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Scream 2

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Scream 2
Scream 2 film poster
Directed byWes Craven
Written byKevin Williamson
Produced byCathy Konrad,
Wes Craven,
Marianne Maddalena
StarringDavid Arquette
Neve Campbell
Courteney Cox
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Jamie Kennedy
Laurie Metcalf
Jerry O'Connell
Jada Pinkett Smith
Liev Schreiber
Omar Epps
Distributed byDimension Films
Release dates
December 12, 1997
Running time
120 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$24,000,000
Box office$172,363,301

Scream 2 is a 1997 film, the second part of the Scream trilogy. As with the other films in the trilogy, Scream 2 combines straight-forward scares with dialogue that satirizes conventions of slasher films, especially (in this case) slasher film sequels.

Plot

The plot is centered on a group of college friends, an ex-cop and a news reporter as they deal with some mysterious killings that take place after the release of the horror movie Stab, which was inspired by the events in the fictional California town of Woodsboro depicted in the original film. Many of the survivors from the first movie return to reprise their original roles in this film.

Sidney (Neve Campbell) and Randy (Jamie Kennedy) attend the fictional Windsor College. They see on the news that a couple (Jada Pinkett Smith and Omar Epps) were murdered in a movie theatre at the preview of Stab, a movie based on a book by Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) about the Woodsboro murders. They realize that it's starting all over again. Dewey (David Arquette) is hanging around the campus to make sure Sidney's alright. Randy and Dewey talk to each other and explain to each other that anyone could be the killer (known as Ghostface), including themselves.

The killer attempts to kill Sidney, while setting up a copycat ploy. Casey "CiCi" Cooper, a sorority girl (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar), is the next victim. While alone at her sorority house, CiCi gets chased and literally stabbed in the back by the killer before being thrown over the third story balcony. Randy is the next victim when the killer calls and Gale and Dewey search for where the call is coming from when the killer says he can see them. Randy looks around and is outside of Joel's van when he is unexpectedly pulled into the van in broad daylight and stabbed to death after insulting the dead Billy Loomis . Officer Andrews and Officer Richards, the detectives who were assigned to protect Sidney, are also killed. Gale and Dewey are caught up in a game of cat and mouse with the killer, resulting in Dewey being stabbed. After being trapped in a cop car that has crashed and narrowly escaping a "tight" squeeze, Hallie (Elise Neal), Sid's roommate, is killed and Sidney heads for the campus theatre.

While in the school theatre, Sidney witnesses the death of her boyfriend Derek. In the final confrontation, the killers are revealed to be Sidney's new boyfriend's best friend, Mickey (Timothy Olyphant), and Mrs. Loomis (Laurie Metcalf), the mother of Sidney's previous boyfriend, Billy, who was one of the two killers in the first film. Mrs. Loomis wanted to kill Sidney as a revenge of killing her son, yet Sidney pointed out to her that if she didn't abandon Billy in the first place he wouldn't have been on his killing spree with Stu. Mrs. Loomis shoots Mickey, removing her accomplice and a potential threat, stating that his motive was completely absurd and that no one would believe it. (Mickey wanted to blame it on the craze that the film within a film, Stab, had created.)

Before he collapses, Mickey shoots Gale as she is running towards him, causing her to fall off the stage. Sidney is cornered by Mrs. Loomis and tricks her by saying, "Isn't Mickey supposed to be dead?", and when Mrs. Loomis looks, Sidney hits Mrs. Loomis in the face with a prop jar. Sidney then causes the stage to collapse on Mrs. Loomis. Mrs. Loomis survives and gets Sidney in an armlock, and Cotton (played by Liev Schreiber, the man framed for killing Sid's mother) shows up, and picks up Mickey's gun.

