A Lot to Answer For: Films #061 – #064 – The Scary Movie series (2000 – 2006)
Parody series kicked off by a movie known for being more successful than the film it was parodying (Scream). Launched by the Wayans Family (primarily by Shawn and Marlon, who co-wrote and star and Keenan Ivory, who directed), the series was handed off to David Zucker (of Airplane! fame) after two installments.
The first is still the best, with solid comedy that fits the genre and (and this is important to a parody, kids) a solid storyline. As you might guess by the quick turnaround, the second film seems forced and cannot recapture the magic of the first. With the change of direction, the third film takes on more “serious” horror films and again seems to find its footing. The fourth is probably dipping into the well one too many times.
That being said, all four have some really good material in there, you just might have to wade through a lot more duds to find them in the even-numbered installments. Besides that, all four focus on the inimitable Anna Faris, who came to prominance with the first film (she was so unknown that she didn’t even appear on the original theatrical poster) and has carved out a nice career for herself since. (Okay, I’m crushing a bit here.)
The Wayans(es?) are solid in their two outings, Regina Hill provides some additional continuity to the series and individual highlights are Shannon Elizabeth in 1, David Cross in 2, Charlie Sheen in 3 and Bill Pullman in 4.
Previously I have mentioned that Airplane! was ultimately responsible for many of these horrible “parodies” that keep showing up, but really it all comes down to the fact that Scary Movie gave careers to co-writers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, who simply will not stop making them. Please, someone stop them.
Original review of Scary Movie 3
Original review of Scary Movie 4
This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 2:11 pm and is filed under 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, Comedy, Crime, Fantasy, Giant Monster, Horror, Military, Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Sequel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.