Review of Scream 2 (1997) by Chad H — 20 Apr 2011

Horror sequels are never up to par with the original film, so one can't be blamed for going into Scream 2 just a little bit skeptical. This is especially so considering how high the first Scream set the bar with its intelligent and funny take on the slasher film. But while it doesn't quite have the same punch that the original packed, it is a more than worthy sequel.

*Possible Spoilers from Scream*.

Sidney Prescott, after surviving the bloodbath at Woodsboro at the hands of her boyfriend and friend, is now a student at Windsor College and tries to live a secluded life away from the press and keeping distance from potential victims. However, the horrors of her past finally catch up to her, as Ghostface returns to seek revenge on Sidney and her fellow survivors, Dewey, Gale, and Randy. And with all sequels comes new rules for the killer to go by.

Most horror franchises find themselves trying to recapture the lightning in a bottle that made the first film popular and great. Often they lose sight of the true scares and horror and go for excess. In the end, most of them fail. This film easily could have gone the same way.

Fortunately, director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson return and once again show their mastery and love for the horror genre. All of the typical cliches of the sequel are explored and torn apart with glee. There's a bigger body count, a bigger motive for the killings, and more over-the-top violence. And it all works very well. Williamson carries (whoa, unintentional horror pun) all the wit and humor the first film had without bogging down the story much. They even touch on a few cliches not uses in the film (notice the abundance of black characters). It's very entertaining.

One big thing I admire about Craven's direction here is the way he makes the film feel like another one of those college campus slasher flicks (I Know What You Did Last Summer, Urban Legend, Sorority Row), as it takes place at a college. The style and feel of the film matches it perfectly and it works. As usual, Craven knows how to direct a death scene and generate some good suspense (despite the fact that, like the first one, it still isn't very scary).

The plot for this film is still solid, though I have a few gripes about it. The characters seem a bit more stupid in this film, maybe it's just me. But I just felt some of the decisions made by the experience survivors were quite silly and unreasonable. The ending, however, was fantastic and a bit unexpected (I love the Friday the 13th reference here).

All the things that were great about the first film are great here, but it's the acting department that drags it down a bit more. Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox are still fantastic in their roles and I really liked Sidney in this film. David Arquette is okay, but it feels like he's overacting at times. The introduction of Jerry O'Connell wasn't a welcome one for me, I found him highly annoying. Liev Schreiber is very creepy as well, I liked him in this. And Timothy Olyphant even makes a welcome appearance. The way his character turned out was very interesting.

In short, Scream 2 is not as good as the first film (or even scary at all like the first one). This is mostly due to a few plot elements and a bit of poor acting, but it's not enough to really dampen the enjoyment fans will get from this sequel. It's still witty, it's still funny, and it's still killtacular. The Scream franchise hasn't fallen victim to the bad sequel yet. No, that comes with Scream 3.