Scream 2 (1997)

"Scream 2" is a delightful follow up to the hit that resurrected Wes Craven's career just at the right time. He's back with writing partner for the sequel, one that proves to be just as effective as the first. It has more scares and more victims but it also has too many faces with too little screen time to ever clearly suspect who the killer or killers are this time around. The opening scene is fantastic and sets up the mood perfectly for the rest of the film.


The film takes place two years after the Woodsboro Murders from the first film. After a gruesome double killing at a preview showing of the movie "Stab", which was based on the Woodsboro Murders, news reporters flock to Sidney Prescott once again to see what she thinks about the situation. She wants nothing to do with the media circus, preferring to focus on her college studies and her boyfriend Derek and her friends Randy (from the the first movie) and her best friend Hallie. It's not long before Dewey arrives on the scene as well as Gale Weathers, who attempts a one on one confrontation between Sidney and Cotton Weary, the man Sidney accused of being her mother's killer. After all of the stress and awkwardness of the day, Hallie convinces Sidney to come to a party with her. Of course the new Ghostface Killer/s shows up and kills one student before attacking Sidney. She escapes and the movie becomes a cat-and-mouse game as Sidney tries to figure out who the killer is while trying to stay alive.

The Faculty (1998)

Another great ensemble horror film from 1998 is “The Faculty”, starring established horror or sci-fi actors like Robert Patrick (“Terminator 2”), Famke Janssen (“House on Haunted Hill”), and Piper Laurie (“Carrie”) as well as younger actors like Josh Harnett and Elijah Wood. The film was directed by Robert Rodriguez, who had already shown us that he knew how to have fun with a horror flick after directing “From Dusk Till Dawn”! “The Faculty” is basically a variation of the “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” story with a few plot points adjusted so it comes across as its own movie. The special effects are fine but a bit outdated compared to today’s picky standards. I really enjoyed the film and the tension that is builds when the characters become aware that there might be an alien amongst them.

High school students from various cliques and social circles are forced to band together when their school faculty members become influenced by a water-based alien that is able to take over its host. First the school and then world conquest! The school’s drug dealer Zeke (Hartnett) becomes the unintentional leader of the group after he figures out that his special drug cocktail can kill the alien host. Armed with the drug, Zeke and Casey, the school’s paper photographer, go out hunting for the queen to save their school and their friends.

Favorite moment – there is “The Thing” like scene where Zeke forces the group of students to take his drug in order to prove that they are still human.  Like the scene from “The Thing”, one of them isn’t and destroys the lab and most of the drug supplies they need to kill the invaders.

Scream (1996)

By the 1990’s, stalker films had become a joke and the genre was filled with movies that only cared about killing people in more and more unusual ways and forcing a twist or concept that wasn’t very convincing. Somehow writer Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven came up with the perfect formula that made the stalker/slasher film relevant and entertaining, introducing the sub-genre to a new generation. “Scream” is a smart movie, a movie willing to point out the formula of a horror movie in bullet points and follow each one exactly. “Scream” had an amazing cast filled with young actors that would go on and have impressive careers. “Scream” would also become its own franchise that for the most part remained somewhat clever.

“Scream” is about Sidney Prescott, a teen who has already dealt with tragedy when her mother was killed the year before. Now someone is killed off two of her classmates and comes after her the next evening. She escapes and her boyfriend Billy is arrested because he is caught at the scene of the attempted murder. When his cell phone history clears his guilt, Sidney is still unsure if she can trust him or not. She is attacked once again at the high school, prompting the principal to suspend classes until further notice; the principal is then killed in his office. One of Sidney’s friends throws a house party and there carnage escalates as more people are killed and the mystery of who the killer is becomes more blurred, because at this point anyone (except Sidney) could be the killer.

Favorite death scene – The best death scene in this film is easily the first one which involves Drew Barrymore. What makes this movie great is that the killer is human and sometimes a klutz, so when you hear each moan or see them fall or get hit, it gives a real sense of believability to it. And with Drew, your heart drops because she was so close to getting away but you knew that she woulnd’t….