Scream 3
Dimension Films | Release Date: February 4, 2000 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
10
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
For the initiated, the third time's a charm. For everyone else, it's just a scream. Read full review
80
Film.comErnest Hardy
It's a pleasant surprise to note how good Scream 3 really is. Read full review
80
VarietyJoe Leydon
A crafty and well-crafted wrap-up that really does bring a satisfying sense of closure to the franchise. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Genuinely scary and also highly amusing. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
It's a pleasure to report that Scream 3 is an absolute riot, jammed with spicy cameos. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
I enjoyed every moment of this densely plotted final chapter, and most other fans will too. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Funny and brisk, with enough good lines to make the comedy more satisfying than the somewhat routine but still unsettling jolts to the spine. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerJim Peterson
Scream 3 also has wit and intelligence, but at their core the Scream movies are still slasher films and this one is no exception. Read full review
75
USA TodaySusan Wloszczyna
(Craven) and his Scream dream team have done a frightfully good job of killing off and wrapping up the popular horror series. Read full review
70
Washington PostRita Kempley
It's plenty entertaining, but the ending is disappointing, given the buildup. Read full review
70
Film.comGemma Files
But it IS enjoyable. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
A lot more fun than "Blair Witch," and it's more relaxed and goofy than its two predecessors -- a farcical bloodbath. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Just isn't very scary. Read full review
63
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
At its savviest, Scream 3 is a cheeky conceptual conceit, cheaply executed for the sake of achieving trilogy status. Instead, it's like a carnival that's been in town a week too long. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
It's the chemistry between the Arquettes (they met on the first film and married after the second) and their rapport with Campbell that sustains Scream 3 through its overly convoluted plot. Read full review
60
TimeRichard Schickel
Not so good is the absence of hip cross-references to the classic horror tropes. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunAnn Hornaday
Even if Scream 3 lacks the punch and verve of the first two installments, it manages to wring some ironically metaphysical comedy from the movie-within-a-movie motif. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
About the only thing the movie kills with any decisiveness is your time. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Essentially an interlacing of irony and gotcha! Scenes. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMarc Caro
Although Scream 3 is often clever in the way it interweaves the worlds of "Scream," "Stab" and life outside the theater, it's not exactly groundbreaking. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Slower, more earnest, and not as gory. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Campy, overwrought and gleefully cannibalistic in the way it references and regurgitates horror flicks of yore, Scream 3 fulfills its modest ambitions by delivering a glib slasher spoof for the mall crowd. Read full review
50
Film.comJohn Hartl
Simply can't sustain interest for much of its final hour. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Where Scream 3 triumphs is in its wacky, take-no-prisoners, I am a Juggernaut of Terror, Hee, Hee attitude, which wisely makes room for some downright surreal moments amongst the carnage. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It's got turns, it's got an attractive cast that gets shish-kabobed with ruthless regularity. It's just tired. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Cowardice and cliché - not a tasty combination. Read full review
38
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
At 116 minutes, this third installment lumbers along like a serial killer in shackles. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeJay Carr
A lame little flat liner. Read full review
33
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
What's left is a husk with all the superficial features of a Scream movie and none of the heart, brains, guts or laughs. Read full review
30
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
It's time to run, screaming. Read full review
30
TNT RoughCutChristopher Brandon
First rule of a film trilogy: Part 3 sucks. See "The Godfather 3,"" Alien 3,"" Jaws 3." Even "Return of the Jedi" was just a rehash of "Star Wars" with muppets. Add Scream 3 to that trend.
30
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Logic, motivation, suspense -- anything that might make the film frightening or resonant -- is buried under Dolby blams, medulla-shaming dialogue, and a rain of overdubbed hunting-knife schwings that grate like a 3 a.m. car alarm. Read full review
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