Lacks the screams but still a highly enjoyable thriller

Rating: 8/10 (20 August 2009)

Sidney Prescott (Campbell) is traumatized when a film of her deadly experiences is released, and soon a killer replicating the movie starts killing her friends.
In the sequel to the hugely popular Scream comes an equally enjoyable horror flick that presents mystery and intrigue right up until the well choreographed if slightly exaggerated climax.
The characters who were not assassinated in the first film return with a bang in this picture, most notably Neve Campbell's Sidney who is trying to move on after her gruesome showdown with her boyfriend and psycho partner 2 years previously. But a gruesome murder spree at a local cinema at a screening of 'Stab' soon has suspicions raised as once more the Ghost mask is present.
This now infamous murderer starts handpicking victims one by one and the way this story is told, there is no apparent reason and pattern to these killings, which generates a wonderful sense of mystery. In a sense this sequel is like a good crime novel. An obvious target, a couple of red herrings, gruesome murders and a gasping realization come the final part. In a way it's a shame to find out the identity of said killer as the mystery and unfathomable story is so well told you almost don't want to know. Sadly however every film has an end and with this comes a shocking realization and exciting final battle.
Neve Campbell once more excels as the lead, being quietly aggressive and opinionated without being too squeamish in her paranoia. David Arquette receives a more inquisitive role in this sequel which takes into account his more vulnerable personality as Dewy with Courtney Cox as great and present as the annoying reporter.
Wes Craven's approach to this sequel is, as Randy so eloquently puts it, have more deaths which are more elaborate and gory as the film's predecessor. Initially this statement seems to be tried and tested trivia but when the film gets into the latter stages we see the point as the deaths get hotter and heavier as the pace rounds to tension.
With Scream the surprise and shock of the murderer kept the tempo at razor edge as clues and hints mislead us right until the jaw dropping finale, not to forget that there were a few jumpy moments in and amongst the gripping chases. With this sequel there are very few jump scenes and the conceptual genre of horror is left purely down to the gruesome killings. In a sense this is a more adept movie concentrating on the story rather than going for full out jumps. Whether you like jumping behind the sofa or be engaged physiologically remains irrelevant once the pace starts. There are nervous scenes but this doesn't generate the fear factor you may want from a horror film.
Is this better than the original? No, purely because the first hit was so surprising and had the jumps and the tension, it made a complete horror. Do not be discouraged as where this may lack the freak-out factor; it is fast and highly enjoyable.