Scary Movie Reviews

To be honest, I usually don't really like spoof movies. Indeed, even though 'The Naked gun' is supposedly a classic and I thought it was rather disappointing. However, even though I don’t really like the genre, I thought this one was actually quite hilarious. Indeed, I f I recall correctly, I saw this one when I was in the USA on holiday in the movie theater. I had no idea what it was actually about but my American buddy said we should definitely check it out. It was running already for a while so the theater was rather empty but my friend and me were just laughing throughout the whole thing. I wish the place was packed, it would have been even better this way. To be honest, I didn't get all the references (I didn't even recognize Carmen Electra back then or maybe I didn’t even know her at the time) but I still laughed anyway. Unfortunately, since it was a success, they launched a franchise but all the sequels were just really disappointing and even rather lame. To conclude, it is nothing spectacular and some jokes are really stupid but I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like this genre.

Okay, so my major and first gripe with this movie has to do with the horrible, awful, disgusting blue colour some genius decided to paint my high school's exterior doors. The summer that parts of this movie were shot in my city (at my old school, for the exteriors of the school), I was around to see bits of the movie shot, and that colour stuck around for a while even after the movie was done, and seeing it again upon re-watching the movie (and the scene where a friend and I were forced to stay put behind a school bus while they shot a take), those old annoyances come to the surface once again.

Anyway, as a spoof movie, this isn't completely terrible. It spoofed a bunch of things, but yes, it went over the top to completely ridiculous too many times, when it had a shot at being a fairly decent movie. I just re-watched it for the second or third time, but I think that's more than plenty for this one, as it's just not really worth watching more than once (I know I did, but I am stupid that way sometimes, and I usually like the Wayans brothers).

When it comes to slap-stick comedy, I'll stick to the 80's ones. Nowadays the only slap-stick movies available are movies like "Epic Movie", "Disaster Movie" and all those other movies with the word "movie" in the title. And then there's the movie that started that trend "Scary Movie". I like to think that this movie is the last good slap-stick movie ever made. I haven't seen the movie Scream, and I heard that a lot of the jokes are from that movie, but I still found it pretty funny. And I was surprised when there actually was a plot, not like all those other movies, whose plot is basically: bad joke, bad joke, bad gross out joke, bad joke. Overall, it was pretty funny. But it still could have been better. We can only hope that in the future the Slap-stick genre will be revived, but I dream....

"The police have asked us to give you the following safety tips: Stay in well lit areas, never travel alone whenever possible, ALWAYS wear front to back, and remember, never EVER believe someone when they tell you that shaving your pubic hair will rid you of crab infestation."

Every generation deserves its own spoof movie to rule them all. David Zucker's 1980s classic comedy Flying High! (known as Airplane! in America) still remains to be the king of all spoof films. Before him it was Mel Brooks with such films as Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles. Despite internet rumours that rapidly circulated, Scary Movie is definitely not the definitive spoof movie of this generation. The film is brisk and silly and, even though it's not one of the best spoof movies of late, Scary Movie is filled with side-splitting laughs and some clever parodying.

This film sets a new standard for low-brow humour, even by the standards of the Wayan brothers. How low-brow are we talking? Try to imagine the sort of profanity ridden things 12-year-old boys exchange when they think no-one else is watching them. Start at that point and move your way down.

The script of this movie is ostensibly based upon the plot of Wes Craven's Scream. The original title of this film was Scream If You Know What I Did Last Halloween which will pretty much sum up the films that it ultimately parodies. Fundamentally every major film hit of the 1990s - from The Matrix to The Blair Witch Project...even a bit of American Pie - is shamelessly parodied. The film is merely a spoof that also shows how talentless the Wayan brothers are at screenwriting due to their lack of class and civility. Through their eyes as much profanity, dirty language, nudity, sex jokes and crude humour as possible equals a funny comedy. Sorry guys, but good humour means witty jokes and dialogue. Flying High! and classic Mel Brooks movies got away with a PG rating without the profanity. I suggest you take notes from the comedic genius those filmmakers exhibit.

Anyway, Scary Movie takes the central plots of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer and amalgamates them in solidarity. One of the immediate key flaws that can already be indicated is that Scream is itself a parody of the slasher genre. It's an intelligent flick that uses all the clichés in more realistic situations: parodying the genre while also being part of the genre. The same cannot be said for Scary Movie.

A serial killer wearing a ghoulish mask begins stalking the teenage population of a simple suburban community. Cindy Campbell (Faris) and her group of friends are still harbouring a secret amongst them: that they accidentally killed a man on Halloween a year earlier. It seems the serial killer is targeting Cindy and her group of friends who were involved in the accidental killing. As the victim count rises, Cindy must survive the carnage and stop the killer.

The film is literally beleaguered with standard one-dimensional characters and mindless spoofs. As this is just a spoof movie meant for light entertainment, it's kind of easy to overlook these flaws. Your enjoyment of Scary Movie depends on your age range and taste for comedy. If profanity easily turns you off, this film is not for you at all. If you're not comfortable with gore and sexual references I suggest you never opt to watch this one. When I first saw this movie I was 11 years old and absolutely hated it as I fell into the aforementioned demographic. Now, upon revisiting, I've matured and have become more comfortable with laughing at this kind of film. It's not a masterpiece by any means and it never will be; however the film is riddled with a few notable laughs that come so commonly that I literally almost choked on my own saliva.

This is one of those comedies that should only be screened to a vast audience, and preferably an audience whose standards for comedy aren't too high. There are a few funny moments of course, but this is not going to be remembered as a film on par with The Godfather. Followed by Scary Movie 2. Be sure to stay until the end of the credits.

6.1/10