Yes, 5 out of 10. It's a slasher with a lot of Ghostface jump scares.
🐱THE SCARE SIGNAL
SCARE SCORE
5 /10
🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱🐱
DREAD LEVEL
Low
It is over when the credits roll, apart from a lingering distrust of the phone.
DOG
Dog: fine
fine, no dog dies.
Ruling: Fine for a group on a Friday night, as long as nobody is in a hurry to answer the phone.
Scream 2 runs two hours, and it opens in a theater full of students watching a movie about the first movie. The Woodsboro killings have already been made into a movie, and a new Ghostface turns up on a college campus anyway.
The premise, briefly
After the Woodsboro killings, Sidney is in college and a new Ghostface starts killing students, which brings back the same survivors who were not hoping for a reunion.
How much do you want to know?
🐱
The verdict above is spoiler-free. Everything below, including the ending, stays hidden until you pick a depth.
🐱CUT TO THE CHASE
How it ends
The killers are Mickey and Debbie Salt, who is really Nancy Loomis, Billy's mother. Cotton shoots Nancy, Gale and Sidney finish off Mickey, and Sidney, Gale, Dewey and Cotton all survive.
The scene you're dreading
The opening scene in a crowded theater: Ghostface sits next to Maureen and stabs her repeatedly while the raucous crowd does not notice, and she falls dead on stage. It happens at the very start, so you can skip it safely.
The dog
No dog dies in Scream 2.
It is a campus slasher with some jump scares, and it is mostly a puzzle about who is under the mask, which is easy to follow once you know.
THE SHORT VERSION IS HIDDEN
How it ends, the scene you're dreading, what happens to the dog, and the bottom line. About twenty seconds to read.
What actually happens
A packed theater and a very quiet murder
The opening is the part people dread, and it comes at the very start. Two Windsor College seniors, Maureen Evans and Phil Stevens, go to a preview of Stab, a movie about the Woodsboro killings. Phil steps out to use the restroom and is killed by someone in a Ghostface costume, who then takes his seat beside Maureen. Ghostface stabs her repeatedly while the raucous crowd does not notice. She climbs on stage to get help, and the audience assumes it is a publicity stunt. She dies in front of them before anyone realizes it is real.
Reporters descend on the school, including a local journalist named Debbie Salt. Sidney Prescott studies there with her roommate Hallie, her new boyfriend Derek, and fellow Woodsboro survivor Randy Meeks, plus Derek's friend Mickey. Deputy Dewey Riley arrives to protect Sidney, and reporter Gale Weathers arrives to cover the story. Gale and her new cameraman, Joel, try to set up an on-camera meeting between Sidney and Cotton Weary, who wants fame after being cleared of her mother's murder. That night, Ghostface kills a student named Cici at a sorority house, then goes after Sidney at a nearby party and hurts Derek before the police arrive. Gale notices that Cici is short for Casey and decides the killer is going after people with names like the first victims. Ghostface then calls Gale, Dewey and Randy in daylight on the campus, grabs Randy and pulls him into Joel's van, where he dies. Joel leaves town.
A safe house on wheels and a cross in the auditorium
At night, Dewey and Gale go to review Joel's footage for any sign of the killer, and Ghostface stabs Dewey. Two officers drive Sidney and Hallie toward a safe house, and Ghostface intercepts the car and kills the officers. During the struggle Ghostface is knocked out, then wakes up and kills Hallie. Sidney follows music into the campus theater looking for safety and finds Derek tied to a cross left over from a fraternity hazing ritual. Ghostface walks in and takes off the mask, and he is Mickey. He shoots Derek dead. Sidney has now lost her roommate and her boyfriend, and Ghostface has not even finished explaining himself yet.
The ending, explained
Mickey says he plans to kill Sidney and get arrested, so he can blame movie violence and become famous at the trial. Debbie then walks in with a gun on Gale, and Sidney recognizes her as Nancy Loomis, Billy's mother. Nancy shoots Mickey and says she only used him to take the blame. She wants revenge on Sidney for killing Billy, and she also killed Randy for talking badly about her son. Cotton shows up with a gun and, instead of killing Sidney as Nancy urges, shoots Nancy in exchange for an interview with Sidney. Mickey gets up again and is shot dead by Gale and Sidney, then Sidney shoots Nancy in the head to be sure. Gale is wounded but alive. Dewey turns out to be alive too, so Gale rides in the ambulance with him. Sidney tells the press to take their questions to Cotton.
The post-credits ruling
There is no post-credits scene. You can leave when the credits start.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Scream 2 scary?
Scream 2 is a 5 out of 10 with low dread. It has some jump scares, mostly from Ghostface, and the fear is the kind that ends when the credits roll.
How does Scream 2 end?
Mickey and Nancy Loomis are both killed, Mickey by Gale and Sidney and Nancy by Cotton and then Sidney. Sidney, Gale, Dewey and Cotton survive, and Sidney sends the press to Cotton.
Does the dog die in Scream 2?
No dog dies in Scream 2, and no other animal dies either.
Is there a post-credits scene in Scream 2?
No. Scream 2 has no post-credits scene, so you can leave when the credits start.
Who is the killer in Scream 2?
There are two. Mickey, Derek's friend, wears the Ghostface costume, and Debbie Salt, the reporter, is really Nancy Loomis, the mother of Billy from the first movie. Mickey wants fame, and Nancy wants revenge on Sidney.
BLURRED FOR YOUR PROTECTION
The whole plot of Scream 2 is hidden, ending included. It stays that way until you ask.
You don't have to sit through two hours of Scream 2 to learn who is behind the mask. Install Scaredy Cat and it will blur horror like this before you see any of it.
