Scream 2, (1997, David Arquette, Neve Campbell)

The combination of blood, Buffy and bathos was irresistible for teen audiences, who made comedy shocker sequel Scream 2 a $150 million global hit.

Two students are slain at a preview of Stab, a film about the Woodsboro massacre seen in Scream , and the suspect appears to be wearing the same mask as the first murderer. Tabloid reporter Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) is attracted back by the promise of fresh blood, and tries to re-establish contact with Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy), Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her friends, including Casey Cooper (Sarah Michelle Gellar).

Ex-deputy Dewey Riley (David Arquette) and the falsely-imprisoned Cotton Weary (Liev Schrieber) believe Randy when he surmises that a ‘sequel’ is now underway and their suspicions are confirmed when Casey is murdered, and the police move in. Once again in Woodsboro, everyone is a suspect, and everyone a potential victim…

‘At least you get David Schwimmer,’ moans Jamie, once again stealing scenes wholesale as he complains about the casting of Stab. ‘I get played by the guy who drove the stagecoach for one episode of Dr. Quinn .’ So unravels the by-now familiar riffs of Kevin Williamson, who replicates Tarantino’s trick of exhuming a genre through the use of self-referential dialogue and situations.

The director – who did much the same thing with Wes Craven’s New Nightmare – takes this as his cue to move away from convention and work on his theory that he has ‘an ability to see where people’s fears are. Nobody’s fears are that unique’. The main fear of Miramax was a leaked ending, and secrecy was preserved through fake endings, confidentiality contracts and last-minute script revisions, giving the cast little time for preparation and installing an urgency which serves the film’s purpose. This was compounded by a 52-day shoot, only six months after the original film opened, signalling the triumphant return of the horror movie to mainstream cinema.

production details
USA | Miramax | 120 minutes | 1997

Director: Wes Craven
Script: Kevin Williamson,

cast
Laurie Metcalf as Debbie Salt
David Arquette as Dewey Riley
Nancy O’Dell as Tori’s Interviewer
Omar Epps as Phil Stevens
Luke Wilson as ‘Stab’ Billy
Marisol Nichols as Dawnie
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Cici Cooper
Rebecca McFarland as Theater Girl #2
Lewis Arquette as Chief Hartley
Jerry O’Connell as Derek
Selma Blair as Cici’s Friend on Phone
Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott
Timothy Olyphant as Mickey
Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers
Jamie Kennedy as Randy Meeks
Elise Neal as Hallie
Jada Pinkett Smith as Maureen Evans
Liev Schreiber as Cotton Weary
Duane Martin as Joel
Rebecca Gayheart as Lois
Portia de Rossi as Murphy
Heather Graham as ‘Stab’ Casey
Roger L. Jackson as Phone Voice (voice)
Joshua Jackson as Film Class Guy #1
Tori Spelling as Herself/’Stab’ Sidney
David Warner as Gus Gold
Paulette Patterson as Usher Giving Out Costumes
Rasila Schroeder as Screaming Girl Up Aisle
Peter Deming as Popcorn Boy
Molly Gross as Theater Girl #1
Kevin Williamson as Cotton’s Interviewer
Sandy Heddings as Girl in Dorm Hallway
Dave Allen Clark as Reporter Outside Theater
Joe Washington as Reporter #1
Angie Dillard as Reporter #2
John Patrick as Reporter #3
Craig Shoemaker as Artsy Teacher
Walter Franks as Film Class Guy #2
Nina Petronzio as Film Class Mopey Girl
Stephanie Belt as Reporter #4
Richard Bruce Doughty as Reporter #5
Cornelia Kiss as Coroner at Cici’s House
Lucy Lin as ER Doctor
Philip Pavel as Officer Andrews
Tim Hillman as Captain Down
Greg Meiss as Zeus
Adam Shankman as Ghost Dancer
Kris Andersson as Dancer
Carmen M. Chavez as Dancer
Anne Fletcher as Dancer
Erik Hyler as Dancer
Sebastian La Cause as Dancer
Lance MacDonald as Dancer
Laurie Sposit as Dancer
Ryan Lee Swanson as Dancer
Jack Baun as Tackled Cell Phoner
Christopher Doyle as Officer Richards
Jason Horgan as Fraternity Brother #1
Daniel K. Arredondo as Fraternity Brother #2
John Embry as Fraternity Brother #3
Jennifer Weston as Reporter #7
Shelly Benedict as Reporter #8
Franco Castan as Student
Carrie Collins as College Student
Wes Craven as Doctor
Tom Hand as Movie Goer
Teretha G. Houston as Student
Gwenne Hudson as Sorority Sister
Rodney L. James as Photographer
Matthew Lillard as Guy at Party
Lynn McRee as Maureen Roberts Prescott
Deadra Moore as College Professor
Corey Mendell Parker as Library Guy
Jason Trost as Audience Member
Sarah Christine Smith as Dancer