Scream 2

There's not much in terms of fear or atmosphere. The actors aren't worth much, and Neve Campbell can’t light a candle to the queen of the genre Jamie Lee Curtis. Pretty disappointing. Quite a lot, actually. (10/07/2002)

One of my favorite movie theater experiences of the 1990s. I wrote a review of the film for my school magazine. Scream 2 has everything that a beginner active viewer will appreciate. A movie within a movie (Scream / Stab), pop culture references slowly in every dialogue, humor, suspense, a very atypical romance, and a caricatured college setting. Tori Spelling wasn't afraid to make a guest appearance, there's an excellent build-up of mutual teasing between the Arquettes (the Friends references continue), and Top Gun and Nosferatu are quoted. It's just too bad that actual film science was never as much fun as when Randy took the class. (04/12/2011)

To continue where the probably best teenage horror movie ended and not disappoint is no small feat, and the fact that Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson managed it so well that they even matched the original is almost applaudable. The second Scream will forever be just the second one because of its predecessor, but thanks to divine dialogue, a flood of my beloved actors in supporting roles (Sarah Michelle Gellar and Timothy Olyphant do not disappoint) and a few really well-conceived twists, this is still a smart, bloody-action bit of entertainment that I don't mind being pleasantly scared by at all. (06/23/2011)

The sequel plays it relatively safe, but it significantly ups the body count compared to the first film, which I definitely appreciate. However, there are moments when it feels like we’ve seen this before. That said, the lighter tone of the film is refreshing, and the returning characters are a delight. The ending is also quite surprising! I’m curious to see what the third installment will bring. For me, it's 6.5/10. (02/01/2023)

All in all, it's pretty much the same crazy mess as the first one, except that this time the effect is accompanied by a sense of déjà vu and the story, which was only ironically exaggerated in the first part, is now a blatant parody of itself. And it’s precisely because it doesn’t take itself seriously, because of the debate around how pointless second episodes are, and because of the noticeable increase in the number of deaths and stabbings, that the second Scream somehow managed to win me over and keep my attention for the entire 110 minutes. The old faces are once again excellent in their famous roles, and the ageing Craven still manages to pull off thrilling scenes in a very impressive way. The story may be nothing but just a caricature of the first one and a mockery of many horror B-movies, but it’s still very entertaining. 70% (03/29/2013)