Scream 2 **** (1997, Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Laurie Metcalf, Jerry O’Connell, Jada Pinkett, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jamie Kennedy) – Classic Movie Review 2830

Two years 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 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’s still tremendous, tongue-in-cheek 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.

It 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.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2830

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