Wolff rating: MOSTLY HARMLESS
Plot summary: Boring retread of screams from previous movie with only a few recurring characters---essentially, the fisherman killer is on the loose again.
Biased, pithy comments: I'm willing to like any movie that unapologetically announces that it's a rip-off of an entire decade's worth of horror films. Unfortunately, unlike ``Scream,'' this one doesn't do it very well. It rips off the boring chase-the-pretty-girls-through-the-house scenes without taking any of the horror (most exemplified by that sense of impending helplessness as the killer outthinks our heroines at every angle). Instead, we watch Hewitt, Brandy, and a few forgettable others traipse in and out of some dull sets, run from a guy with a hook, and do things that are beyond stupid and into audience-insulting (the winner being getting into the tanning bed, with honorable mention going to ``Let's find Derek in the morning,'' from the hotel clerk. If someone tells me that someone in the building is dead, wouldn't your first move be to locate that someone?). I have to admit being partial to pretty girls running from invincible killers, but I went into this movie with low expectations, and it failed to fufill any of them. Watch the first movie twice instead of seeing this film.
Other Notes: Jennifer Esposito is the bartender---she was also on ``Spin City.''
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., Brandy Norwood, Mehki Phifer, Muse Watson, Bill Cobbs, Matthew Settle.
Directed by: Danny Cannon