10 Movie Sequels That Started In Surprising Ways

8. Scream 2

Scream 2 Jada Pinkett Smith
Dimension Films

While the movie within a movie concept is nowadays commonplace for the Scream franchise, this was a genuinely surprising development upon a first watch of Scream 2.

Of course, said movie within a movie is Stab the subsequent sequels that faux flick has spawned. With that initial Stab offering delivering a retelling of the infamous murders of the first Scream picture, horror hounds were first introduced to this loose adaptation of those 1996 Woodsboro killings in the opening moments of the second Scream effort.

As Scream 2 opens, we hone in on Jada Pinkett's Maureen and Omar Epps' Phil, two college lovebirds on a date to watch Stab. While getting to see Heather Graham yuck it up as Casey Becker is fun, the biggest surprise of this Scream sequel's opening is how it yet again opts to fool audiences with the 'major star on the poster' shock.

By that, that's in reference to how the original Scream had Drew Barrymore front 'n' centre on all of its marketing material, only to fool us all by offing Barrymore's Casey in the film's brutal, brilliant initial sequence.

Skip ahead to Scream 2, and Wes Craven went and did it again. This time, it was Jada Pinkett who was prominently featured in the promotional material for this follow-up. Catching many off-guard, Pinkett's Maureen is slaughtered in the cinema by Ghostface during the aforementioned Stab screening - with those in attendance alongside Maureen believing that this murder is all merely part of the show.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.