David Arquette

Ten years have passed, and Sidney Prescott, who has put herself back together thanks in part to her writing, is visited by the Ghostface Killer.

In the quiet mining town of Prosperity, Arizona, an accident involving a rabbit causes a barrel of toxic waste to land in a reservoir. An exotic spider farmer named Joshua (Tom Noonan) has been making regular visits to the site, where he collects crickets for his spiders. Although the spiders have ingested the toxins, he is oblivious since the arachnids seem unaffected. Joshua shows Mike (Scott Terra), a local boy, his collection, which include Jumping spiders, Trapdoor spiders, Tarantulas, and orb-weavers, including a female orb-weaver named Consuela. After Mike leaves, Joshua is bitten by an escaped tarantula and accidentally knocks down the spider cages. He is killed by the spiders and, after devouring him, the spiders grow to even huger proportions. On his way home, Mike is accosted by his mother, Sheriff Samantha 'Sam' Parker (Kari Wührer) and Deputy Pete pulling the toxic barrel out of the pond. Wade, the Mayor of Prosperity, is holding a town meeting in the mall about whether they should sell the mines and relocate. Chris McCormick (David Arquette), whose father owned the mines before he died ten years ago, shows up and stands against Wade's proposition. Chris also sparks a romance with Sam. Meanwhile, Harlan Griffiths (Doug E. Doug), the local radio DJ and an eccentric extraterrestrial enthusiast, is broadcasting his theory that various missing pets around town have been abducted by extraterrestrials. Inevitably his theory is dismissed as the product of a deranged imagination. Mike sneaks out on foot to find Joshua but finds the spiders missing, the farm covered in webbing, and the dead body of Joshua. Although he sees an enormous spider shadow in the mines and tells Chris that the spiders have grown to enormous sizes, based on a giant spider leg he found at the mine entrance, Chris disbelieves his story. Meanwhile, the mines have reopened with the miners searching for a famous gold lode. One miner is eaten by a gigantic spider, whose clan have made the mines their home. Seeing as the entire town is connected in some way to the mines, spiders show up in many different places. Deputy Pete Williams (Rick Overton) cat has a fight with one of the spiders in the air vents before being eaten, and some of the ostriches on Wade's farm are devoured by Trap Door Spiders, Ashley breaks up with her boyfriend Bret, and he and his motorcyclist friends are chased by jumping spiders, with him being the only survivor, accidentally cutting off the telephone line and being stuck in the mine. Chris finds out that his Aunt Gladys and her dog are abducted by a male orb weaver in their basement. Sam is convinced Chris and Mike are delusional. However, her skepticism fades and she realizes that Chris and Mike were right all along when she witnesses a giant male orb-weaver attempting to abduct Ashley (Scarlett Johansson), Sam's rebellious teenage daughter and Chris; Sam saves them both. Meanwhile Bret, still wandering the mines, gets a good peek at the giant Consuela during her feeding. Sam contacts Pete and tells him to bring all guns in the police station's possession and they escape to Harlan's trailer, knowing he has a radio station that he operates from within his trailer. As Sam broadcasts the threat over the radio, a giant tarantula, the "tank" of the horde, assaults the trailer but they manage to escape. As the town is besieged by vicious spider hordes, many people are killed and eaten, Chris tries to convince Harlan that the spiders are "from Earth" but ends up convincing him that they are "Spiders from Mars" to make him happy, Sam tells everybody to evacuate to the mall. Chris, Sam, Mike, Ashley, Harlan, Wade and many other townspeople all escape and barricade themselves in the mall (but the cowardly Wade flees into the mines and locks the gate before the attack) and defend themselves from the spiders. Meanwhile, Harlan and Chris climb onto the roof and ascend the radio mast and try to get a signal to call the US army as they are being attacked by the spiders, but are believed to be pranksters. Harlan jumps from the roof, after the tarantula breaks open the gates and lets the spiders enter the mall, and lands in some bushes, where he meets up with Pete. The two run from spiders as Chris meets up with the remaining townsfolk and goes down to the basement. Meanwhile, Bret, still wandering the mines, encounters the cowardly Wade before his abduction. While the townsfolk are in the basement, Bret arrives on a forklift that brings down the locked gate, and they all head to through the mines straight to the front entrance, discovering the methane-filled tunnels. After losing Norman and freeing Wade, Chris goes to look for his Aunt Gladys in the mines and finds her - and the gold his father was searching for, but is confronted by the gigantic Consuela. He uses perfume to distract the spider and then escapes using Bret's motorcycle. Chris then blows up the spiders and the mines utilizing Gladys's smoking addiction and the high concentrations of methane gas. The police finally arrive. They had not believed the reports of the spiders but believed Harlarn's theory that the assailants were extraterrestrial in nature, until Pete tells them that the assailants were "just spiders, that had ingested extremely high levels of toxic waste." He attempts to prove this by removing his hat, showing us that he is bald. He runs his hand back and forth over his head saying; "All new growth, just look at this, all new growth!" In the final scene, Harlan is heard making a radio report about the spiders. He concludes that the town has decided to cover up the whole incident, but have let Harlan continue broadcasting the incident, knowing nobody will believe him. He also mentions Chris reopening the gold mines and putting everyone back to work, but tells us "that is another story altogether." As the camera zooms in close on his mouth, it is clear that he now has three gold teeth.

Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), now living in Los Angeles and the host of a nationally syndicated television show, 100% Cotton, is called by Ghostface, who demands the whereabouts of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who has gone into seclusion since the events at Windsor college. Cotton refuses to answer even when the caller claims to be in Cotton's house and threatens to kill his girlfriend. Cotton tries calling home, but his girlfriend does not pick up, as the phone line had been cut. Cotton tries calling 911, but the wait time is too long. Meanwhile the killer uses a voice changing device to mimic Cotton to lure his girlfriend Christine out and attacks her. Christine manages to lock herself into a room with the killer taunting her in Cotton's voice. Cotton reaches home, and Christine attacks Cotton believing that he is the killer who had attacked her. Both Cotton and Christine (Kelly Rutherford) are murdered. Detective Mark Kincaid (Patrick Dempsey) meets with Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox Arquette) to discuss the murders. Kincaid reveals that the murderer left a photo at the crime scene, which Gale identifies as that of Maureen, Sidney's mother. This prompts Gale to travel to Hollywood, where she finds Dewey Riley (David Arquette) working as an advisor on the set of Stab 3, the third film in the film within a film series based on the Ghostface murders. Cotton had recently recorded a cameo for the movie and was well known on the sets. Ghostface kills Stab 3 actress Sarah Darling (Jenny McCarthy) (who was playing the role of Casey from Woodsboro) with the help of a voice changer (imitating the movie's director Roman), halting the film's production to the frustration of director Roman Bridger. Sidney is now living in an isolated home as a crisis counselor for an abused women's hot-line, as she is terrified that another killer may strike. Her property is protected with several layers of security devices. Sidney learns from the news that Cotton has been murdered. Sidney starts having nightmares about Maureen haunting her and Ghostface attacking her. Having discovered her number, the killer begins taunting Sidney using a voice changer to sound like her deceased mother Maureen Prescott (Lynn McRee). Sidney travels to Hollywood, realizing she is no longer safe. As the remaining Stab 3 cast gather at the home of Jennifer Jolie (Parker Posey) who is playing the role of Gale weathers in the movie. Ghostface kills her bodyguard Steven Stone (Patrick Warburton) and uses a gas leak to cause an explosion, killing fellow actor Tom Prinze (Matt Keeslar). Dewey is the technical assistant for the movie production & Jennifer was attracted to Dewey, causing much irritation to Gale. Martha Meeks (Heather Matarazzo), the sister of Sidney's murdered friend Randy (Jamie Kennedy), visits Sidney and the others to deliver a videotape that Randy made before his death. Randy posthumously warns them the rules of a horror film do not apply in the third film of a trilogy and that any of them could die. Sidney wanders on to the sets of Stab 3, which are modeled on her original house at Woodsboro & is attacked by Ghostface & barely escapes. Gale and Jennifer do some digging in the Hollywood archives & figure that Maureen Prescott was an actress in Hollywood before she returned to Woodsboro and met Sidney's father. Maureen briefly worked as an actress in the 1960s under the stage name "Rina Reynolds" and had been sexually assaulted at a party held by Stab 3 producer John Milton (Lance Henriksen), who had earlier made 3 movies with Maureen. Dewey, Gale, Jennifer, and the remaining Stab 3 actors, Angelina Tyler (Emily Mortimer) and Tyson Fox (Deon Richmond), attend a birthday party for Stab 3's director Roman Bridger (Scott Foley) where Ghostface strikes. Gale discovers Roman's body with a knife in his chest in a movie-set coffin in the basement, while Angelina, Tyson, and Jennifer are killed by Ghostface at various places throughout the house. Ghostface then orders Sidney to the mansion to save Gale and Dewey's lives, as they are tied up. When she arrives, Ghostface forces Sidney to remove her firearm but she reveals a hidden one, which she uses to shoot the killer. As Sidney is untying Gale and Dewy, Ghostface's body disappears. Detective Kincaid shows up but is knocked out by Ghostface. Sidney flees and hides in a secret screening room where she encounters Ghostface. He reveals himself as Roman, having faked his death and survived being shot due to a bulletproof vest. Roman explains that he is Sidney's half-brother and the product of Maureen's sexual assault. Four years prior, he tracked Maureen down, only for her to reject him. Bitter over the rejection, he would film all the men she philandered with. He showed Billy Loomis the footage of his father with Maureen, which motivated him to kill her (sparking the events at Woodsboro and Windsor). However, when he discovered how