Mrs. Loomis tries to convince Cotton to kill Sidney, but Cotton shoots Mrs. Loomis instead. Gale is alive, as the bullet had bounced off one of her ribs. Then Mickey suddenly jumps up and Gale and Sidney shoot him multiple times. Then, Sidney turns around and shoots Mrs. Loomis in the head, killing her outright, "Just in case". It is then revealed that Dewey was alive after, quite literally, being stabbed in the back (while a horrified Gale watched while in a sound studio, unable to hear him cry for help because of soundproof glass). Gale is overjoyed that he was found alive, and the movie ends with Sidney looking up into the sky and walking away from the scene of the carnage.

Satirical/Self-Referential Style

As with the original film, Scream 2 utilizes self-aware characters and a self-referential style. In the world of the movie, a movie called Stab has been released, which is based on the real events of the first film and is also a parody of Scream. The scenes we see of Stab (actually directed by Robert Rodriguez) directly recreate scenes in the first film, with Heather Graham and Luke Wilson being parodies of Drew Barrymore and Skeet Ulrich's characters, respectively. We also see Tori Spelling being interviewed by Nancy O'Dell (both making cameos as themselves) to promote the movie.

There is heavy reference to the downplay of black actors in conventional horror films (including the first Scream, which was criticized for it). This is referenced in the first scene which ironically portrays this downplay in the original film and highlights the increased importance of the roles that black actors play in this movie.

The characters (especially Randy) seem unable to differentiate between movie conventions and conventions of their own world, referring to what is happening around them as a sequel and discuss whether or not sequels have been able to surpass the qualities of their originals.

Furthermore, the climax of the film takes place on a stage (another reference to the characters being simply characters), with stage props figuring prominently. And the last line of the film is Cotton remarking: "It'd make one hell of a movie."

There are also references to David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston (an in-joke since Courteney Cox co-starred with them on Friends) as well as to Hollywood luminaries such as Kevin Costner, James Cameron, and Jane Seymour.

Reception

As with the first film, Scream 2 received a mostly positive critical reception. Roger Ebert noted the film as being "about as good as the original". His late reviewing partner, Gene Siskel, also gave it a 'thumbs up', despite giving a negative review of the first film.

Cast

The Rules

A signature device, started in Scream and continued in Scream 2 and Scream 3, was the typical "rules" for that type of horror movie being stated by the characters. In Scream 2, the rules for a sequel (as described by Randy) are:

  1. The body count is always bigger.
  2. The death scenes are always much more elaborate, with more blood and gore. (Although this is nowhere near as violent as the orginal)
  3. Randy starts to describe the third rule: "If you want your films to become a successful franchise, never, ever...' before being interrupted by Dewey. (The joke - a variation upon which appears in Ocean's Eleven - is that the filmmakers are admitting there is no surefire way to ensure a film franchise is successful.) However, the film's original teaser trailer featured an extended version of the rules scene which reveals that originally the third rule was supposed to be "Never, ever, under any circumstances assume the killer is dead." This referenced Randy's last line in the first Scream which stated that a killer always comes back to life for one last scare.

Soundtrack

Untitled

Track listing

  1. "Scream" - Master P, Silkk The Shocker 3:30
  2. "Suburban Life" - Kottonmouth Kings 3:34
  3. "Rivers" - Sugar Ray 2:50
  4. "She's Always in My Hair" - D'Angelo 6:19
  5. "Help Myself" - Dave Matthews Band 4:31
  6. "She Said" - Collective Soul 4:51
  7. "Right Place, Wrong Time" - Jon Spencer 3:16
  8. "Dear Lover" - Foo Fighters 4:33
  9. "Eyes of Sand" - Tonic 4:16
  10. "The Swing" - Everclear 2:59
  11. "I Think I Love You" - Less Than Jake 2:03
  12. "Your Lucky Day in Hell" - Eels 4:26
  13. "Red Right Hand" - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, DJ Spooky 8:23
  14. "One More Chance" - Kelly 4:13
  15. "The Race" - Ear2000 2:19

Marco Beltrami returned for the score of Scream 2. While using similar themes as in the first film Marco also incorporated Hans Zimmer's Broken Arrow theme as Dewey's theme.

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