Scream 2 Reviews

The original Scream was a classic, so this sequel had a lot to live up to. And it was a worthy sequel on the most part. Though it didn't entirely succeed, the story is less fresh and less original, it is not as efficiently paced and the killer's reveal was predictable. However, the production values are of high quality, the music is still haunting and the sound still unsettling, there are still the funny lines, the genuine scares, the credible direction from Wes Craven and the return of the iconic GhostFace. The acting is still good too. So overall, a worthy sequel, just not quite the instant classic the first was. 7/10 Bethany Cox

Not so long ago, I saw the 4th installment of this franchise. I had some rather low expectations but I heard here and there that it was actually pretty good so I thought I should give it a try. Eventually, I thought it was terribly disappointing and, in my opinion, it was really not worth re-launching this franchise 10 years later. Personally, I really loved the first installment, it is a genuine classic, but all the sequels were disappointing. The point is that the ideas developed in ‘Scream’ were quite intriguing but there was no way it would work with some sequels. The first issue was to let the main cast survive all along. It kills a lot of the momentum. Then, you have the twist(s) which was pretty cool the first time around but those became really predictable and above all really ridiculous. The 3rd installment has the worst reputation but, personally, I think it was actually a slight improvement on this 2nd movie which was, in my opinion, really abysmal. Indeed, what a stupid flick… Apparently, it is actually a decent sequel so maybe my rating might be a little bit harsh but, in my opinion, it was a huge step-back from the awesome first installment. To conclude, I thought it was pretty bad and I don’t think it is worth a look.

Having loved Scream and that the story had been told, personally I thought that a sequel wasn't really needed, but that is what we have got. Expectations were neither high nor low, and there was bound to be something new in this one that we hadn't discovered in the predecessor. Did Scream 2 reach up to the masterful standard of the first film? Definitely not! Like most sequels that don't have a follow-up story to its predecessor, Scream 2 is like the first one all over again with the same openings and endings but with different yet slightly weaker plot twists and turns. The Hangover: Part II and Home Alone: Lost In New York are examples.


The best bit of credit that can be given to this sequel is that after the few plot twists and turns, there were a few questions that were asked about the first film that were answered in this one. There were the intense thrills that were still there in this one, which is where a major part of the first film came back and followed. Beside the genre, the Scream franchise is a lot like the Rocky franchise, mostly due to the fact that after one masterful first film, the sequels just feel slightly weaker as they progress so therefore almost needlessly continue, but still are fun to watch.


It has been two years since the tragic events at Woodsboro. Sidney Prescott and Randy Meeks are trying to get on with their lives, and are currently both students at Windsor College. Cotton Weary is out of prison, and is trying to cash in on his unfortunate incarceration. Gale Weathers has written a bestseller, "The Woodsboro Murders," which has been turned into the film, "Stab," starring Tori Spelling as Sidney. As the film's play date approaches, the cycle of death begins anew. Dewey Riley immediately flies out of Woodsboro to try to protect Sidney, his "surrogate sister." But in this sequel to the 1996 horror film, the number of suspects only goes down as the body count slowly goes up!


Neve Campbell reprises her role as Sidney Prescott, who has moved on with her life after 2 years and the events that occurred in the first film. However, the figure in the ghost mask and black robe hasn't left her alone just yet and has come back to terrorize her even further. There were a few personality changes to Sidney in this one than in the first film, and they were that she felt a bit more badass, braver and more of a heroic fighter. So, that is why her role as Prescott is just as special in this one as the first film. Sidney isn't a young teenager now, she's a grown woman! Courtney Cox returns as news reporter Gale Weathers, and comes back once again to investigate the murders and back to question and interrogate Sidney all over again. Unfortunately, I didn't take a strong liking to Cox as Gale in this one because there wasn't anything that changed about the character, apart from the soppy and possible love bond between her and Dewey.


Having said that Courtney Cox and David Arquette were real-life spouses at the time, that just killed the bond between Gale and Dewey. Arquette makes his return as Dewey and seeks to not only look after Sidney, but to help put an end to the ghost face killer after his sister's murder in the previous film (but not the same true identity of the ghost face killer). So, although his sister Tatum was hardly mentioned in this one, it still seemed like Dewey wanted to end it all once and for all. Sarah Michelle Gellar makes a brief appearance in the sequel as well.


Wes Craven returns as director of the sequel and still adds the horror and the suspense that we saw previously, but at the same time felt slightly different. We also knew that that the ghost face character is an influence from the actions and some movies but this lacked detail of this. However, there is a movie inside the film that is based upon the events of everything that happens in the first film, and it's called Stab which later becomes a franchise, so that was quite strange. In this one, there is a copycat murderer who is after Sidney again who was influenced by the previous killers in the ghost face mask and black robe. On the other hand, that is a good thing because that is where it felt slightly different and copy everything form its predecessor.


Overall, Scream 2 is a sequel that has its similarities and differences with the previous film, but still is very fun and exciting to watch! This one tries to do the same as what the first one did: give a bow or a hug so to speak to other thrillers of the past, but it just didn't feel the same. This is like the Rocky II of the Scream films: a sequel that didn't need to be made after its outstanding predecessor, but was worthy enough to still find very enjoyable and would still achieve it's purpose and get the approval of its target audience.

