REVIEW DATE 3:19:9:9
REVIEW DATE 3:19:9:9
In all the annuls of slasher movie history there are a few things that slasher movies just can't manage to do, like hire good actors, have good writers, have a good sequel, or be worth watching more then once. With the first Scream, Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson hit three of the four topics above right off the bat. Did they hit number 4? Well, that's why we're here, isn't it?
Scream
2 begins with a truly classic sequence in which a couple are sleighed during a
showing of a horror movie. Why is it classic? Because, doof, the entire sequence is one
big spoof of slasher movie fans and slasher movies in general. One of the murder victims
makes all the little anoying comments that logical people who watch slasher movies make,
then dies for it. Sometimes the sequence bears some resemblance to an MST3K
episode. Once again comedy and horror in the same sequence. Classic.
Cut to a quaint little campus where Sidney Prescot (Neve Campbell) Randy (Jamie Kennedy), survivors of the first movie, are now happily attending college and getting on with their lives. Randy still wants Sidney, and Sidney has found a new boy toy in the form of Derek (Jerry O'Connell). The killings and the phone threats start again and who should come crawling (and limping) along but Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) and Dewey (David Arquette). Ho, ho, the gangs all here. Perfect time for the killer to finish what he/they started.
So, have Williamson and Craven pulled the same rabbit out of their hats? The answer you'll get from this here critic is a resounding. . .(wait for it). . .(I said wait for it). . .YES! Like its prequel this movie is both funny and scary as hell. It's more fun the a bucket of pigs blood. The acting is still top notch stuff, the whole cast giving great performances throughout. Plus (just like the first time around) all the characters are written 3 dimensionally, and so. . .normal that its really, really hard to guess who the killer is.
Of course, I, having watched so many scary movies, was able to guess who the killer was, but only 5 minuets before the actual secret was revealed. If a movie can do that. . .well, lets just say it ain't easy.
Arrogance? What arrogance?
Matter of fact, there is but one thing and one alone holding this movie bad from being a full fledged, over the top, 5 G, must see like its predecessor. Not surprisingly, its the fact that Scream 2, for all its goodness, is still a sequel. Sometimes this can work to the movie's advantage, as in the case of our recurring heroine, but there is just so much needed character info in Scream, that to not see that movie is to miss a lot. Since I write all my reviews from the point of view of a person who just picked this sucker out from the video rack I simply can't give this movie the full count.
But it comes damn close. So close that slasher fans should rush to see it no matter what, and even a few non-fans might be amused by this little offering. Quite a little horror movie. I await Scream 3 with bated breath.
RATING (OUT OF A POSSIBLE FIVE)
SOME GREAT NEW SCHOOL SLASHING.