10 Horror Movie Sequels That Are Practically Flawless
2. Scream 2
The first Scream film, also directed by Wes Craven, was revolutionary. For the first time, horror movie characters were aware of the conventions of horror movies and used them to their advantage. Did it keep most of them alive? Well, no, but at least they tried.
It also introduced David Arquette to Courteney Cox, which may not have ended well but it was cute while it lasted.
How do you create a sequel to a film that's all about subverting expectations? Why, you subvert people's expectations on sequels, of course!
Scream 2, released just one year after the original in 1997, is about a copycat killer obsessed with the murderer from the first movie. It features a lot of returning cast members (including Arquette and Cox, hooray), as well as big names like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jade Pinkett joining the action.
It's just as clever and meta as the first Scream film, but, crucially, Scream 2 still works as an out-and-out horror. It's got a compelling villain, a strong lead survivor in Neve Campbell's Sidney Prescott, and more dead bodies than you can shake a Ghostface mask at.