Scream 2 review

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SCREAM 2

The sequel to Wes Craven's sly slasher pic finds Sidney (Neve Campbell) and film buff Randy (Jamie Kennedy) now at college, only for the past to return to haunt them. In a deliciously contrived opening, an auditorium of excited, cat-calling teens are watching Stab, the film made from the book recounting the Woodsboro killings, written by media tart Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox).

From here on, self-referential humour now takes in the direct history of this very franchise, as well as that of its director, stars and genre as before. And, of course, there's cunning debate on whether sequels can, in fact, be better than their predecessors.

Well, what better way to disguise a business-like cashing-in manoeuvre than with a movie that actually plays up to it? Whether it is actually an improvement on the original is questionable, but it's hugely entertaining nevertheless, with thrills and shocks and pretty stars and lots of blood and, crucially, a feeling of real involvement that most in-jokey pictures do not allow (unless you're a complete film nerd). And in case you're wondering, Scream 3 is being prepared even as we speak.