Scary Movie

Hmmm…how could I put this? Do you remember the story line from the original SCREAM? Well, it’s basically the same story but played out as a parody. A bunch of teens pursued by an unknown mask-wearing killer. That’s about it. Mix in a few other lampoons of other films, and there you have it.

The funniest movie that I’ve seen so far this year, I couldn’t help but crack up during every other second of this film’s first 30 minutes, with jokes a-plenty, an excellent re-creation of the spoofed films and spot-on potshots at the teen horror genre. Parody films work when most of the jokes in the film click, and this one had no problem delivering plenty of gross, over-the-top and clever moments in supposed tribute to those films which passed before it. Admittedly, the second half of the movie doesn’t really keep up the joke-a-minute pace that the first half hour establishes early on, but plenty of funny moments still reside, lots of big laughs and a pretty neat ending keep it enjoyable all the way through. Mind you, I was a little hesitant about the film initially. I love the whole “spoof” genre and worried about the six (count ’em, six!) people credited as screenwriters for this movie. Fortunately for me, my worries were very short-lived as the jokes began rattling of my funny bone within the first few seconds of this flick.

Of course, the actors are always a very big part of movies such as this. They have to able to play their roles very seriously, and I give the most credit to Anna Faris in this regard, as she nailed the lead role down to a tee. Shannon Elizabeth was also good as the big-boobed bimbo, as was Shawn Wayans as the heterosexual jock with a few issues locked away in his closet. I think Cheri Oteri’s character was a little underused, and despite finding most of the pot jokes pretty hilarious, I didn’t really appreciate Marlon Wayans’ over-the-top goofy pothead character. But hey, maybe that’s just me! I also could have done without the whole MATRIX (8/10) parody, which was already covered in DEUCE BIGALOW (7/10), earlier this year. Overall, the movie delivers laughs, clever moments a plenty, references galore, a cameo here and there, and even some pretty gruesome moments of murder (although they do still manage to lace those moments with humor just the same). In the end, I really liked the movie because it basically made fun of all of the stuff we always find unbelievable in horror films, and they did it while maintaining the authenticity from the original films.

Incidentally, this film also makes fun of retarded people, is loaded with fart jokes, gay humor, dick shots, sexual innuendo and provides enough disgusting behavior to disgust anyone who…well, is disgusted by stuff like that! For the rest of ya’ll, if THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY (7/10) and SOUTH PARK (9/10) were enjoyable to you, this one should be just another walk in the park.

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian