Movie Info
Movie Name: Scary Movie
Studio: Dimension Films
Genre(s): Comedy/Horror
Release Date(s): July 7, 2000
MPAA Rating: R
Acting is hard!!!
When the murder of Drew Decker (Carmen Electra) occurs, a small town finds itself faced with a mystery killer. Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) wonders why it seems like the murders are all circling around her and her friends like her boyfriend Bobby Loomis (Jon Abrams), Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall), her boyfriend Ray Wilkins (Shawn Wayne), Buffy Gilmore (Shannon Elizabeth), her boyfriend Greg Cox (Lochlyn Munro), and Brenda’s brother Shorty (Marlon Wayans). The killer seems to know what Cindy and her friends did last summer…and they are going to pay unless reporter Gail Hailstorm (Cheri Oteri), Sheriff Burke (Kurt Fuller), and deputy Doofy (David Sheridan) find the killer first!
Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, Scary Movie is a horror comedy parody. The movie was met with mixed to positive reviews but had a massive box office success.
I grew up on parody movies like Airplane!, The Naked Gun, and even stuff like UHF. Scary Movie was the start of a new generation of parody movies that quickly became tired. It is hard to watch Scary Movie and think of all the other bad parody movies that followed Scary Movie…that and the fact that Scary Movie was parodying a parody.
“Wazzup!!!!”
Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer were the primary targets of Scary Movie. The plotline of the film basically follows both movies and loads the story with horror movie clichés. The problem with using Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer as the basis for a “scary movie” parody is that both movies were almost parodies of the horror genre themselves. It would have been better to parody horror like Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th, but I realize that those movies weren’t topical at the time (which is part of parody).
It is this aspect of parody which both helps and hurts Scary Movie. The visual gags and jokes are often tied directly to the years it was made. While having James Van Der Beek come through the window of Cindy’s bedroom to Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait” song was funny at the time due to Dawson’s Creek, generations probably won’t get this joke later if the movie is seen. It needed to be seen in 2000…the jokes and the visuals don’t always hold up right.
I’m about to go Matrix on your ass!
The cast is pretty good. They (like the script) are parodies of one-dimensional horror movie characters. Anna Faris is a good “good girl”, and Jon Abrams is the cliché of the guy from the wrong side of the tracks. While I like the “I’m not gay” Shawn Wayans, I don’t really love the Shortie drug character who is more annoying than funny. Cheri Oteri is a little underused and Shannon Elizabeth is also fun. Keenen Ivory Wayans makes a cameo (in the fake movie), but I also like the blending of reality and film with Carmen Electra as the first victim of Ghostface.
Scary Movie was the start of a franchise that probably shouldn’t have been turned into a franchise…maybe just a couple of strong movies instead of a series. While most like the first movie the best, I actually kind of like the second movie better for various reason (though I do realize both aren’t that great). Scary Movie was followed by Scary Movie 2 in 2001.
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