Scream to Scream, Scene by Scene: SCENE 5 of Scream 2 (0:17:16-0:22:13)

In this project I attempt to review the entire Scream trilogy scene by scene in chronological order. Heavy spoilers and gore throughout!



SCENE 5 of Scream 2
Length: 4mins 57secs
Primary Characters: Gale Weathers, Joel the Cameraman (Duane Martin), Debbie Salt (Laurie Metcalf), Chief Hartley (Lewis Arquette), Sidney Prescott, Randy Meeks, Derek, Mickey, Hallie, Sorority Sister Lois (Rebecca Gayheart), Sorority Sister Murphy (Portia de Rossi), Portia de Rossi's Eyebrows (Themselves)
Pop Culture References:

• Kevin Bacon ("Six degrees of Kevin Bacon" is mentioned)
  

Wow! Awesome crane shot! Wow! So cinematic!

Okay, seriously, let's get to that recently released Canadian trailer for Scream 4 before we get carried away with this scene. I haven't blogged about it yet because a) I've had minimal time and b) it keeps getting taken down, but "Steve" left a link in the comments of an entry so now we have one! yeehaw!


We won't talk about it too much, but needless to say I am excited. Reveals more of the characters (both in terms of number and in terms of their actual character traits and so forth) than the last teaser, which I like. My favourite bit is the "do you like scary movies?" gag that Emma Roberts and Hayden Panattiere share in the bedroom. It reminds me of this bit between Sidney and Randy where it really felt like they were a group of friends who had existed before scene 1.

Some of the scares look very good, such as the Adam Brody one at the end and Sidney's rooftop chase looks intriguing. Could she be getting chased by two Ghostface-clad killers at the same time? It's certainly something the franchise has never done before. Or, not done obviously so with two physical Ghostface beings in the same shot. Should be interesting to see. I like that they include a replication of a shot from the opening scene of Scream 2 and, hello, Kirby's (Panattiere) reciting of remakes of "groundbreaking" horror movies. Well, apart from the use of the word "groundbreaking", which just sounds silly. Nevertheless, we'll go with it, okay?

So, in the end, I like the trailer and it just made me even more excited. A new HD version has been released to the Apple website and it's the US version. There are a couple of shots that are different, but other than that it's all the same. Less than four months to go, you guys! Can we wait? No we can't, but we'll have to. Back to "Scream to Scream", okay?


Oh hai Gale! So glad to have you back and looking as bitchy as ever. She looks so feline-like; can you imagine 1997 era Courteney Cox as Catwoman? Now that would be a re-interpretation that I'd be on board for (ahem Mr Nolan!) Of the three hairstyles Gale had throughout the trilogy, this one is by far the best. As Dewey would say, "nice streaks!"


Love the look on Gale's face when her new cameraman, Joel, tells her he "almost won an award" for shooting the local bingo championships. The character of Derek is an interesting one though since he's the only black character in the entire trilogy who does not die (albeit, from a very small number of black characters - what's that about? A point so chin-stroke worthy that they put Deon Richmond on the poster for Scream 3 despite being in all of 3 minutes of the film!) We'll discuss this more later on.


Look at "Debbie Salt" hanging around there in the background. Whosoever idea it was (that'd be Lisa Beach) to cast Laurie freakin' Metcalf in a slasher horror movie deserves a medal. Yet again, one of this series' biggest assets is its ability to cast actors that we all know in unexpected parts. Not just mere cameos, but actual parts. I mean, Roseanne's sister Jackie as the killer in Scream 2 just sounds ridiculous and yet utterly amazing.


"Excuse me, Ms Weathers, could I have a minute? Just one second. I know you must get this all the time, but I just wanna say I am such a big fan of your work. I just finished your book, I couldn't put it down. Insightful, probing, I just really, really loved your book."


"Thank you, thanks."


"Sure. I'm a writer myself, I just write for the local paper. I'm Debbie Salt. I took your seminar in Chicago last year, I was the one in the front row asking all the questions."


