I listened to too many critics’ opinions of this movie before I saw it. Because of that, I guess you could say that I wasn’t expecting too much, at least not anything as good as either of the other two Screams. I was pleasantly surprised when it all was said and done.

Wes Craven comes back with the third and final installment of this horror trilogy. Sydney (Neve Campbell) is now out of college and working for a Womens’ Crisis Center hotline (those of you in the customer service industry can appreciate her little headset). They make a big point of highlighting her companion (a big giant dog) and the alarm system on her huge farm house (she must live way out west to be able to afford that right out of school). Things seem to be as normal as they can be for a girl who has been through two psychotic murderer episodes, not to mention watching two boyfriends die. No wonder she’s single. Then, when she least expects it, in comes the killer in the freaky mask. With that, things get underway and we are re-introduced to Dewey (David Arquette) and Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox-Arquette) along with a slew of doomed newbies.

The biggest problem with this movie is that it was not written by Kevin Williamson, the man behind the previous two efforts. You can tell. But it doesn’t take much to put me on the edge of my seat, and so therefore this movie had my adrenaline rushing. My disappointment came with the wrap-up at the end which explained the whole entire scheme (from the very beginning, folks). It was a little too neat and tidy for me. It was also a bit of a letdown after investing so much time in the story (if you count the first two movies in this equation). I’m glad that I did not pay to see this movie in theater, but I am glad I saw it nonetheless.

Rating:  * * 1/2