Scary Movie

An unhinged young man accompanies his friends to a haunted house attraction around Halloween right as a deranged mental patient has escaped. As the night wears on, this young man starts to think the mental patient has broken into the haunted house and is going to kill them one by one.

It's amusing to see John Hawkes so young and in such an early role and Scary Movie works mostly due to his bizarre, scared rabbit performance. The Halloween visuals will give you the warm and fuzzies for all of those who love that time of year and it's fascinating to see how many films have cribbed from this later on like the recent Hell Fest and Haunt. Even at about 80 minutes, it's a little too slow and there's not a lot of terror or danger for a good majority of that run time, so less patient viewers might want to sit this one out.

Scary Movie (1991) - I have never judged a movie for the amount of times the lead actor made me twitch.

But it happened with this one.

All I know is that it might take me two weeks to stop twitching after watching this brilliant performance by John Hawkes.

Holy smokes. What a workout for your nervous system.

I never knew that this Scary Movie existed nearly a decade before the horror comedy franchise started up in 2000.

This one might have a tinge of dark comedy in it, but it's definitely not silly funny.

John Hawkes plays Warren, a young man who is battling many things in his head.

He's shy. A nerd. Paranoid. Phobic.

The last place in the world Warren should be is at a Halloween festival in his small town in Texas, one that has a particularly aggressive haunted house of horror.

Warren is dragged there by his friend Jerry (Mark Vogues), who sets him up with a girl named Barbara (Suzanne Aldrich). She's a bit gothy and borderline slutty, and should run for the hills rather than link up with Warren. But she tries to give him a chance, God bless her.

The bottom line is, though, Warren is afraid of girls, afraid of haunted houses, afraid of bullies, afraid of everything. And he shows it. When everyone around him catches on, they make fun of and poke at him. Poor Warren gets more and more nervous and paranoid.

To top it off, Warren hears about a serial killer named John Louis Barker (Lee Gettys), who has broken out of custody and could be on his way to the very Halloween festival.

Warren, of course, thinks that Barker will be waiting for him in the haunted house of horror. And of course, he is forced to go in.

The twitching has only begun.

I'll give it to you straight. This is not a slick or lavishly produced movie. If you're looking for gore, there's not a whole lot, and what there is isn't particularly impressive. There are no real naughty bits. If you are easily annoyed by a nervous lead player, it'll have you heading for the exit early on.

I wasn't annoyed. I thought Hawkes hit it out of the park with his portrayal of high-level paranoid Warren. The haunted house of horror, on the cheap, grimy level of low-budget movies, I thought was pretty cool.

This nineteen ninety one film was then nineteen year old director Daniel Erickson's first full length feature film.Producer Keith Brunson teamed up with co-producer/director/writer Erickson to bring his vision to life.They formed the production company Generic Movies LTD.to produce their one and only film. Filmed entirely in and around the Austin,Texas area,it has the look and feel of a small country town. The film centers around Warren,a paranoid young man who spends most the movie in a constant state of fear. Set in a Jaycees type of small town spook house,Warren comes to believe an escaped homicidal maniac is hiding inside! The movie builds suspense from beginning to end,you can't stop watching it!Every scene in this film works perfectly to produce the desired effect on the viewer.Daniel Erickson has created a cult classic! The movie stars a then unknown John Hawkes in his first feature film. Then Austin resident Butch"Eddie Munster"Patrick puts in a comedic performance as a spook house worker.The film also used a lot of local cast and crew,and even Keith Brunson has a cameo role as the spook house door attendant. The only problem with this film is that so few people have seen it. It never opened nationally,and was only shown in one local theater. Occasionally it is shown on Halloween in Austin,but it never got the recognition it deserves. I have the very good fortune to know the Erickson/Brunson team,and have made it my personal quest to get this film seen. I played the film on my horror host show in Austin,and have sent copies of the show to horror hosts across the country. Watch your local horror hosts show and someday you may get to see the original"Scary Movie". In summary,this is a perfect first offering from Generic Movies Ltd. it offers horror,suspense,comedy,something for everyone.It is a must see cult classic!

This film has it all! Scary Movie is a truly one of a kind watch that's also perfect for Spooky Season! The film's haunted house setting really brings back those memories of nostalgia while the plot commands your attention leading to a pretty amazing twist towards the end of the film. Huge thumbs up from me!

This is the type of movie you can turn on and it instantly feels like Halloween. A great film to watch between Sept-Oct or anytime of the year if you are like me. Add it to your Halloween watch list! It will stay forever.