"Right, I thought you looked familiar."


"Aw, thank you. Can't wait to see the movie! You know, you must be getting a lot of flak on that, right? What with all the violence in cinema issues. What is your position going to be?"
"No comment."


"Mr Weathers, it would be such an honour for me if I could just get a quote from you for my story."


"Okay. Begin quote."
"Great!"
"Your flattering remarks are both obvious and desperate. End quote."


(from the background) "Ouch!"
This entire bit is gold, from Gale's so-couldn't-care-less almost monotone replies of "thank you" and "Right, I thought you looked familiar", but my favourite bit is the "ouch!" from the press gallery after Gale's big line at the end. It's so sassy talk show host, I love it! Plus, knowing in retrospect that "Debbie Salt" (aka Mrs Loomis, Billy's mother) is the mastermind behind the killings makes you realise how much she must be full of rage at this moment and plotting her revenge.


That would be David Arquette's father - and Courteney Cox's future father-in-law - Lewis Arquette. It really was a family affair on set!


You remember how I said Scream 2 followed a very set structure, almost identical to the original, for the first half an hour or so? Well I guess this is Scream 2's version of the fountain scene where we get to see all of Sidney's crew in one place and suss out the likely suspects. No jokes about gutting, livers in mailboxes and Sharon Stone, unfortunately.


"Sidney, look, it's Gale Weathers. Star of the Gale Weathers press conference, based on the book by Gale Weathers, soon to be a major motion picture starring... Gale Weathers."
"Be kind, she saved our lives."

I like that Randy makes a joke about Gale having calf implants. Who has calf implants? Gale Weathers, that's who!


We already discussed the history of Sarah Michelle Gellar's Cici character and how she was originally meant to be in this scene with Rebecca Gayheart, Portia de Rossi and Portia de Rossi's eyebrows. Every time I remember this scene I remember it with Gellar purely of the image found on this page since it was, for some reason, widely used and circulated. It always confuses me because Cici is "Omega Beta Zeta" in her death scene and Gayheart/de Rossi/de Rossi's Eyebrows are not OBZ. Thinking its all one giant plot hole I then remember all the kerfuffle about her character reshuffle and then I go calm again. Although, if you look carefully in the background you can see Cici standing there in her purple top and blonde hair right where she would be saying "Starfuckers" per the original script.


But, really folks, are you read for the big entrance of Portia de Rossi's eyebrows??


"This must be flat out hell for you?!"
Amazing!


"It's really weird, isn't it? To think this fuss is all because of you! I mean, not directly, but in some 'six degrees of Kevin Bacon' way!"
EVEN MORE AMAZING OMG!!!!


Hah. That look of a stunned mullet on the faces of Derek and Mickey always continues my chuckle from Portia de Rossi's supreme comedic prowess.


*explodes*
I'm sorry, I have to give myself a minute to pull myself up off the floor from the pits of laughter that Portia de Rossi's cocked eyebrow sends me into. I fuckin' love it!

Of course, how can I get that snobby-looking uptight sorority girl to the right of frame. She's not credited so I don't know who the actress is, but my god would you look at her face. You just know she grew up to be Julie Cooper-Nichol.


"Who's that?" Derek asks... why it's Dewey, of course! Yay! We all love Deputy Dewey, don't we? DON'T WE?

Cut to a new scene and serious time. Ooh...

Scream:
Intro, Scene 1 Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4, Scene 5, Scene 6, Scene 7, Scene 8, Scene 9, Scene 10, Scene 11, Scene 12, Scene 13, Scene 14, Scene 15, Scene 16, Scene 17, Scene 18, Scene 19, Scene 20, Scene 21, Scene 22, Scene 23, Scene 24, Scene 25, Scene 26, Scene 27, Scene 28, Scene 29, Scene 30, Scene 31 Scene 32, Scene 33, End Credits

Scream 2
Scene 1, Scene 2, Scene 3, Scene 4