Scream 2 **** (1997, Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O’Connell, Jada Pinkett, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy) – Classic Movie Review 2,830

The survivors of Scream (1996) are back for a second bout of expert terror in Scream 2 (1997), as cash-in film-makers make a copycat movie called Stab, provoking a new wave of murders.

A year after the slasher maniac went on a killing spree in the American suburban town called Woodsboro, the survivors of Scream (1996) are back for a second bout of expert terror, as cash-in film-makers make a copycat movie called Stab, provoking a new wave of murders, which start at the local preview of the movie.

Courteney Cox is back in Wes Craven’s 1997 slasher film Scream 2 as ambitious tabloid reporter Gale Weathers, who tries to re-establish contact with Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) and Casey Cooper (Sarah Michelle Gellar).

The inevitable sequel isn’t quite as good as the original, but it is still tremendous, tongue-in-cheek slasher horror fun.

This sequel about sequels – in which the college kids even discuss if a sequel has ever been as good as the original (they alight on The Godfather Part II) – is another edge-of-seat, knowing post-modern teen horror thriller from director Wes Craven, with amusingly self-referential dialogue and situations.

Kevin Williamson’s second script manages a good trick twice, and the movie is propelled along engagingly by splendidly exuberant performances from the neat young cast. The cast wasn’t informed the identity of the killer till the last sequence was filmed and then they had to sign that they wouldn’t reveal who the killer is to anyone.

Scream 2 also stars David Arquette as Dewey Riley, Laurie Metcalf as Debbie Salt, Jerry O’Connell as Derek, Elsie Neal, Jada Pinkett, Timothy Olyphant, Liev Schreiber, Lewis Arquette as Chief Hartley, Duane Martin, Rebecca Gayhart, Portia de Rossi, Omar Epps, David Warner and Heather Graham, with a cameo from writer Kevin Williamson.

Scream 2 was released on 12 December 1997, less than a year after Scream. 

The film earned $172.4 million at the box office against a budget of $24 million.

Wes Craven’s sequel, Scream 3, was released on 3 February 2000.

The Scream series is created by Kevin Williamson, who wrote Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997) and Scream 4 (2011), and returned to write and direct Scream 7 (2026). The first four films were directed by Wes Craven, who died on August 30, 2015, aged 76.

The Scream films

Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), Scream 3 (2000), Scream 4 (2011), Scream (2022), Scream VI (2023), Scream 7 (2026).

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2,830

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com