Scary Movie

I'm not sure what the people who dumped on this film were expecting, but I found it entertaining. I am a fan of good horror and good satire, so I was able to recognize and appreciate the jokes.

True, this film relies a bit much on poddy humor, but at the same time, there is a cleverness in the way all the films being spoofed (and there are many) get twisted together and played with here. Some of the slapstick and sight gags do fall flat, but the movie is quick paced and the satire is fun. If you don't go in expecting Shakespeare, you'll enjoy it. And you might even get some Shakespeare.

A group of teenagers are targeted by a serial killer exactly one year after they ran over a man.

In 1996 Scream was a film that reinstated the slasher horror genre and Keenan Ivory Wayans' spoof is a true and funny testament to that horror classic.

Modern spoofs often contain slapstick humour, stereotypes and a fairly predictable plot. This is evident with this 2000 hit and is pure silly entertainment that you can't help but love and laugh along with despite the conventional approach.

Recent releases such as Disaster Movie have brought the spoof genre to an all time low. Filled with unfunny parodies, attacks on celebrities and ultimately silly plots, it's a wonder why they are still being made. In the nineties we had classic spoofs such as Austin Powers and Naked Gun, silly but with a sharp and entertaining plot.

Scary Movie has such a good plot, choosing to focus its energy on Scream and I know what you did last summer, that you forget its intentions to demean other films and therefore, are able to sit back and enjoy the ride.

The opening is pretty much Scream with some great moments of slapstick in, and crude slapstick at that with safety signs, sexual references and an out of control car.

This opening sets the tone for an engrossing comedy and viewers are thrust head first into typical teenagers lives, filled with some fine slapstick humour and stereotypes lives There is a consistency to Scary Movie. There is little wondering away from its objective to tell the tale of the teens being targeted and therefore achieves a realism in its own context. With follow-ups 2, 3 and 4 there is a tendency to run away from the main narrative and have sillier skits that this original remains the most sophisticated to date.

Though the comedy is frequently predictable, there is still elegance about the way Wayans achieves this effect. His close and unflinching style gives that humorous and equally horrific substance to fly across both genres into this tantalizing tale.

Spoofs are always worth viewing for their sheer cheek to criticize blockbusters and Scary Movie is no exception with its pin point accuracy on Scream and other horrors. Filled with likable slapstick and funny stereotypes, this is the finest in the series

Parody films kind of died in the early 90s, the good ones anyway. Leslie Neilson made a handful at the end of the decade, all very stupid as they didn't even try like the Zucker bros. did in the early days. But the last slapstick film I liked was 1993's "Loaded Weapon" so this film was a long time coming. Most parodies have some sort of target, and this one attacks all the teen slasher pics of the last few years. Since I didn't enjoy any of them, I really enjoyed watching them get lampooned, as a ton of the jokes are right on the money. If you're a fan of parody, I don't know how you couldn't love some of this. But even with all the praise, this still just barely missed being an overall success. Toward the end it starts to run out of steam, which is really too bad, as a lot of it is too hilarious for words. I do go along with everyone else in saying I don't know how this got only an R rating. There is a ton of graphic material, sexually and bloodily. Some will laugh, others will roll their eyes at the over the top approach to some scenes. I did a little of both. The cast, for mostly unknowns, is good, and it was nice to see the Wayans clan finally succeed in film, after about a decade of poorly self-written clunkers. I see a sequel is forthcoming, although I'm not sure whats left to make fun of.

Very funny comedy from the Wayan team. It's a take on all the recent teen horror flicks, and it does it superbly well. I hate noise in cinemas while I'm watching a film, but I couldn't keep quiet, I was laughing out loud, and I even shouted at the screen. Now I have never done that before. The gags, from one liners to the set pieces, are so funny, watch out for the sex scene and the gym teacher - I almost wet myself. This ranks next to Airplane as one of the top ten funnies.

I was amazed that I remembered virtually every scene watching this maybe 20 years later. I must have watched it loads as a kid which means I am sure many others did too. It really was a classic at the time and remains so now. It doesn't have as many laugh out loud moments for me as another Wayans classic, White Chicks. But it is such a great parody of Scream and IKWYDLS. The on running gag about Ray being in the closet is absolutely hilarious, the type of joke that would perhaps not go down well today, which is a shame, because it is not offending anybody, it is simple funny comedy.

Originality: 9/10

Length/Pacing: 9/10

Immersion/Escapism: 8/10

Characters: 8/10

Acting: 7/10

Substance & Themes: 6/10

Intellectual engagement: 3/10

Emotional effect: 1/10.