Two years after surviving a series of brutal murders in her hometown, a young woman is now attending college and attempting to move on with her life. However, with the release of a sensational new film based on the notorious events that she narrowly escaped, her past refuses to stay buried. As the movie incites a macabre fascination in the public, students on her campus begin to die in a sickeningly familiar pattern. The killings bear a chilling resemblance to the original massacre, suggesting that a new copycat killer is on the loose. Haunted by memories and the resurgence of media attention, she is drawn inexorably back into a vortex of terror.

Amidst this backdrop, the survivor is caught between trying to maintain a normal life and the foreboding sense that everyone could be a suspect. Old friends and new faces around her become entangled in the mystery, with trust being a rare commodity. Meanwhile, the persistent presence of a tabloid journalist, who previously exploited the young woman's story for fame, complicates matters even further, forcing a reluctant alliance. As the body count rises, the journalist, along with a local police officer who has personal ties to the previous killings, joins forces with the beleaguered survivor in a desperate race against time to unmask the murderer before the sequel's body count surpasses the original's.