A year after her harrowing summer, Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) tries to forget. Though she is now at college in Boston, the memories and nightmares remain. If she and Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr) really killed deranged fisherman Ben Willis, why was his corpse never found?
So when her best friend Karla (Brandy) wins an expenses-paid Caribbean break, Julie is delighted to accept a free ticket. Ray decides he’s too busy to go, so classmate Will (Matthew Settle) takes the spare ticket, joining Karla’s boyfriend Tyrell (Mekhi Phifer) on the trip.
They arrive during hurricane season, finding their swish hotel almost vacant except for a bellhop, a bartender and a crazed pool boy (Jack Black). As the storms hit, the bodycount rises, and Julie soon realises that the hotel has a certain hook-handed murderer as an uninvited guest…
Danny Cannon’s follow-up has to overcome more disadvantages than the average sequel: the killer’s identity is no mystery, and a high proportion of the cast must be bumped off without being able to utilise Kevin Williamson’s skills in genre subversion. From that standing start, the London-born director does well to produce a distinct film and, while there is little emphasis on originality, scream queen Hewitt is consistently good and there’s a divine cameo from Black, whose effortless hilarity has since made him a bigger box office draw than the rest of the cast.
Cast: Jennifer Love Hewitt (Julie James), Freddie Prinze Jr. (Ray Bronson), Mekhi Phifer (Tyrell), Brandy Norwood (Karla Wilson), Muse Watson (Ben Willis), Matthew Settle (Will Benson), Jennifer Esposito (Nancy), Bill Cobbs (Estes), Jeffrey Combs (Mr. Brooks), John Hawkes (Dave), Jack Black (Titus Telesco),
Crew
Director: Danny Cannon
Writer: Trey Callaway
US / 100 minutes / 1998
