Scary Movie makes its way to 4K!
The parody film is a bit of a lost art in modern cinema. Once a mainstay of theatrical comedy, coming from masters like Mel Brooks and Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker, they’ve essentially disappeared from the landscape, their closest evolutionary cousin being the referential comedy of the Seth McFarlane sphere of shows/movies, and modern social media comedy clips and bits. The era of seeing the last few years of horror/sci-fi/action films being lampooned by talented comedic actors is seemingly long gone.
Which is a shame, having now rewatched Scary Movie (out now on Steelbook 4K!), as it leans into a specific type of rapid fire, slapstick, throw-everything-at-the-wall style comedy that is sorely missed nowadays, even if it leans just a bit too much into pure “remember this?” type referential humor.
Scary Movie follows Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris) as she deals with the usual high school drama; her sexually frustrated boyfriend Bobby (Jon Abrahams) trying to score every chance he gets; her friends Brenda (Regina Hall) and Buffy (Shannon Elizabeth) gossiping behind her back; and her dad (Rick Ducommun) leaving her all alone with added responsibilities (including how to properly cut cocaine). Oh, she also has to deal with the fact that her and her friends killed a man the year prior, and now a masked killer is slicing their way through her town, as well.
Scary Movie came out at exactly the right time, reference wise. After a lackluster couple of years of horror in the early ‘90s, the last couple years of the century gave way to a cavalcade of horror films that were massive successes, financially and critically. Films such as Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Blair Witch Project, and The Sixth Sense were all big hits, and all part of the cultural zeitgeist.
Which made them prime pickings for mockery. Scary Movie is a pretty big stew of different filmic references. All the above are there, but there are so many other bits built out of existing properties, like The Usual Suspects and Dawson’s Creek, that really cement this film into the late ‘90s. Which admittedly makes this a bit of a time capsule. Even me, a person who remembers that era, had a few references that almost went over my head (spent a good couple minutes trying to remember who Carmen Electra dated). I couldn’t imagine how impenetrable this might feel for someone born after this was released. Whereas something like Airplane has more than a few references, it still has plenty of sight gags and pratfalls to make up for it, Scary Movie is pretty much all referential.
But, if you’re in the know (aka over the age of 35), is it at least still funny? Yes and no. The performances still help carry it through, with the Wayans brothers flexing their comedy muscles, playing wacked out stoner Shorty (Marlon Wayans) and closeted jock Ray (Shawn Wayans). Anna Faris is the real revelation here, playing an airheaded final girl, whose comedic timing is so natural that it led to a long career in comedy for Faris.
The actual jokes, though? Eh. There’s still some quality bits here and there (the Shannon Elizabeth “am I supposed to be a scared victim?” bit still kills), but so much of this leans on era specific referential humor, or not-great-in-hindsight bits (the Doofy character is…regrettable), that it would be a hard sell to someone coming into this cold.
But, if you’re like me, and fondly remember growing up with these characters and their shenanigans, then it’ll definitely be a fun, nostalgic trip down memory lane (just watch out for the cars out there; everyone seems to be getting road head).
