'Scream 2' is an interesting example of a film I really enjoy for, perhaps, all the wrong reasons. Here we have a sequel to 'Scream' - a movie that, while being legitimate slasher horror, is also a sort of farce on the whole genre. With that in mind, generally speaking, sequels tend to be a little bit lower in quality than the classic original. 'Scream 2' also does take a dip in quality, but for me, that's actually part of its charm. I now consider this chapter of the series a guilty pleasure. For me, it's probably the most fun I have with any of them. Taking place a little over a year after the first film's events, we see that since then, a film has been released based on those events entitled 'Stab'. Attending a sneak preview of the film are a couple of college seniors - Maureen (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Phil (Omar Epps), who eventually become the first two murders, thus first killing off a couple of big names, doubling up on the first film with Drew Barrymore's fate. Remembering that this is a sequel farce about sequels, it's things like this that make the film pretty good. It doesn't stop there, either. There is a lot of sequel tropes all throughout the film, along with little "two" nods, like the two Ghostfaces at the urinals in the accompanying photo. A media circus once again descends upon Sidney Prescott's (Neve Campbell) school, this time Windsor College in Ohio, far away from California where the original film took place. Fun fact, the 'Elm Street' series actually retconned the location of Springwood from California to Ohio, which is a fun little Wes Craven nod. But getting back on track, among these media reporters are Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), returning as a not-so-likable and not-so-redeemed character, and newcomer, Debbie Salt (Laurie Metcalf), who seemingly aspires to be another Gale. Meanwhile, Sidney lives her college life close to her new best friend, Hallie (Elise Neal), and with the wonders of caller ID - something the first film actually helped really take off. Along with Sidney and Hallie are a new group of friends, which still includes the surviving Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy), Sid's new boyfriend, Derek (Jerry O'Connell) and Mickey (Timothy Olyphant in his break-out role). Along with the killing, Sidney's past comes back to "awkward" things up with the release of Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), who was exonerated after he was found innocent of killing Sidney's mother. While Sidney deals with her mixed feelings about Cotton (for obvious reasons) and Derek (since her last boyfriend turned out to be a killer), officer Dewey (David Arquette) tries to pin down who the killer really is while trying to protect Sidney and her friends, doing so with the help of Randy's movie knowledge and Gale's tenacity. Just like last time, certain rules about the situation are established. This time around, the body count is higher, the kills are more elaborate, and never, ever... something. It's actually never revealed, but it's presumed that it's "never assume the killer is dead", thanks to this extended cut of the scene from the film's original teaser trailer. The "rules" seem to establish themselves as a sort of character for each of these films, and they're a big part of the fun of everything. They further lend themselves to the parody aspect of these films, as it sort of gives you something to look for. And speaking of the film's parody aspect, I really do feel like this is the one that really nails it, whether it be on purpose or by happy accident. While the "copycat" aspect of the Ghostface killer (not the Wu-Tang guy) is a constant throughout these films, this was the first time. But what I appreciate here more than the rest is that the film, like many sequels, actually goes full copycat, right down to the murder victims' names - the first two being Maureen Evans (Maureen being Sidney's Mom's name) and Phil Stevens (Steven Orth being the first on-screen victim of the series). Adding to that cheesy sequel charm is some fairly brutal acting from a few tertiary characters, and a fair share of stupid decisions when, if done by Sidney, she'll be fine, but if done by anyone else, they're screwed. This, of course, lends itself to us knowing Sidney will be our safe survivor girl. I might say that this chapter ultimately did the best job as far as what it's supposed to represent (save for maybe the first). A lot more fun comes out of this as we see some of the 'Stab' movie casting, which includes Tori Spelling as Sidney (predicted by Sid in the first film), Heather Graham as Cassie Becker (originally Drew Barrymore) and Luke Wilson as Billy Loomis, which is actually pretty humorous when it comes down to his performance. While there's a part of me that presumes a lot of the "bad" of this movie was done on purpose (as they openly discuss sequels being of less quality than their originals), I can't help but enjoy it just as much as I did the first one, even if it is more on the guilty pleasure side of things. 4/5
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