Jenny McCarthy as Sarah Darling

"The most terrifying scream is always the last," teases the tagline for Scream 3, the third and allegedly final chapter of director Wes Craven's trilogy of the fictitious terrors of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), a small town girl from Woodsboro, California whose friends and family share the unfortunate fate of being systematically slashed in the most gauche and gruesome ways. Scream 3 also returns real-life Hollywood newlyweds Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette to their roles as ice-blooded journalist Gale Weathers and dim-witted but warm-hearted ex-cop Dewey Riley. Following in the foxy footsteps of Drew Barrymore and Heather Graham is former Playboy Playmate of the Year, Jenny McCarthy in a curvaceous cameo as the latest voluptuous victim of the Scream series' trademark movie within the movie. Scream 3’s all bloody good fun that's easy on the brain, as long as you don't try to figure out the identity of the murderer or murderers. That's when the fetching starts getting a little far and the plot runs thinner than Courteney's winsome waistline.

"What's your favorite scary movie?" is another recurrent topic of the Scream trilogy, usually asked via prank call by the maniac with a mask (like the famous painting "The Scream" by Edward Munch) moments before he guts his catch of the day. Coincidence or not, Scream 3’s director Wes Craven has been behind many of the teen horror scene's most terrifying modern moments. Since 1972's Last House on the Left, Craven has hacked out a niche for himself in the Psychotronic Hall of Fame with pulse-pounding pictures like The Hills Have Eyes, Nightmare on Elm Street and The Serpent and the Rainbow. Though the Scream trilogy's comedic asides, incestuous references to the rules of stab films, and gimmicky casting has clouded Craven's once vivid visceral vision, he's still a master puppeteer when it comes to bringing the audience to the edge of their seats, whether they want to be there or not.

Through the most implausible plot twists, motivation revelations and continuity breakdowns, Craven doesn't stop long enough to ponder trivialities and keeps Team Scream hurtling ever forward towards another convoluted confrontation between Sidney Prescott and her latest obsessive assailant. Wes has certainly crafted more genuinely frightening films, but none as successful as the first two Screams and since the final chapter tampers not with the golden-fleeced formula of its predecessors, Craven is sure to hear the screams of Dimension Film executives should he refuse to make Scream 4.

Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott and David Arquette as Dewey Riley

Neve Campbell, the Cox-Arquettes and the majority of Scream 3’s cast all look and perform as expected and incite the requisite levels of ire and sympathy. Patrick Warburton, most known for his role as David Putty, Elaine's occasional boyfriend on "Seinfeld," surprises us in his more dramatic role as Steven Stone, bodyguard to the stars. On the not so bright side, Patrick Dempsey was unbelievably miscast as Detective Mark Kincaid, assigned to crack the copycat killings on the set of Stab 3, a dramatization of the earlier Woodsboro murders. Dempsey's trim build, highly styled hair and soap-opera looks would be perfect for "All My Children" or "The John Travolta Story," but as an LAPD detective, the producers might as well have cast Robert Downey Jr. or Christian Slater who, if not believable, at least are familiar with police procedures.

So if you, like many of Scream 3’s ill-fated characters, are a student of splatter flicks, or can suspend rational thinking long enough to enjoy seeing your favorite TV stars being skewered like shish kabob, then the latest Scream is the shiniest thing since stainless steel and the scariest movie of the new millennium – at least until Blair Witch II comes out. If, however, you can't decide whether The Piano or The English Patient is the greatest movie ever made, then Scream 3 won't be your cup of Earl Grey tea and you will find yourself shrieking from the theater at the thought of having paid to see such comic-book butchery. Either way, it's a real scream.