"There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to create a successful sequel. Number one: the body count is always bigger. Number two: the death scenes are always much more elaborate - more blood, more gore - carnage candy."

Grossing in excess of 15 times its production budget at the box office, 1996's Scream proved that life still remained in the ailing slasher genre. Naturally, a sequel was swiftly green-lit, and Scream 2 hit multiplexes in December of 1997, barely a year after its predecessor. Yet, despite such a quick turnover time, Scream 2 does not feel like a shoddy rush-job. The only movies more ripe for satire and ridicule than mindless slasher films are the endless sequels to mindless slasher movies, and the filmmakers behind Scream 2 were able to capitalise in this ideology. Instead of simply reheating the rules from the original film, this sequel builds a new story and has a lot of fun acknowledging the "rules of sequels". At once a satire of sequels and a satisfying extension of the characters we know and love, director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson have managed to create an entertaining, intense slasher that rises to the cerebral level which characterised its forerunner.

Scream 2 begins two years after the infamous Woodsboro murders that occurred in Scream. Since then, Gale Weathers (Cox) has released a book about the murders which has been converted into a movie called Stab, while Woodsboro murders survivors Sidney (Campbell) and Randy (Kennedy) have departed for college. Upon the release of Stab, a copycat killer wearing a Ghostface mask begins killing local college students. As the killing intensifies, Sidney, Randy, Gale, the returning Dewey (Arquette), and Sidney's new boyfriend (O'Connell) are forced into a deadly race to catch the killer before he slaughters them as well.

In addition to the handful of returning stars, Scream 2 enjoys a genuine rarity in the horror genre: the same writer/director duo that masterminded the first film. The fact that both Williamson and Craven returned to the series is evidence that the sequel was planned from the get-go rather than arbitrarily assembled in an attempt to capitalise on past success (although the speed at which it was produced would ostensibly suggest that). Horror veteran Craven was in fine form for this sequel; showing a sure hand behind the camera whilst orchestrating the mayhem. Williamson's writing is fortunately just as sharp this time around - his dissection of horror sequel clichés is spot-on, the characters are still three-dimensional and self-aware, the dialogue still crackles with wit, and the frightening scenes still induce chills. Most impressive is a classroom discussion about film sequels and if they are inherently inferior or if they can actually outdo their predecessors (films like Aliens, Terminator 2 and The Godfather: Part II are mentioned). It may not be said, but it seems to be implicit that the filmmakers were highlighting the fact they did not want to churn out a worthless sequel, but instead produce a follow-up that favourably measures up with the first film.

1996's Scream opened with a bang; a thrilling, extremely clever extended set-piece which set the scene for what was to come. Scream 2 continues this tradition with an intense opening sequence in which a couple of characters visit a local theatre for a preview screening of Stab. This scene is full of smart dialogue, with the role played by Jada Pinkett Smith bemoaning the lack of African American participation in slashers (it therefore cannot be a coincidence that Scream 2 features a number of black characters). Shortly thereafter, her and her boyfriend have been violently gutted, signalling the start of another series of grisly murders. Craven and Williamson let loose a torrent of tongue-in-cheek creativity for the "movie within a movie" sequences. They had the chance to openly parody the first Scream, and accomplished this with great panache. Stab features Tori Spelling as Sidney, Heather Graham in the role played by Drew Barrymore, and Luke Wilson as Sidney's boyfriend. Sadly, only a few scenes from Stab are shown. It would have been a lot more fun if Craven and Williamson found time to show lengthy Stab excerpts.

Another strength of Scream 2 is that it features a group of legitimate characters as opposed to a stream of cardboard cut-out stereotypes lined up for slaughter. Predictably, Neve Campbell is a delight once again; ably communicating fear, passion and emotion, not to mention vulnerability. Considering the usual standard for acting in slasher movies, Campbell is a great find indeed. Both Courtney Cox and David Arquette also returned for this sequel, and both of them deliver fine performances. Meanwhile, Jamie Kennedy is his usual amiable self as Randy (SPOILERS: Unfortunately, the biggest flaw of Scream 2 is that Randy is killed off. He was much too solid of a character to be killed off, and this represents a huge misstep on the part of the filmmakers. END SPOILERS). Of the newcomers, Timothy Olyphant exhibits exceptional acting ability in the role of Mickey, while Liev Schreiber (who had a very small role in Scream) is terrific and occasionally chilling as Cotton Weary. And finally, there's comic relief in the form of the hilarious Duane Martin playing Gale's new cameraman.

Unfortunately, the finale of Scream 2 feels a bit on the sloppy side. While the plot twists are indeed quite surprising, the typical Hollywood "reveal everything before I kill you" speech is a tad silly, not to mention the climax is dragged out to an interminable length. This aside, Scream 2 is a fun, effective and scary follow-up. It may not be a better film than its predecessor - or quite as excellent as it - but it remains one of the better horror sequels in history.

8.0/10