Scream 2

It was inevitable. It really was. Wes Craven made a groundbreaking horror movie that made a lot of money...again. So it makes alot of sense that a sequel would be made. But no one thought it would be out this quickly. Kevin Williamson wrote this one right after writing the first, feeling there was more to be told in this story. So filming began 6 months after the first one and a year after the first came out, we get the sequel. But as big a surprise as the speed of the sequel getting made is the fact Wes Craven actually came back to make it.

Wes Craven is probably the best, at the very least most consistent, horror director around. The man has so many classics under his belt, yet he only has two sequels. And if you think about it, one of the movies is barely a sequel, “Wes Cravens New Nightmare”. The other was “The Hills Have Eyes 2”, which is just as terrible as the sequel to the remake. So, when Wes makes a sequel, people should be a bit worried. But alas, Wes made another solid horror movie.

The sequel jumps ahead two years. This works because the teen characters weren’t played by teens, which is another sly wink at horror movies by Wes. All the surviving characters return with the same actors. We got new people too, notably Jerry O Connell as Sids boyfriend Derek and Timothy Olyphant as film student Mickey. By the way, is it possible for Olyphant to look old? The many is 42, yet 13 years ago he looked like he was 18. Now he looks 28. The man is quite possibly a god or some sort of demagogue. But I digress. So the cast is in order and we got two relatively known actors being slaughtered in the opening, which has become the norm in the series. So, how does the movie do?

Well, as the usual in most sequels not penned by Christopher Nolan, it is not quite as fresh as the original. But really, a movie so unique like “Scream” is very hard to recreate. But it holds it’s own and creates another smart movie that skewers convention. This time, the movie skewers the sequel. References are abound again, but in a smaller dose. But it is clever. The worst part is the familiarity, but like I said it’s hard for a sequel to move past the original.

I am a giant fan of horror movies. So again, this movie is a great addition to our collections. It keeps it fresh with new a new killer(s) and a new setting, a college campus. The satirizing of sequels is welcome, making it more tongue in cheek. Like I said, it’s nowhere near as original as...well, as the original. It’s not as good as the first, but at the same time keeps the tone and doesn’t nuke the shark.

8 out of 10