The victims, ages 16 and 14, survived. No real-life serial killings followed, unlike what happened in Scream 2. And unlike the police in the movie, local authorities immediately arrested Eley - an event that made national tabloids.
The second scene of the movie also illustrated a point the lawyers wanted to make yesterday.
In Scream 2, the day after the stabbing at the movies, the characters discussed whether the cinematic violence prompted the stabbing.
``That's so Moral Majority,'' quipped one character.
``It's a classic case of life imitating art imitating life,'' said another.
And that was the gist of arguments before Montgomery County Court Judge Paul W. Tressler, who - at Eley's request - will act as the jury in the case.
Eley is charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, and possessing a concealed weapon. Her attorney, Geoffrey Seay, yesterday suggested in his cross-examination of police officers, detectives, and the two victims that it was a case of mistaken identity.
According to witnesses yesterday, the first day of testimony in the case, no one, not even the victims, saw Eley with the knife during the scuffle, which started when one girl told Eley to shut up. And no fingerprints were recovered from the knife, which was discovered by police in two parts on the tile floor beneath the seats.
Assistant District Attorney Kevin Steele, however, presented a Lancaster expert specializing in blood spatters who testified that the blood on the jacket Eley was wearing was the jacket worn by the person who inflicted the stab wounds. There was both impact and contact blood on the windbreaker, the expert testified.
Steele maintained yesterday that Scream 2 itself was a part of the crime. ``That first scene was a triggering event,'' he said. ``It's a copy-cat kind of thing.''
One Scream 2 character opines: ``A lot . . . happens at the movies. People get robbed, shot, maimed, murdered. The multiplex is a very dangerous place to be these days.''
Thus far, the Cheltenham stabbing appears to be the only reported violent act during showings of Scream 2.
