Patrick Lussier

Sidney Prescott is now in college, trying to live a normal life despite the immense popularity of the new Stab movie, based on Gale Weathers' popular true crime book about the murders the occurred in the first Scream movie (yes, Stab is essentially Scream with different actors). Unfortunately, the movie seems to be inspiring horrible people to call Sidney and pretend to be the original killer. She deals with it as best she can, but then a sorority girl is murdered by an actual copycat killer. Also a couple moviegoers - it occurs to me that there was never any attempt to explain that.

As Sidney and others try to figure out the new killer's identity, the body count rises.

The only Scream movie I've ever watched is the first one, so after enjoying my recent rewatch, I decided I'd finally work my way through the franchise.

I'd thought Gale had learned her lesson in the first movie, but apparently not, because she was still using Sidney as a stepping stone towards fame and fortune. There was some evidence that, deep down, she felt bad about it, but only after Dewey repeatedly rejected her and threw his own disgust in her face. Weirdly, Dewey and Gale are becoming the most interesting characters in this series.

Sidney was back as well, and had somehow made it through the trauma of discovering that her boyfriend was a murderer well enough to attempt dating once again. After what she'd experienced in the first movie, I'd have expected it to take a lot of counseling. She did have trust issues, though, and one of the things she had to navigate in this movie was her suspicion that her newest boyfriend might be a murderer like her first one was. (One unrelated question I'm left with: will Sidney's father ever make an onscreen appearance? And what kind of horrible father makes zero effort to keep in touch with a daughter who's survived this many killers?)

There were a few surprising faces in this movie that I'd have liked to see in another Scream movie. Sadly, they all ended up very dead. Ah well.

The big reveal at the end wasn't all that believable (literally no one but Sidney recognized the person?), but then again it wasn't all that believable that someone as psychotic as Sidney's first boyfriend was able to hide how twisted he was for as long as he did.

The one scene that frustrated the heck out of me: the bit where Ghostface was unconscious behind the wheel of a car. Yes, they had to get away before the killer regained consciousness, but it would have been easy to take a peek at the person's face first. Plus, removing the mask would have made it easier to see if the person was about to attack. It seemed like more manufactured tension than necessary.

All in all, the second movie was okay. I'm wondering how the next few are going to work out. How many times does the franchise make use of the same basic twist and still at least sort of manage to get away with it?

Extras:

Audio commentary I didn't listen to, outtakes, deleted scenes, etc. I don't recall the outtakes or deleted scenes being particularly worth recommending.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (mere)

Sidney Prescott is well-known in her small town for being the daughter of a woman who was raped and brutally murdered a year prior. It was Sidney's testimony that put Cotton Weary behind bars, but there are some, like reporter Gale Weathers, who argue that Sidney was mistaken. Gale believes that Weary was Sidney's mother's lover but not her murderer.

Now that a new murderer is on the prowl, Sidney can't help but be reminded about the past. A local teen and her boyfriend are both murdered, and the girl's whole school is abuzz with theories about who did it. All anyone knows is that the murderer was dressed in black and wearing a white Scream mask. When Sidney herself gets a call from the murderer, she begins to doubt all her relationships? Could someone she knows actually be the killer?

I last watched this back in college, as part of a dorm "scary movie night" around Halloween. It might have been the first time I watched it, I'm not sure. At any rate, I was wondering how this would hold up, having been made back in 1996. I recalled giggling over the "cellular phones" back in college - to me they looked like walkie talkies, they were so huge. The technology looked even more outdated this time around, and I had to remind myself what phones were and were not capable of doing back then (smartphones would have solved so many of the movie's victim's problems). Also, there were a bunch of pop culture references that I mostly understood but that I'm guessing would go over modern teens' heads. That said, I thought this still held up pretty well.

I remembered the initial "shocker," Drew Barrymore's death only a few minutes into the movie, although I had forgotten the bit with her boyfriend and how gory it was. For some reason, I recalled her death happening a bit faster than it did. I also remembered part of the ending - I suspect the reason why the full thing didn't stick with me was because there was barely anything that qualified as a motive.

Still, overall it was a fun rewatch. The whole "horror movie rules" aspect is still widely known and accepted enough to work as part of the movie's framework. I had forgotten how many really recognizable actors were in this (Neve Campbell, Drew Barrymore, Rose McGowan, David Arquette, Courtney Cox). I'd also forgotten how awkward Dewey was, and his weird little romance with Gale.

Although it touched on the horror movie rule that "sex equals impending death," and I wasn't wild about the way several of the characters talked about Jamie Lee Curtis, I at least appreciated that it wasn't overly gross in the way Sidney's scene with her boyfriend was filmed. Although I do think Sidney should have dumped her boyfriend early on for being all "look, I've tried to be understanding because of your mother's death, but are we ever going to have sex?" It was gross as heck that she eventually agreed with that viewpoint and tried to be less "selfish."

I had forgotten just how stupid things got at the end, during the reveal. Who tells the potential victims they're about to die and then stabs themselves before taking care of the murder? Sheesh.

I don't think I've ever watched any of the other movies in this franchise, but I hope to do so in the near future. I managed to get myself a cheap copy of the fourth one and am debating whether to skip straight to that or wait until I've watched the second and third.

Extras:

Audio commentary, a production featurette, behind the scenes, and a Q&A with the cast and crew. I think I watched the behind the scenes and production featurette and that's it. Those were pretty good, though. A significant amount of time was spent on Drew Barrymore's appearance at the beginning of the movie.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (mere)