[7]

Director Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and screenwriter Kevin Williamson (Dawson’s Creek) ratchet up the chills and thrills nicely in the first (and best) sequel in the Scream franchise. Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is off to college, but Ghost Face isn’t through with her yet, launching another killing spree and shoving the sordid story of her mother’s sexual indiscretions and brutal murder front and center. Courtney Cox and David Arquette also return as intrepid reporter Gale Weathers and the lovably goofy Deputy Dewey. Their characters develop an odd but charming romantic relationship as they help Sidney try to uncover the identity of the new killer.

My favorite surviving cast member, Jamie Kennedy, gets the movie’s most shocking death scene. Kudos to Craven and Williamson for successfully offing a main character in broad daylight in the middle of a crowded public place. The movie works fairly well while it’s hopping through various sequences of tension and suspense, but the climactic reveal and ensuing explanation are a little bit of a chore to digest. Welcome additions to the cast include Stand By Me‘s Jerry O’Connell as Sidney’s beefy boyfriend, Timothy Olyphant as a snobby film student, and Roseanne‘s Laurie Metcalf as a prying news reporter that gets under Cox’s skin.

With Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jada Pinkett, Liev Schreiber, and Elise Neal.