Not As Amazing As The First, But Still Good.

Rating: 7/10 (9 June 2007)

"Scream 2" picks up from where "Scream" left off, with Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), who is still dealing with memories of the murder spree that she survived in her hometown of Woodsboro during her senior year of high school. But Sidney is off to college now, and things are beginning to look up. She has a good best friend, Hallie (Elise Neal), and a love interest, Derek (Jerry O'Connell). But after a murder that occurred in a cinema (that was incidentally showing a movie based upon the murder spree that Sidney survived), the memories flood back, and another masked killer in the same attire begins to murder those around Sidney - but who is it behind the mask?
A follow-up to Wes Craven's 1996 horror hit, "Scream", this slasher sequel is a guaranteed good time. Kevin Williamson returns to write the script for this film as well, and crafts a fairly solid story to continue the series with. The opening of this movie (the cleverly-executed cinema murder) was fabulous, and is probably the most memorable thing about this movie. There is some tongue-in-cheek humor to be found as well, but nothing over the top - this film remains fairly serious despite it's poking at the horror genre rules, which is something the original did quite well. I have to give Mr. Craven and Mr. Williamson some credit for their clever handling of these films, because they really are well-done horror movies.
Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, and Jamie Kennedy return from the original, all giving good performances. Some new additions to the cast are Jerry O'Connell, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Sarah Michelle Gellar (who starred in "I Know What You Did Last Summer" the same year), to name a few. The acting is on-par for the most part, and I liked the casting. The atmosphere in this film is much different than the small-town feel the original had, which I personally preferred - then again, you can't have a movie like this take place in the same town for a second time. There are plenty of surprise moments as well (and some clichéd jump-scares), but the conclusion was probably the biggest surprise of all. I never saw it coming, and I don't think most people would because the writing was so well done.
Overall, "Scream 2" is a worthy sequel to a groundbreaking horror movie. Did I like it better than the first? No way, I prefer the original, but that doesn't mean it was bad at all. It was entertaining, spooky, and had enough twists and turns to keep nearly anyone's interest. "Scream" fans will be surely pleased with it. And as far as horror sequels go, this film ranks pretty high. 7/10.