there's such a tremendous specificity to the scripts and casts of Stillman films that it's extremely strange to see the actors in different contexts, especially when said context is the third installment of a self-referencing turn-of-the-century madcap slasher series.  Anyway.

#6.  Parker Posey.  

One of the patron saints of 90s American indie film, it's always a pleasure to see Parker Posey.  Even in the worst of films, she brings a manic, bitchy, metropolitan energy to her roles which surely brings a smile to the lips of even the most hardened and cynical of filmgoers.

Her presence here– as the onscreen alter-ego of Courtney Cox in the fictitious STAB 3– goes a long way to making SCREAM 3 an extremely watchable movie.  Without her, it wouldn't have half the charm.

#7.  Carrie Fisher.

She makes a rare appearance (now with a more pronounced Kathleen Turner/Lauren Bacall-esque smoky vocal intonation) as a woman working in the bowels of the studio archive who happens to look a lot like Princess Leia– only she lost the part to "the one who slept with George Lucas."  Well played, and truly unexpected!

Only now does it occur to me... SCREAM 2

Only now does it occur to me...  okay, four quick things.

#1.  During an incredibly self-reflexive (and occasionally eye-rolling) Kevin Williamson-penned scene about horror movie sequels, HOUSE II: THE SECOND STORY actually gets mentioned as a sequel that improved on the original.  This is followed by a series of well-deserved groans.  


 
As an aficionado of the HOUSE franchise (though not specifically the second installment) this still makes me pretty happy.

#2.  Apparently the briefly-glimpsed scenes of "STAB"– the fictitious film-within-a-film which adapts the events from the first SCREAM– were guest-directed by Robert Rodriguez, who was working concurrently on THE FACULTY, another Williamson-written horror flick.

 Heather Graham is standing in for Drew Barrymore, and it looks like Rodriguez had some fun with a couple of Hitchock homages.  In all, not too spectacular, but just the sort of footnote-worthy curiosity this column's all about.

#3.  David Warner! 

Genre legend and Junta Juleil Hall-O–Famer David Warner (THE OMEN, WAXWORK, BODY BAGS, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, TWIN PEAKS, MY BEST FRIEND IS A VAMPIRE, TRON, TIME BANDITS) shows up for one brief scene as Neve Campbell's college drama professor, whose productions look something like this:

He doesn't have much screen time, but it's definitely a welcome surprise.

#4.  The soundtrack from BROKEN ARROW.

This is a real head-scratcher.  Off and on, throughout the entire duration of SCREAM 2, excerpts from Hans Zimmer's soundtrack to BROKEN ARROW can be heard.  And the movie already has a soundtrack, composed by two-time Oscar nominee Marco Beltrami!  Now, I've probably seen BROKEN ARROW way more than the average moviegoer, but it's a fairly distinctive soundtrack and as such, when the action theme is playing, I'm imagining John Travolta laughing maniacally and Christian Slater running around willy-nilly, but instead I'm looking at Ghostface stalking a victim.  When the love theme plays, I'm visualizing the Slater Factor making out with Samantha Mathis, but then I'm seeing Courtney Cox and David Arquette on the screen in front of me.  The whole thing is pretty discombobulating.  Was Wes Craven a big John Woo fan?  Did Miramax accidentally buy the rights to the soundtrack and then insist that it be used?  Is it fodder for some kind of composer's rivalry between Zimmer and Beltrami?  It's jarring to me in 2013 as a bona fide BROKEN ARROW fan, but back in '97 a whole hell of a lot of people would have just seen BROKEN ARROW, which came out the year previous, thus increasing it's chances of being recognized.  Regardless: it's strange.

Anyway, SCREAM 2 is a pretty fun slasher that doesn't take itself too seriously– it's not as good as the original, but I was sort of surprised at how well it held up, some sixteen years later.