More of the same self-relative horror, enjoyably balances mock and slasher film goods

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2018)

Director Wes Craven and writer Kevin Williamson re-teamed for this unneeded but entertaining sequel. Also returning is a majority of the original cast (Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, and Liev Schreiber), where the story picks up two years later with Campbell attending college when a new killer dons the Ghostface mask and stalks her and her college pals. As with the first film, everyone is a suspect and most importantly the film strikes a nice tonal balance of mocking slasher film conventions while also delivering the slasher film goods. Jamie Kennedy's video store clerk, now a film school student, at one point explains the rules for horror sequels, stating "there are certain rules that one must abide by in order to create a successful sequel. Number one: the body count is always bigger. Number two: the death scenes are always much more elaborate - more blood, more gore - *carnage candy*. And number three: never, ever, under any circumstances, assume the killer is dead." and "Scream 2" delivers on all three of these points. Besides meeting those sequel requirements, Craven is a master of suspense and shock and as with the first film, for a mainstream picture, he does deliver a shockingly rough horror film. Craven actually had to submit eight different cuts to the MPAA before getting an R-rating, so there's no mistaking that this film was from the same guy who made "The Last House on the Left" and "The Hills Have Eyes." The film is also immensely helped by a strong cast of new characters that include Jada Pinkett, Omar Epps, Sarah Michelle Gellar (interestingly playing a helpless blond character-type, the antithesis of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which she was playing at this same time), Timothy Olyphant, Jerry O'Connell, Laurie Metcalf, Rebecca Gayheart, an unrecognizable Portia de Rossi, and the great David Warner in a small role as a drama teacher. Best of all are the very funny cameos for the movie-within-a-movie "Stab," where Heather Graham plays the Drew Barrymore part form the first film and Tori Spelling & Luke Wilson play Campbell and Skeet Ulrich's parts (an inside joke from the first film where one of Campbell's friends asks her "If they make a movie about you, who's gonna play you?" and she answers, "With my luck, they'd cast Tori Spelling."). Look fast for a before-he-was-famous Adam Shankman as a Ghost Dancer and Selma Blair has an uncredited appearance (or is heard) as Gellar's friend on the phone. Also, the film was edited by Patrick Lussier, who'd later go on to direct the solid "My Bloody Valentine" remake, Nic Cage's "Drive Angry," and was co-writer on under appreciated Terminator sequel "Terminator Genisys." My main complaint about the film is that Williamson's script hasn't aged all that well, seeming at bit too clever for itself, reminding me in many ways of the endless Tarantino wannabes of this era, where pop culture references were lazy substitutes for good dialogue, interesting characters, or original stories. Still, while this sequel basically covers the same ground of the first film, it's a strong cast with a talented director making a big budget slasher film, which is not something horror fans are treated to very often. FUN FACT! Robert Rodriguez ("Desperado" "Sin City" "Machete") directed scenes of "Stab", the movie-within-a-movie.