An ardent tradition of the terrifying, a horror film's success depends on its ability to be original without resorting to grisly bad taste. An attempt to recreate financial success, the horror film's sequel is pressed to entertain an audience that's seen too many sorority slashers.
Wes Craven's Scream, a parody of the horror genre, successfully combined humour and our love of being scared. Its quality is rivalled by I Know What You Did Last Summer, an equally clever sequel, which possesses the same self-reflective attributes thanks to screenwriter Kevin Williamson.
Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is putting the past behind her. She's dating a pre-med jock and is starring in the university's play. When a rash of copycat murders coincides with the release of The Stab, the movie based on Sidney's experience, the original gang reappears. They include sassy newswoman Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox), simple deputy sheriff Dewey (David Arquette), film geek Randy (Jamie Kennedy), and Cotton (Liev Schreiber) who had been accused of murdering Sidney's mother.
The tradition of the sequel, as Randy points out, is more violent deaths and a higher body count. That said, the opening scenes of Scream 2 are right in step. Another custom is that sequels aren't as good as their predecessors. Even Scream 2's characters assert that 'sequels suck.' By subscribing to the concept, it's as if Craven trusts we'll forgive the rife clichés and won't notice the politically incorrect sorority girls.
However, the comic irony of Scream 2 is its deadpan self-introspection and pop culture jokes. Cox, star of television's Friends, suggests that pictures of her are really composites of her head on Jennifer Aniston's body. Whether this sort of joke will stand the test of time is a fair question.
Scream 2 isn't as scary as its former and the climax disappoints, but it's still a macabre delight. Hey, it's a sequel.
