A follow up to Scream was a no brainer after the original grossed an unexpected $173 million worldwide. Much of the creative team returned for Scream 2, including director Wes Craven, screenwriter Kevin Williamson, and actors Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, Jamie Kennedy, and Liev Schreiber. While the body count is up there’s a lot less gore. Smartly, Craven has focused on the story and the scares.

Scream 2 opens around two years after the first film. Windsor College students Maureen Evans (Jada Pinkett) and Phil Stevens (Omar Epps) are attending a preview of Stab, a film based on the events of the Woodsboro massacre. While there, both students both students are slain by the masked killer, Ghostface. We are then reintroduced to Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) who is beginning to enjoy college life at Windsor after the massacre events that upended her life. She’s even being courted by a sorority. But, the calm cant last.

Quickly, the Stab murders become big news. Reporters converge on the Windsor campus, anxious to interview Ghostface’s surviving victim. Most tenacious is reporter Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox), on whose book Stab is based. She arrives with a surprise for Sidney. She has brought along Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), the man Sidney falsely accused of murder. Deputy Dewey (David Arquette) has arrived to act as a kind of big brother to Sidney during this latest disruption in her life. But could he be the killer? Is it her boyfriend Derek (Jerry O’Connell)? Cotton Weary? Or even Dewey? Everyone is a potential suspect.

Craven’s “movie within a movie” shows originality in a movie genre filled with clichés. He clearly enjoys the opportunity to parody Scream and does it with style. Stab has Heather Graham in the “Casey Becker” role (originally played by Drew Barrymore) and Tori Spelling as “Sidney Prescott” (Neve Campbell). Unfortunately, there are only a couple brief scenes of Stab. Seeing more of the satire would have been welcome. Screenwriter Kevin Williamson is clearly having fun too. He’s delivered dialogue that is both smart and funny. Several actresses—Sarah Michelle Gellar, Portia De Rossi, Rebecca Gayheart and Elise Neal, among others—make little more than cameos—providing beautiful bodies as corpses.

A self-aware satire, Scream 2 is an enjoyable film even for those non horror fans among us.

Paramount’s 2160p/Dolby Vision UHD release is a huge improvement over the 2011 Blu-ray release. Originally shot in the anamorphic format, Scream 2 arrives on 4K UHD framed in 2.39:1. It’s immediately obvious that the grain structure is natural. Unlike the Blu-ray, Instances of debris and scratches have disappeared. Detail is occasionally on the softer side but does contain moments of excellent clarity, Color grading is particularly impressive, offering a natural and full appearance. Colors are sharp, greens and reds pop off the screen. Whites and blacks are deep throughout. Overall, this is an excellent presentation worth the upgrade.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack originally present on the Blu-ray still sounds very good. Surround sound puts you in the middle of the action with strong effects and an active soundfield. Jump scares are given particularly effective punch Dialogue has been well recorded, offer fine directionality and clear vocals throughout. The underscore has been effectively mixed.

English, English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Korean, Norwegian and Swedish subtitles are available.

This particular version comes in collectible steelbook packaging. The UHD disc contains only the Audio Commentary. The accompanying Blu-ray (the 2011 release) contains the rest of the previously released special features:

  • Audio Commentary: Director Wes Craven, Producer Marianne Maddalena, and Editor Patrick Lussier.
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Outtakes
  • Featurette
  • Music Videos
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • TV Spots
  • Digital Copy Code