Ehhhhn. . .

Rating: Null/10 (2 August 1998)

Well, I thought the first movie was great, but this one falls quite short of the mark. Although this installment of the tragic life of Sydney Prescott has its moments (such as the great allusions to Greek literature), it has a relatively weak story. Basically a dilapidated repeat of the first script, the movie relies on gore and "startle shots" rather than plot and suspense, two characteristics which made the original Scream stand out from other horror movies. For instance, the killers (I won't reveal them here) end up being extremely minor and undeveloped characters whom the audience has not suspected at all in the first place. In a good "whodunit," the person watching should at first suspect the killer, and then be manipulated into dismissing this thought as too obvious. The person should then flail about wildly suspecting everyone until the real killer is revealed, completely shocking them. Instead, Scream 2 simply sells itself with more gore and throws in the most predictable killer. For the killer's partner, Scream 2 chooses to nearly introduce an entirely new character. Now, how is the audience supposed to suspect, be nervous about, and therefore terrified of a character they do not know in the first place? With rumors of a third Scream surfacing, my advice to Wes Craven is this: Quit while you are ahead, or rather, not too extremely far behind.