Scream 2
Reception

Scream 2 (1997)

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External reception

6.4
5 platform(s) · 7 ratings 270,672 votes
6.4/10 25,922 votes Synced 2026-07-27
6.4/10 239,472 votes Synced 2026-08-20
Audience 7.3/10 387 votes Synced 2026-07-19
Critics 6.2/10 Synced 2026-07-19
Audience 5.9/10 Synced 2026-07-18
Critics 8.3/10 Synced 2026-07-18
6.5/10 4,891 votes Synced 2026-09-19

External reviews

Lisa Schwarzbaum · Entertainment Weekly 91.00/100.00

This funny, gory stab-athon is as sophisticated about the mechanics of Part 2s as the original was savvy about horror flicks.

synced 2026-07-19
Leonard Klady · Variety 80.00/100.00

Visceral, witty and appropriately redundant, the sequel has a winning commercial recipe that's certain to cook up excellent returns in all areas.

synced 2026-07-19
James Berardinelli · ReelViews 75.00/100.00

Paradoxically, there's a lot less gore. There is blood, of course, but nothing excessive by slasher-movie standards, and there are no depictions of spilled entrails. Craven has remembered that scares are more important that graphic displays of human insides and bodily fluids.

synced 2026-07-19
Janet Maslin · The New York Times 70.00/100.00

Even if you haven't spent as much obsessive time at the video store as these guys have, you might enjoy helping 'Scream 2' laugh all the way to the bank.

synced 2026-07-19
Stephen Hunter · Washington Post 70.00/100.00

[Craven's] stroke of genius is to offer the horror movie in an ironic mode. He's winking at viewers and inviting them to share a clever conspiracy that we on the cholesterol-clogged side of 30 cannot begin to understand.

synced 2026-07-19
Andrew O'Hehir · Salon 90.00/100.00

Inevitably a little patchier and less startlingly original than its predecessor -- S2 is an ingenious, often hilarious, movie that does nothing to diminish the well-deserved cult reputation of its director.

synced 2026-07-19
Roger Ebert · Chicago Sun-Times 75.00/100.00

Only a few sequels have been as good as the originals; the characters especially like "Aliens'' and "The Godfather, Part II.'' As for Scream 2, it's ... well, it's about as good as the original.

synced 2026-07-19
Mick LaSalle · San Francisco Chronicle 75.00/100.00

Though Craven satirizes horror cliches, he also knows how to cut through them and do new things. Throughout, the action comes unexpectedly and quickly.

synced 2026-07-19
Richard Harrington · Washington Post 70.00/100.00

Early on, Randy suggests of sequels that "by definition they are inferior." That may be, but Scream 2 is more disappointing than it is inferior. Like its predecessor, it's both frightening and funny, just not as singularly classy.

synced 2026-07-19
Marc Savlov · Austin Chronicle 67.00/100.00

It's one of the better sequels to come out in years, and although it doesn't pack the emotional wallop of the first film, it's still head and shoulders (and punctured eyeballs) above most of what's out there.

synced 2026-07-19

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