Scary Movie (2000) starring Anna Faris, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Cheri Oteri, Shannon Elizabeth, Jon Abrahams, Lochlyn Munro, Regina Hall, Dave Sheridan, Carmen Electra directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans Movie Review

Scary Movie (2000)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Jon Abrahams and Anna Faris in Scary Movie

Scream Pie

As a rule most spoof movies suck, or at least most spoof movies made post the 1990s. But whilst most of the more recent spoof movies suck, "Scary Movies" is one of those rare ones which is actually quite good. Of course it is utterly daft as it goes about parodying what was then the resurgence in horror movies such as "Scream" with a huge dose of "American Pie" style teen comedy but it was also genuinely funny with it's outrageous and often crude comedy. It's a shame then that the sequels which followed ended up sucking.

A year ago Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris - My Super Ex-Girlfriend), Bobby Prinze (Jon Abrahams - Boiler Room) and some other friends accidentally killed a fisherman and disposed off his body into the sea. Now it appears that the dead fisherman has returned as each of them are being stalked by a man in a mask with a hook. As people start dieing Cindy must do what ever she can to survive especially as she's not sure who she can trust.

Ghostface and Marlon Wayans in Scary Movie

The simplest way to describe "Scary Movie" is to say that it takes the storylines to "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and amalgamates them into one daft comedy. It basically recycles the storylines and pokes fun at them where ever possible, even poking fun at itself along the way. In fact at times it steals scene for scene and turning them into a comedy such as the famous opening from "Scream" but it all works because it highlights how daft horror movies can be.

What is good is that it doesn't try to throw too much in so that whilst it acknowledges other movies the storyline is really just the amalgamation of "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer". Maybe because whilst it is daft it does focus on just these two storylines that "Scary Movie" actually works rather than just being a jumbled mess of piss take scenes.

Something which also helps is that in taking the mickey out of horror movies it embraces the crudeness of teenage comedies pushing the boundaries of taste to the limit. To say that no one is safe from being made fun off in "Scary Movie" would be an under statement as it is full of gay, black, trailer trash and sexual humour all of which feels very extreme. In fact it would be so easy to be offended by one of these comedy moments if it wasn't for the fact that everyone and everything has the mickey taken out of it. And having that teen sense of comedy it has to be mentioned that whilst there are many funny scenes there are also some which will make you cringe.

As for the young stars who spend their time basically making fools of themselves well they all do what is expected. Anna Faris leads the movie as Cindy with this almost dumb look on her face through out but it is funny as is Shawn Wayans as looking gay obsessed Ray. And talking of Wayans, Marlon Wayans is a riot at drug smoking Shorty giving us one of the funniest scenes in the movie, yes the "wassup" scene with ghostface on the phone. Plus of course "American Pie's" Shannon Elizabeth stars as Buffy a cleverly named character with its link back to Sarah Michelle Gellar characters both in "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer".

What this all boils down to is that out of the more recent crop of spoof movies "Scary Movie" remains one of the best. From the amusing amalgamation of storylines from "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and with comedy which takes teen humour to the next level of grossness it is still very funny. It does go too far on more than one occasion but it will have you laughing more times than groaning in disappointment.


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