much fame Sidney got because of those events, Roman snapped and lured Sidney out of hiding. After Roman reveals a bound Milton and slits his throat, Sidney furiously denounces his explanation as nothing more than deflection to hide his selfish motivations. Roman suffers a mental breakdown and attacks. Sidney and Roman have a ferocious fight, and he ends up shooting her. While preparing for Gale and Dewey to arrive, Roman is now surprised to see that Sidney's body has disappeared. As he begins to place a call to Sidney's cellphone to locate her, he instead receives an incoming call from her. This distracts him long enough for Sidney to stab Roman in the back, apparently killing him, but not before showing him that she too was wearing a bulletproof vest. Dewey and Gale arrive, and Roman suddenly jumps up and attacks again, only for Dewey to kill him with a shot to the head. In the aftermath of the murders, Dewey proposes to Gale, which she accepts as Sidney arrives. Sidney is invited to join Dewey, Gale, and Detective Kincaid to watch a movie. As she goes to join the others, a door behind her opens, but she walks away leaving it as is, finally confident that the murders have ended and that she is now safe.

While attending a preview of the film Stab, a film within a film based on the Woodsboro murders depicted in Scream, two students at Windsor College, Maureen Evans (Jada Pinkett) and Phil Stevens (Omar Epps) are killed by Ghostface. Before entering the auditorium, the entire audience is given Ghostface masks and as such everybody looked exactly the same. The crowd was already in a frenzy and some of the audience also enacted slashing scenes of the movie using fake knives. Phil is stabbed through the ear in a bathroom stall while trying to listen closely to strange whimpering noises. The killer, wearing a Ghostface costume, returns to the screening and sits beside Maureen, before mortally stabbing her. At first the audience believe her to be part of the raucous acting out, until she falls dead in front of the cinema screen. The following day, the news media, including local journalist Debbie Salt (Laurie Metcalf), descend on Windsor College, where Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) now studies alongside fellow Woodsboro survivor Randy (Jamie Kennedy), her boyfriend Derek (Jerry O'Connell), Derek's best friend Mickey (Timothy Olyphant), and her best friend Hallie (Elise Neal). Sidney receives prank calls but has now installed a number identification device on her landline. She is oblivious to the recent killings until someone instructs her to watch the news. Sidney meets Randy and says that the murders are starting again, but Randy is not convinced and says that a lot of crimes are committed at the movie theaters. Two other Woodsboro survivors arrive at the campus: officer Dewey Riley (David Arquette) who comes to help Sidney, and reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) to cover the case. Dewey says that if somebody is repeating the Woodsboro murders then Sidney would probably already know them. Gale is only looking for publicity. She refuses to take any responsibility for the movie Stab, based on her book, for being the inspiration for the new murders. Yet, she demands answers from local police about what they are doing to prevent further murders. Dewey calls Gale a money-hungry, fame-seeking, mediocre writer with no empathy for the people whose lives she ruins to feed her own career. Gale and her new cameraman, Joel Jones (Duane Martin) tries to stage a confrontation between Sidney and Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), who is attempting to gain fame from his exoneration for the murder of Sidney's mother. Sidney angrily hits Gale. Gale had promised Cotton 10 minutes of national coverage, but Gale refuses to indulge Cotton till she gets her interview with Sidney. Later that night, Sidney unwillingly goes to a party with Hallie at the sorority house Delta Lambda Zeta. At Omega Beta Zeta, another nearby sorority house, Ghostface kills fellow student Cici (Sarah Michelle Gellar) in a similar way to how Casey was murdered in the events at Woodsboro. After the party-goers leave to observe Cici's crime scene, Ghostface enters Delta Lambda Zeta and attacks Sidney, though Derek intervenes. The killer injures Derek, but Dewey and the police arrive, causing the killer to flee. The next day, Gale discusses the case with the police. Upon realizing that Cici's real name is Casey, she concludes that the killer is a copycat who targets students who share the same names as the Woodsboro murder victims. Randy theorizes that the killer is likely someone Sidney knows and is patterning the homicides after a movie sequel. While Gale is talking to Dewey and Randy on the campus lawn, she receives a call from Ghostface hinting that he is watching them. They search for him, but Randy, who tries to keep the killer on the phone, is dragged into Gale's broadcast van and stabbed to death. Shortly