Scary Movie movie poster
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Scary Movie movie poster

Scary Movie Movie Review

The last good spoof that came out was Leslie Nielson's Spy Hard, and that was several years ago. But now, Scary Movie (the original title for Scream) has come to theaters and is serving up some pretty hilarious comedy that not only makes fun of the horror genre but also takes gross-out comedies to a new level.

There has been a lot of debate as to why Scary Movie didn't earn an NC-17 rating for some of the scenes in the movie. I would be surprised except for last year's South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut had very similar content and it too received an R rating. And I also think that the MPAA guys wisened up and realized that the grossest parts in the movie are also the funniest. I nearly keeled over when Anna Faris was plastered to the wall by her boyfriend's surge of sperm, or when Shawn Wayans was killed with a penis. Scary Movie has laughs the whole way through from minute one to the very last frame of the film.

The movie mostly makes fun of Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer, the two latest successful horror films. Thankfully Scary Movie also points out how stupid I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was. If you've seen Scream, which pretty much anyone who is watching this movie has, than you'll recognize ninety percent of the film. Also spoofed are The Exorcist, American Beauty, The Matrix, The Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects and The Blair Witch Project. Unfortunately, while Scary Movie does spoof the horror genre in general, it doesn't get specific with some other major films, like Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Evil Dead, and stuff like that. It would have been nice to have at least paid tribute to these franchises.

Scary Movie also has a lot more sex jokes than I thought, which turned out for the better. When it wasn't directly making fun of the horror genre, it was going the way of American Pie and Porky's with raunchy sexy jokes, only as a spoof, it can go even further and beyond the realm of reality. Oh yeah, the scene where the girl is killed in the movie theater is really funny.

The acting is pretty bad, even for a spoof. I wasn't impressed with any of the actors, even though I've seen some of them do a good job in other movies. Shannon Elizabeth, who plays Buffy Gellar (note the obvious spoof), doesn't get her act together until her awesome death scene.

Oh, I'd just like to note that I guessed who the killer was pretty early in the movie, although I doubt it was meant to be that difficult. I was one of the few laughing near the very end because it was obvious most of the audience hadn't seen a certain movie.

Scary Movie is one hell of a funny movie. It is almost as funny as its preview trailer, which is the main reason this movie has so much hype. The DVD should also be packed with deleted scenes, since there are some things in the trailer that aren't in the movie. The acting isn't very good but then again, it's a spoof. Comedy is everything and Scary Movie has comedy; just keep the parents away.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.

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