Review of Scream 2 (1997) by James S — 31 Jul 2011

There are a lot of things that Scream 2 isn't. For a start, it isn't Scream. Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson had an insurmountable peak to climb if they ever hoped they could top their knife wielding classic. Without having that initial mass scare when the mask of ghost face is revealed would already make any sequel an inferior film.

So the terror quota may have been downsized but that doesn't stop Scream 2 from being a massively enjoyable horror sequel.

The supplanting of the action to two years later while Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott now goes to college with Jamie Kennedy's film geek robs the movie of it's small town wilderness feel, but does allow for a host of new victims to crop up out of nowhere.

Kevin Williamson has delivered another script which is both witty and capable of delivering some shocks when it wants to. As with its predecessor, the opening is reserved for the most harrowing and bloody moment. Whilst this untimely demise cannot rival Drew Barrymore's, it's a wonderfully made scene which feels genuinely believable, even given the nature of where it takes place.

Cast wise, the always reliable Timothy Olyphant and Sarah Michelle Geller compliment the first movies survivors. Liev Schrieber's bigger role as Cotton Weary is a welcome addition and explores a nice fall out from the first film for what seemed to be a very minor character in the original.

Scream 2 earns extra points for having the guts to kill off at least one of it's major characters. It would have been so easy to just dispense with the new comers to keep the team together for future sequels but Williamson and Craven don't take that way out.

Scream 2 doesn't deliver the same kind of dread as the first movie. The setting is largely to blame as it feels just too open and escapable from. Of course, this could be partly down to unwittingly revealing the killer's identity to an audience that's been paying attention about 20 minutes before the actual unmasking occurs which does somewhat deflate the balloon of tension. A further twist only really elicits a sigh of disappointment also.

Minor quibbles and spoilers aside though, Scream 2 is still a great movie. It reveals the aftermath of the first for the characters many had come to care about and has enough blood and guts too. With the knowledge of what the third installment reveals, it doesn't really fit in with the rest of the series but there's still a good deal of thrills to be had here.