SCREAM 2

Director Wes Craven, screenwriter Kevin Williamson, and a yum-yum cast of pretties pull off the neat trick of affectionately counting the many ways available for horror sequels to suck, without making a sequel that sucks with Scream 2. Quite the contrary, this funny, gory stab-athon is as sophisticated about the mechanics of Part 2s as the original was savvy about horror flicks. Neve Campbell is regularly spooked once again; Courteney Cox is even more fun this time as the zirconium-hard local TV reporter who intends to own the maniac-on-the-loose story if it kills her. A-