• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
  
• Video Codec: AVC/MPEG-4
  
• Resolution: 1080p/24
  
• Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
  
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
  
• Region: A (Region-Locked)
  
• Rating: R
  
• Discs: 1
• Studio: Lionsgate
  
• Blu-ray Release Date: March 29, 2011
  
• List Price: $19.99

BestBuy.com:

Purchase Scream 2 on Blu-ray at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG  thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)

The Film

[Rating:3/5]

Lighting can really only strike once, when it comes to films at least, and sequels, no matter how hard they try are always a bit of a let down in comparison to their predecessors, except in those rarest of exceptions (I’m thinking now of the wonderful Toy Story films from Pixar). Wes Craven’s 1996 horror film Scream was a hip shot in the arm for the genre, one that woke up a flagging market and gave it a new outlook, a new way of doing things by blending slasher, thriller and murder mystery with contemporary coolness while poking fun at the genre itself.

The problem is, once you’ve seen the formula, that newness vanishes and a sequel becomes sort of, well, mundane. So what do you do if you’re Wes Craven? Well, you make darn sure that you go even more elaborate, make the film even more multi-layered by crafting yet another tongue-in-cheek plot involving a movie within a movie with a wink, wink towards the audience, then play out the same horror tricks you did the first time around. Does it work? Sort of.

In Scream 2 our damsel in distress, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is now in college thinking she is once and for all past the horrendous murders that disrupted her life, that is until the movie Stab hits theatres. Based on the best selling book by the tabloid reporter Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) about the “ghost face” murders, it seems a copycat killer is determined to make darn sure the sequel jumps right of the screen and into Sidney’s life, terrorizing her and other people from Sidney’s past. But, who could the killer be this time? Is it her new boyfriend (Jerry O’Connell), the man she wrongfully accused of killing her mother, Cotton Weary (live Schreiber), or maybe it’s even her old friend Deputy Dewey (David Arquette)? No one’s above suspicion.

The movie-in-a-movie scheme works sometimes and Scream 2 still has some thrills, but sitting through it is at times just like rewatching Scream, which is still the superior film.

Video Quality

[Rating:4/5]

The transfer of Scream 2 is just as strong as the first film, if not slightly better. There are some occasional appearances of scratches and dirt, but the AVC/MPEG-4 1080p transfer overall looks pretty clean. It has good flesh tones and strong foreground detail that extends well into the background before tailing off and softening. The grain structure is fine and consistent throughout, shadow detail is strong and blacks are rather deep.

Audio Quality

[Rating:4/5]

Again, the soundtrack has been spruced up nicely with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix that takes good advantage of all of the channels. The LFE is used to good effect to add some heft to the sounds and there is a lot of side-to-side and front-to-back motion with good levels of ambience and atmospherics. Dialogue is intelligible with only the slightest hint of clipping scattered throughout.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:2.5/5]

You get all the standard definition extras from previous DVD releases plus an audio commentary featuring Wes Craven and other members of the the filmmaking crew.

The supplements provided with this release are:

• Audio commentary by director Wes Craven, producer Marianne Maddelena, and editor Patrick Lussier
• Deleted Scenes (with optional commentary) (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:04.09)
• Outtakes (1.33:1; 480i/60;0:08.54) – Gag reel.
• Featurette (1.33:1; 480i/60; 0:07.05)
• Music Videos:
  • Master P – “Scream”
  • Kottonmouth Kings – “Suburban Life”
• Theatrical Trailer (1.33:1; 480i/60)
• TV Spots (1.33:1; 480i/60)

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:3/5]

Although it is still quite entertaining and filled with thrills and chills, Scream 2 lacks the same originality and surprises that abound in Scream. Still, this is a quite well done Blu-ray release that fans will no doubt appreciate. Recommended.

Additional Screen Captures

Purchase Scream 2 on Blu-ray at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles at Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:3/5]
The Film
[Rating:3/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:2.5/5]