Scream 2 (1997)

After the success of the first one, it was inevitable that there would be a sequel which seemed to come out about 15 minutes after the first. The opening scene is quite good as a film based on the events of the first film has been made called Stab and I honestly don't know how we haven't had a Stab film or limited series. It is funny that Jada Pinkett Smith is only in this opening scene and yet she is on the poster. This is one of the few scenes that I can remember from the Scary Movie film (I think the first one, although I only saw the first two). Like Drew Barrymore, Sarah Michelle Gellar plays the famous actress in a slasher film for about 10 minutes and like Barrymore, Gellar’s involvement is perfectly fine and ends in a horrific death. 

David Arquette comes across even sadder in this film that he did in the previous film. When Dewey gets stabbed and is seemingly killed, it's apparently due to the scar tissue that he somehow managed to survive. This is apparently the same scar tissue that didn't save him in whatever Scream film he ends up being killed in. Liev Schreiber plays Cotton who is the one accused of killing Sidney’s mom but is released and is sort of in the background wanting a big tv interview to start his road to redemption and gets his redemption when he shoots Debbie. For some reason I found it hard to believe that Jerry O’Connell is a college student. I don't know how old he was in 1997 but even then he looked too old and doesn't really 

Laurie Metcalfe is good as Debbie Salt. I loved how Sidney recognised who she was even though Gail didn't and the get around was that Debbie had some work done. It doesn't explain how Gail didn't even click that there was something familiar with her. Timothy Olyphant like Jerry O’Connell looked a little bit too old for a college student but gets away with it and gives the sort of performance that Olyphant is known for. 

Also like the first film, this film is almost too smart for its own good. The discussion about sequels and when they list sequels that are better than the original The Godfather gets brought up and as well as Terminator 2 and Aliens but when Empire Strikes Back gets mentioned it is immediately dismissed as being part of a trilogy even though at this point in time Aliens was part of a trilogy and so was The Godfather Part 2 but thats a minor geeky gripe. The references to movies apart from this scene don't seem quite as wink wink as they were in the previous film. 

The twist like the first film is ok. The fact that one of the people involved were related to people from the first was somewhat predictable but I suppose it was inevitable. The first half of the film did feel like a bit of a slow burner which I doubt was intended. Once the action starts then the film picks up but it doesn't fall into that category which they talk about in the film of being sequel that is superior to the first. It's not terrible but its just ok.

Scream (1996)

Back in 2025 (or last year if you are reading this in 2026), my local cinema did a four film marathon which I thought was great. This year they have done a Scream double bill which is fine but it would have been nice to have a four film marathon. It’s fair to say that Scream did reinvent the genre that it was parodying. The opening scene sets up the film with Drew Barrymore ended up being the first victim of the film. It was a great scene that was tense and also very dramatic.

The film is very 90s which might be a stupid thing to say but it has somehow managed to age well. I think people of a certain age will have to be told what a video store is and why they were so busy. The film follows Sydney Prescott (Neve Campbell) who in the last year lost her mom who was murdered and when the murders start, the media circus comes into town and one of those people are Gail Weathers (Courtney Cox).

The twist that Billy (Skeet Ulrich) killed Sydney’s Mom because she was dating Billy's dad which forced his mom to leave was a good enough motive. It's easy to say now but it was clear that there was something not right about him because he just looks like a psycho. The film does a great job of throwing in red herrings to try and throw us of the sent.

It's always funny seeing Henry Winkler in this film as Himbry because it is such a different type of performance than what he was known for. Being a bit nuts only for him to be killed so soon was obviously the classic red herring but I just thought they could have strung it out a bit longer.

Neve Campbell is quite good as Sydney. She is the right sort of leading lady as she is a strong character but still has the flaws that make her character interesting in this sort of film. Courtney Cox was at the peak of her stardom with Friends only starting a couple of years earlier. The arrogant news reporter who wrote stories on Sydney’s mom cause the needed. Inflict between the two but by the end she has become a nicer person.

David Arquette is good as Dewey although he is never treated as a serious person. He is what constitutes the leading man but he is more of a supporting role to Sydney. He gets a romantic subplot with Gail and it is always going to be amusing that he and Courtney Cox ended up married. Matthew Lillard is funny. There is a reference about the blood used matching what was used on Carrie and then Lillard appears with the TV show Carrie having just been released. Once it's revealed that he is involved in the killings, his performance is somewhat over the top. Somehow Lillard manages to pull it off and it works in this film.

Jamie Lee Curtis is only in this film cause they show bit of Halloween but she is mentioned so many times that it felt like she was in the film and this leads me to the main issue is that the film does come across by today’s standards as a bit to clever for its own good. All the rules and references were ok but it does come dangerously close to be annoying. If your making a film and you are in on the joke then you have to be careful not to be too up yourself.

The film is an 18 which for a film that is 30 years old surprised me but I suppose how much knife crime is an issue in society the 18 certificate is perhaps justified. I also forgot how much blood there is. It isn’t an excessively gory film but there is enough blood that you get your moneys worth. Overall I enjoyed this film. Despite being dated by the 90's fashion and attitudes, the film gets away with it. I didn’t see it at the time but  many years later. It’s an important film in the horror genre but I think if you want scarier films then there are pleny out there but this one should be watched and even when you know the twist it is still fun to watch.