UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ Scream 2 -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

This time of the year, as whales head up the Nile to spawn, the horror cycle films of the '80s - 2010's, as well as classics will make there annual re-appearance, which actually makes far more sense than anniversary releases.

This year, in addition to Halloween, Friday the 13, Army of Darkness, Howling, and a few others, we get the second collection of Universal horrors (to be covered in the near future) along with single re-issues of those in the first box set. For those who may be unaware, these are best captured from Gruv, Universal's site, especially on sale and with a discount for initial purchase.

Within this universe of shocking releases, comes Scream 2, from Paramount, and it's a terrific looking example of the genre.

As a film shot on contemporary Eastman stock the film has a naturally fine grain, and while I doubt (hope) that Paramount hasn't messed with it, it looks fine.

Color, density, black levels, all in the proper space, along with a 5.1 variant of the original Dolby stereo mix.

Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson were an astonishingly good team on these films, as they understood the genre, knew its history and were able to poke perfect fun at it, creating a trio of films that beautifully stand the test of time.

For those just getting into the genre, Mr. Craven also created another interesting character in a film entitled A Nightmare on Elm Street, that seemed to garner less of an audience and never seemed to go anywhere.

Bottom line, a beautiful new version of Scream 2 from Paramount.

Can Scream 3 on 4k be far away?

One further point in regard to packaging. My example arrived in a quite lovely steelbook, emblazoned on the obverse with some sort of make and a knife, with what appear to be audience members below in semi-darkness, also in similar masks.

The reverse has the words "Hello Sidney. Remember me?" Below the typography is an image of a Bowie knife possibly a reference to The Alamo.

As everyone knows, these steelbooks are far more valuable than their contents, which can usually always be had, and collectors are already gathering these unto themselves, only to drop them on eBay like an exultation of PS5, and Xboxes. A great new cottage industry.

Image – 5 (Dolby Vision)

Audio – 5 (DTS-HD MA 5.1)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 4

Upgrade from Blu-ray - Definately

Recommended

RAH

 

[TravisR]

A deeply underrated sequel.

 

[Malcolm R]

Mr. Craven also created another interesting character in a film entitled A Nightmare on Elm Street

Never heard of it. I'll have to check it out. He was also the director of the Oscar-nominated Music of the Heart that starred some short-lived ingenue. I forget her name, but I think it was something odd like Beryl Street?

 

[SD_Brian]

creating a trio of films that beautifully stand the test of time.

Technically, they created a quartet: Craven directed Screams 1-4, while Williamson wrote 1,2 & 4 and produced #3.

 

[Kyle_D]

I watched this last night for the first time in probably 20 years. I was afraid it wouldn't hold up, but I was impressed. I actually think it might be a better film overall than the original. The reveal of killers is still arbitrary and Scooby-doo-ish, but the acting is better, the meta-commentary is sharper, and it's technically much more accomplished. For me, it's the last essential film in the franchise, although I enjoyed the recent "re-quel."

It's a good looking disc. Coincidentally, I watched it back-to-back with the new UHD of Lost Highway, which shared the same cinematographer as Scream 2, was also shot in Panavision, and was also released in 1997. Not sure if they used the same film stock, but the discs shared a similar look. Grain on Lost Highway looked a bit more natural, but I'm splitting hairs.