after, Joel, fearing he will be targeted next, skips town. As night falls over the campus, Dewey and Gale go to a building to review tapes of footage shot by Joel, hoping to spot the killer in the vicinity of the previous crime scenes, but Ghostface attacks them, stabbing Dewey. Gale hides and eventually escapes. In the wake of the escalating murders, two officers prepare to take Sidney and Hallie to safety, but the killer ambushes them and kills the two officers. In the ensuing struggle, Ghostface is knocked unconscious. Sidney insists on unmasking him, while Hallie insists, they escape. Before they can see his face, Ghostface wakes up and kills Hallie. Sidney flees. Drawn to music playing in the campus theatre while seeking safety, Sidney finds Derek in the auditorium tied to a cross from an earlier fraternity hazing ritual. Ghostface arrives, revealing himself as Mickey, and shoots Derek, killing him. Mickey details his plan to be caught and become famous in the ensuing trial and media spectacle. He then announces his accomplice, Debbie Salt, who arrives holding Gale at gun point. Sidney recognizes that Salt is actually Billy Loomis's mother, seeking revenge for her son's death. Mrs. Loomis betrays Mickey and shoots him affirming that she only used Mickey to frame him for their killing spree. Mickey fires his gun before collapsing, wounding Gale, who falls offstage. Nancy discloses she is seeking revenge against Sidney for killing Billy and that she murdered Randy in Joel's news van for slandering her son's name. However, Sidney points out the hypocrisy of Nancy's motives, considering that her abandonment fueled Billy's psychotic tendencies. The pair fight until Cotton appears and holds them at gunpoint. Nancy attempts to manipulate Cotton into murdering Sidney, reminding him that her testimony got him arrested. Much to Nancy's shock, he instead chooses to shoot her in exchange for an interview with Sidney and Diane Sawyer. As Sidney, Cotton, and a recovered Gale glance over Nancy's body, Mickey suddenly resurfaces but is shot to death by Gale and Sidney. Sidney then shoots Nancy in the head to ensure her death. When the police arrive, Dewey is revealed to be alive and Gale climbs into the ambulance with him rather than taking the opportunity to report to the returning Joel. Sidney then instructs the press to direct questions to Cotton to remove attention from herself and reward Cotton for helping her.

In the small town of Woodsboro, California, high school student Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) receives a flirtatious phone call from an unknown person, asking her, "What's your favorite scary movie?". They discuss horror films until the caller turns sadistic. Casey is alarmed when the caller claims to be looking at her. Casey is alone at home in a secluded house. The caller knows that even if Casey calls the police, they will never get there in time. The caller threatens her life and revealing that her boyfriend, Steve (Kevin Patrick Walls), is tied up on her patio, which Casey can see when she turns on the patio lights. The caller demands she answer questions about horror films to save his life, but Casey gives an incorrect answer about Friday the 13th, resulting in Steve's death. When Casey refuses to cooperate with the caller, she is attacked and stabbed to death by someone wearing a "Ghostface" costume. Before dying, Casey was able to remove the Ghostface mask to uncover the identity of the killer. Her parents come home to find her body hanging from a tree with all her intestines hanging out. The following day, the news media descend on the town and a police investigation begins. Meanwhile, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) struggles with the impending one-year anniversary of her mother's murder by Cotton Weary. The trauma has made her unable to consummate her relationship with her boyfriend, Billy Loomis whom she has been seeing for 2 years. Her father Neil is traveling for work and will be back on the coming Sunday. While waiting at home for her friend, Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan), Sidney receives a threatening phone call. After she hangs up, she is attacked by Ghostface, who disappears just before her boyfriend Billy Loomis (Skeet Ulrich) climbs through her window. After Billy drops his cell phone, Sidney suspects him of making the call and flees. Billy is arrested and Tatum takes Sidney to her house. Billy is arrested by Deputy Sheriff Dewey Riley, Tatum's brother. Reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) is covering the story & Sidney hits her when she comes to her for questioning. Gale is writing a book about Sidney's mother's convicted killer Cotton Weary. Gale had written a book claiming that Maureen had multiple extramarital affairs, including one with Cotton, whom Gale believes was falsely accused of Maureen's homicide. Gale believes that Cotton was wrongly convicted of murder due to Sidney's testimony. She