Scream 2 (1997)

Two years after the events of the first film, a new psychopath dons the "Ghost face" costume and a new string of murders begin.

Director:

Wes Craven

Writers:

Kevin Williamson (characters), Kevin Williamson

Stars:

Jada Pinkett Smith, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox

5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jada Pinkett Smith	...	Maureen (as Jada Pinkett)
Omar Epps	...	Phil
Paulette Patterson	...	Usher Giving Out Costumes
Rasila Schroeder	...	Screaming Girl Up Aisle
Heather Graham	...	'Stab' Casey
Roger Jackson	...	The Voice (voice) (as Roger L. Jackson)
Peter Deming	...	Popcorn Boy
Molly Gross	...	Theater Girl #1
Rebecca McFarland	...	Theater Girl #2
Neve Campbell	...	Sidney Prescott
Elise Neal	...	Hallie
Liev Schreiber	...	Cotton Weary
Kevin Williamson	...	Cotton's Interviewer
Sandy Heddings	...	Girl in Dorm Hallway (as Sandy Heddings-Katulka)
Dave Allen Clark	...	Reporter Outside Theater

Storyline

It has been two years since the tragic events at Woodsboro. Sidney Prescott and Randy Meeks are trying to get on with their lives, and are currently both students at Windsor College. Cotton Weary is out of prison, and is trying to cash in on his unfortunate incarceration. Gale Weathers has written a bestseller, "The Woodsboro Murders," which has been turned into the film, "Stab," starring Tori Spelling as Sidney. As the film's play date approaches, the cycle of death begins anew. Dewey Riley immediately flies out of Woodsboro to try to protect Sidney, his "surrogate sister." But in this sequel to the 1996 horror film, the number of suspects only goes down as the body count slowly goes up!

---

Plot Keywords:

college | murder | play | costume | college student | 

---

Taglines:

Someone has taken their love of sequels one step too far.

---

Genres:

Horror | Mystery

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and strong bloody violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 December 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Scream Again

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£2,493,950 (UK) (1 May 1998)

Gross:

£8,114,241 (UK) (26 June 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films, Konrad Pictures, Craven-Maddalena Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jada Pinkett Smith's character complains, "The horror genre is historical for excluding African-American elements." Pinkett played a strong character in Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight.

---

Goofs

Blood on the younger cop's throat before it is slit.

---

Quotes

Mickey: Empire Strikes Back. Better story, improved effects.
Randy: Not a sequel, part of a trilogy, completely planned.

---

Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits.

---

Connections

References Twin Peaks (1990)

---

Soundtracks

"She Said"
Written by Ed Roland
Performed by Collective Soul
Strings Arranged and Conducted by Paul Buckmaster
Produced by Ed Roland with Greg Archilla and Mike Childers
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corporation

User Reviews

Still fun, but less clever than the original

How do you make a sequel to a horror film whose whole plot was made of in-jokes and film references? Easy: make the follow-up even more in-jokey and self-referential than its predecessor. This formula actually seems to work for Scream 2, at least in the first two acts.

The prologue is arguably a masterclass in self-irony: an African-American couple (Omar Epps and Jada Pinkett Smith) go to a movie theater where a new horror film, called Stab, is screening. This flick is based on Gale Weathers' (Courtney Cox) book The Woodsboro Murders, which recounts the events of the first Scream. As the movie begins, Smith's character complains about Stab being a film "with no black people in it" (just like Scream was), and, predictably, this leads to the two African-Americans being brutally murdered as the film-within-a-film's prologue (with Heather Graham replacing Drew Barrymore) is shown on the screen, so that the fictional and real deaths occur almost simultaneously. From there on, things take the usual turn: the media go crazy about the killings and once again Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is in the spotlight, as she and her friend Randy (Jamie Kennedy) must protect themselves from the new foe, who is apparently mimicking what happened in the past (an obvious reference to the first film's "Movies don't create psychos" line).

The main charm of the original Scream was its ability to almost seamlessly combine clever in-jokes and a believable plot. This time around, the in-jokes are the best thing in the movie, while the story, particularly in the overblown conclusion, suffers from merely repeating key scenes from the first film. Now, this might be a satire on the lack of originality in most horror sequels, and it would work if the characters were developed correctly. Sadly, such a thing doesn't happen, with Sidney being reduced to the usual girl who keeps running and screaming (fitting, huh?) and everyone else (including Liev Schreiber, who gets more screen-time in the sequel) playing stereotypes, with the exception of David Arquette, very likable as the nice cop again trying to solve the case, and Kennedy, who has a great time stating the rules to follow in a sequel.

Ironically, the movie's funniest scene has a bunch of film students discussing follow-ups that are better than the originals. And while few could have anything bad to say about Aliens, Terminator 2 or The Godfather: Part II, it must be said that Scream 2, while fun and watchable, most certainly doesn't have the same sharpness that made its predecessor an above-average horror film.