Review of Scream 2 (1997) by Spangle — 25 Oct 2016

A step back from the original, Scream 2 is a solid sequel that maintains the same level of thrills and mystery of the original, but much of the experience feels entirely hollow. With Sidney (Neve Campbell) now at college, a copycat killer has decided to follow her and finish what the original ghostface had started. An expertly crafted analysis of horrible horror sequels, the influence of film in real world violence, and horror movies as a whole, Scream 2 is a good satire, even if it is not nearly as scary or funny as the original.

Back for their second rodeo, Sidney is joined by familiar faces Randy (Jamie Kennedy), Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), and Dewey (David Arquette). The band is back together, yet they do not seem to have much of the same energy or power as in the original. For example, the smaller role played here by Randy is unfortunate, as he was the source of a lot of the fun of the original. While everyone was scared speechless, Randy kept things going with horror movie references or playing whodunnit with the cops. There is a little bit of that here, but after a while, the film opts to ditch the whole mystery solving element that made the original work so well and instead just focus on scaring you.

On the scariness front, there are some solid moments. Director Wes Craven knows horror and he is not afraid to display this skill-set in Scream 2. A sequence in which Gale tries to escape Ghostface with Dewey is incredibly tense and terrifically shot. From beginning to end, this scene is laced with tension and really highlights just how scary the Scream franchise can be in its own right. However, as we reach the climax, though it is surprising who the killers are, they just feel like reaches. The twists just feel tacked on to try and make references to the original and, as a result, feel entirely like fan service. Ironically, a killer promises they are not like every other 90s killer only to then take 15 hours to finally try and kill their intended victim. Though Scream 2 is willing to call out conventions, I guess they decided to forget that one was a convention as well.

Additionally, the red herrings here are quite obvious and never quite work. Much of the cast is thrown under suspicion, but whenever somebody asks, "What if you're the killer?", you can feel the air escape from the movie a bit when you realize that there is no way they could be the killer. Instead of building mystery and suspense, the film immediately tries to assist the audience in jumping to conclusions about who the killers are and then tries to play on those red herrings at the end. Yet, the audience, hopefully, has realized they are not be believed which makes some of the end reveals completely unsurprising.

This said, Scream 2 most certainly entertains and though a step back from the original, a lot of the playful spirit of the film is there as Craven toys with and mocks horror cliches. The end results are some pretty comical moments that really land. This ferocious blend of horror and comedy does prove incredibly entertaining and this is what makes Scream 2 so incredibly watchable. Even when the mystery elements flounder and fail to deliver the same suspense as before, the film does have some surprises along the way that do land quite well.

Scream 2 is an entertaining film, but just feels like a hollow exercise of re-doing what made the original good. It retains the majority of the terror and the comedy, but the mystery of the original is gone as is the manic fun that made it such a good satire of the genre. Here, things are a bit gloomier and, as a result, not nearly as good.