Scary Movie – 7

Director – Keenen Ivory Wayans

Cast – Anna Faris, Jon Abrahams, Regina Hall, Marlon Wayans, Shannon Elizabeth, Cheri Oteri, Shawn Wayans, Andrea Nemeth, David L. Lander, Dan Joffre, Dave Sheridan, Carmen Electra

Release Year – 2000

Reviewed by John of the Dead

I highly enjoyed this film when I first saw it in theaters back in 2000 (that one year where the world did not end) and after not seeing it for several years I was honestly surprised to find that I still enjoyed it.  There are many films that I found joy in as a youngster and after viewing them as an adult found that they were not as enjoyable as I remembered them to be, but Scary Movie did not seem to suffer that.  Of course, I love parodies and when you mix in the horror genre you have my devout interest, and while the rest in the Scary Movie series slowly deteriorated this initial effort remains one of the best horror parodies there is.

When a group of high school friends accidentally kill a man and dispose of his body, they find themselves stalked and killed off by a moronic killer.

Judging by the storyline it is obvious this flick parodies I Know What You Did Last Summer,  but once things get going you will notice that it also mostly parodies another popular teen flick…Scream.  I was not surprised to see these two films parodied given they appealed highly to the teen crowd that this parody is meant to appeal to, and unsurprisingly it worked much to Scary Movie‘s advantage.  The flick starts off like I Know What You Did Last Summer then eventually follows Scream‘s storyline, which happened as a result of two different screenplays, each parodying one of the films mentioned, being mashed together into one cohesive story.  This idea bleeds disaster, but it managed to defy the odds and give us a storyline that works and comes with the usual humor and trickery brought on by the Wayan’s brothers and the crew behind Date Movie and Epic Movie.  So how is the humor in this horror/comedy?  Personally I loved the humor, but I have always had an appeal for the ridiculous humor found in these flicks.  A good comparison would be Not Another Teen Movie (Shannon Elizabeth appears in both films), so if that made you laugh then Scary Movie should have you laughing too.  And the horror?  The horror was OK, we are given a fair amount of kills and slight gore here and there, but obviously this piece is more about the humor  than the horror, but both sufficed.

Keenen Ivory Wayans serves as the film’s director, and also acts in a small role regarding a non-existant Amistad II that had me laughing out loud.  His direction was positive and I am sure this is his best directing effort to date due to how he executed all of the elements involved.  The kills were tame and definitely could have been better given the film’s R-rating, but the humor was executed well and in very silly fashion – just the way I like it.  One element that did surprise me was how great the acting performances were.  None of the performances should be taken seriously, but at the same time I feel these actors achieved the goals of the filmmakers in providing funny performances that came off just as they should have, and I applaud Dave Sheridan who gave us the best performances as the hilarious Doofy.

Overall, Scary Movie is a fun horror/comedy that results in one of the better parodies and best horror parodies there is.  The direction is good and the story provides for many laughs, but keep in mind the silly sense of humor and prepare for it as it most likely does not appeal to all.

Rating: 7/10