believes that Sidney saw someone leaving the house with Cotton's blood-soaked jacket, which was later planted in Cotton's car, implicating him. Cotton admits to having sex with Sidney's mother on the night of her murder. Sidney sticks to her story. Billy is released the next day, when the previous night Sidney receives another threatening phone call, while Billy was in the locker. Suspicion has shifted to Sidney's father, Neil Prescott (Lawrence Hecht), as the calls have been traced to his phone, but the police are unable to locate him. Following his release, Billy encounters Sidney at school and further upsets her by comparing his absent mother to Maureen's death. School is suspended in the wake of the murders. After the students have left the school, Principal Himbry (Henry Winkler) is stabbed to death in his office. Billy's friend Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) throws a party to celebrate the school's closure. The party is attended by Sidney, Tatum, their friend Randy Meeks, and several other students. Gale attends uninvited to cover the situation, as she expects the killer to strike. Deputy sheriff Dewey Riley (David Arquette) also looks out for the murderer at the party. Tatum is killed during the party after having her head crushed by the garage door. As fellow high school student Randy Meeks details the rules of surviving a horror film, news arrives of Himbry's murder. Most party-goers leave to see his body, nearly running over Dewey and Gale while inadvertently leading them to a hidden car, which they investigate. Billy arrives to speak to Sidney privately, and the two ultimately consummate their relationship. Only Sidney, Billy, Randy, Stu, and Gale's cameraman Kenny (W. Earl Brown) remain at the secluded house. After having sex, Sidney and Billy are attacked by the killer, who seemingly murders Billy. Sidney escapes the killer and seeks help from Kenny, but he gets his throat slit by the killer. Sidney again flees. Gale and Dewey, having discovered that the car belongs to Neil Prescott, return to the house. They believe Neil is the killer and has come to the party to continue his spree. Gale attempts to leave the scene in her van but drives off the road and crashes to avoid hitting Sidney. Meanwhile, Dewey is stabbed in the back while investigating in the house, and Sidney takes Dewey's gun. Stu and Randy appear and accuse each other of being the killer. Sidney retreats into the house, where she finds Billy wounded but still alive. She gives Billy the gun. Billy lets Randy into the house and shoots him. Billy reveals he has feigned his injuries and is actually the killer, with Stu being his accomplice. Billy and Stu discuss their plan to kill Sidney and frame her father, whom they have taken hostage, for their murder spree. The pair also admits to killing her mother, Maureen (Lynn McRee). Billy says he was motivated to seek revenge on Maureen because she was having an affair with Billy's father, Hank, which drove his mother away. They proceed to stab each other to depict themselves as the last survivors. Gale, thought dead by the killers, intervenes, and Sidney takes advantage of this to turn the tables on her attackers, killing Stu by dropping a television set on his head. Randy is revealed to be wounded but alive. Billy nearly stabs Sidney but is shot by Gale. After Randy remarks that horror film killers revive for a final scare, Billy lunges for them, but Sidney shoots him in the head, killing him. As dawn breaks, Neil is rescued, Dewey is taken away by ambulance, and Gale provides an impromptu news report about the night's events.

The early career of legendary lawman Wild Bill Hickock is telescoped and culminates in his relocation in Deadwood and a reunion with Calamity Jane. Maverick Writer and Director Walter Hill's version of the famous Wild Bill Hickok legend is a dreamscape western that is told entirely in flashback. Hickok's friend Charley Prince (Sir John Hurt) narrates the events of Wild Bill's life while sitting at Bill's graveside. Hickok is played by Jeff Bridges as a mean, high-spirited, but gallant outlaw. He wanders the West, adding to his reputation with some well-chosen gunfights, and he meets up with characters such as Calamity Jane (Ellen Barkin), who becomes his sidekick for a time. After becoming a legend, Hickok signs up for a stint with Buffalo Bill Cody's travelling variety show. Eventually, he falls in love with Susannah Moore (Diane Lane), and his love leads him to tragedy in the town of Deadwood, South Dakota. Wild Bill Hickok, famed lawman and gunman of the Old West, is haunted by his past and his reputation. He is loved by, but cannot love, Calamity Jane. Dogging his trail is young Jack McCall, who blames Bill for abandoning the boy's mother and destroying her life. McCall has sworn to kill Bill, and Bill's ghosts, his failing eyesight, and his fondness for opium may make McCall's task easier. —Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>