Lesser sequel, but at least they knew it and laughed about it.

Rating: 5/10 (15 October 2009)

The undeniable best sequence in this film – as well as in all three "Scream" films, for that matter – involves the geeky horror connoisseur character Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) fanatically venting about his favorite, albeit cliché-laden genre. As this is a rapidly produced sequel to an unexpectedly successful horror blockbuster, Randy – with the help of an entire movie class - vividly rants how sequels never match up against the ingenuity and intellect of their predecessors. That scene alone is pretty clever already, in fact, because it feels as if director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson want to safeguard themselves against delivering a potentially inferior product. "Scream 2" isn't a bad film, especially not in comparison with the majority of horror junk that was coming out in the aftermath of the original "Scream", but indeed no match for the first. The screenplay actually does faithfully feature all the sequel clichés, like a higher death toll (particularly near the end, it seems like everybody must die) and a bloodier make-up effects. The film is also overlong and tries to be a little too clever in all its 90's pop-culture observations. Good aspects, however, include the successful change of location from a typical small town towards a university campus. Both settings are typical 80's horror fare settings. The survivors of the original film have obviously grown in their roles and the production managed to attract some interesting fresh new faces for the principal roles (like Timothy Olyphant, Jerry O'Connell and Sarah Michelle Gellar) as well as some cool cameos (like David Warner, Heather Graham and Luke Wilson). The plot of the sequel is as simplistic and rudimentary as that of the original. Sidney Prescott and her friend Randy are trying to carry on with their lives two years after the Woodsboro murders. When a young couple gets killed during the premiere of "Stab" – a horror flick based on the Woodsboro murders – it quickly becomes clear there's a copycat killer after Sidney. Despite some really good ideas and a few moments of admirable suspense (the escape from the crashed car, for example), "Scream 2" is a repetitive and forgettable film.