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FILM DETAILS

Certificate 18

Cast Anna Faris Jon Abrahams Shannon Elizabeth Carmen Electra Dave Sheridan Cheri Oteri Keenen Ivory Wayans Shawn Wayans Marlon Wayans.

Directors Keenen Ivory Wayans.

Screenwriters Shawn Wayans Marlon Wayans Buddy Johnson Phil Beauman Jason Friedberg Aaron Seltzer.

Running Time 88 minutes

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Scary Movie
Forget subtlety, this is NOT one of the best spoofs ever, but you're guaranteed a few laughs - in spite of yourself.

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Plot
A group of teenagers are stalked by a serial killer because he knows what they did last Halloween. Can they outwit the masked slasher and survive?

Review
Death by penis! Trimming pubic thatches with hedge cutters! Fountains of jissum! You can forget subtlety. And, while you're at it, you'd be advised to ignore the many old internet rumours currently citing this as ôone of the best spoofs ever! - It isn't.

Spoofs, you see, are a mixed bunch - for every 'Naked Gun', there is always a 'Spy Hard', a fact of which the Wayans are well aware. The creators of 'I'm Gonna Git You, Sucka' and 'Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood', they've been here before.

Originally titled Scream If You Know What I Did Last Halloween, it comes as no surprise that their next natural step takes as its source Wes Craven's 'Scream' - itself originally titled 'Scary Movie'. A great idea on paper maybe, but this is actually the Wayans' fundamental mistake. Because in focusing so much on one, single film, the other, multitudinous references (as well as those in its working title, 'The Blair Witch Project', 'The Sixth Sense' and, ignoring genre confines, 'The Matrix' and 'The Usual Suspects', are just a few) tend to sit awkwardly. And, more importantly, what appears to have been overlooked is that 'Scream', too, was a spoof. More satire and certainly more intelligent, but a spoof all the same.

So where the majestic 'Airplane' took the rise out of a series of disaster movies that had taken themselves far too seriously, 'Scary Movie' (which only once tries to parody its source's parody - and fails) loses considerable impact by not having its necessary straight man. A Morecambe, if you like, without its Wise.

But even if the humour is perhaps too American (the US Budweiser ads are frequently referenced) to be universal and borders on the offensive with its latent homophobia, the set pieces do tickle, with many a slapstick gem to be discovered - just about often enough to forgive some excruciatingly painful lapses in momentum.

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Average user rating for Scary Movie

Scary Movie

This film was a surprise. Having seen the sequels first I was expecting a stupid collection of fart/sex/drug jokes that aren't funny, but boy was I in for a shock. I great collection of gags that completely mock the genre perfectly. And what makes this Scary Movie so great? The fact that it tries to be a good Scary Movie, and mock the genre as well. It becomes one of the best spoofs ever simply through its attempts to be Scream, creating a fun horror film that you can't take seriously. Sma... More

Posted by The Grimeanator at 20:23, 07 August 2012 | Report This Post

best spoof ever made ... More

Posted by jackcarlin18 at 23:26, 23 January 2012 | Report This Post

Now Come On

We all know it's not going to win any awards, but this is one of the best 'modern' spoofs available. It's true that the premise does feel slightly pointless (spoofing a spoof, wha?) but we could probably forgive that and forgive the hackneyed plot and the silly acting in favour of some entertaining sight gags and ridiculous wordplay, aye? ... More

Posted by blaud at 15:33, 22 March 2011 | Report This Post

Great comedy

The suspense was great. Why a cop became a killer still remains at large! ... More

Posted by batbhai at 05:10, 05 August 2010 | Report This Post

Scary Movie

It's brilliant absolutley 5 stars how can you not love this film. The deaths and chases were just like scream but 75 to 100 times funnier empire talked rubish in their review! ... More

Posted by Huggybear999 at 08:35, 15 June 2009 | Report This Post

Meah. ... More

Posted by Zinatam at 17:14, 13 September 2008 | Report This Post

that review by EMPIRE was absolute bollox, 4 stars for me, 3 stars minimum ... More

Posted by Fade to Black 411 at 15:25, 10 June 2008 | Report This Post

Scary Movie

Who ever gave it 5 stars is either mad or has no taste in movies. Who ever gave it 4 stars either really liked it or was just being kind. 3 stars i think is fair. Okay so it had some good bits but nothing to make it a good spoof. The movie focused so much on Scream that you would expect it to be a good Scream spoof, but it wasn't. Good film to watch if you really have nothing better to do. ... More

Posted by davieboy at 12:35, 18 February 2008 | Report This Post

OTT, but not without its moments

Not totally useless, but a bit too silly. Some killer gags keep attention, but nothing to write home about. a bit of a mess ... More

Posted by blaud at 09:35, 11 February 2008 | Report This Post

Scary Movie

This had some good bits in it. I liked the opening set-piece, and also the scene where Shannon Elizabeth's character got killed actually approached wit. But overall, this wasn't very impressive at all and worse for a comedy, not funny for the most part. ... More

Posted by jncorbett at 20:56, 18 September 2006 | Report This Post

very funny not a 2 star ... More

Posted by casino at 17:23, 06 September 2006 | Report This Post

lol

I laughed my head of when i saw this movie. It was really cleverly done. You must watch screm first before watching this movie if not it will make no sence. It also takes the micky out of i know what you did last summer transforming it into iknow what you did last holloween. It has a great scene where they keep knocking the man out and finally killing him. The sex jokes and the sarcastic jokes and even violence jokes mixed together = scarymovie ... More

Posted by shitmovie at 14:10, 01 September 2006 | Report This Post

lol

I laughed my head of when i saw this movie. It was really cleverly done. You must watch screm first before watching this movie if not it will make no sence. It also takes the micky out of i know what you did last summer transforming it into i know what you did last holloween. With sex jokes and violence jokes moxed together you get scarymovie. ... More

Posted by shitmovie at 14:07, 01 September 2006 | Report This Post

SCARY MOVIE

This movie "spoofs a spoof" as Empire say. Who cares?! In the making, it says, and I quote, "Scream was a spoof, but an unfunny spoof" (Shorty). One was a horror, and one was a comedy, so what's wrong? It is actually a hilarious movie that cracks me up even when I watch it 10 times. It is in the top 5 funniest movies of all time in my book. Don't miss. ... More

Posted by J.M.N. at 20:36, 05 May 2006 | Report This Post

RE: Scary Movie

Not for everyone, Scary movie is nothing more than a spoof of a spoof (Scream) and parodies everything from Blair Witch Project to The Matrix (The famous bullet time sequence is in this film). There's far too much gross out humour for my liking, even Clerks had smart offbeat dialogue which actually makes sense, this on the other I'm disappointed about. I've watched this on TV and it had a lot of humour, but in the end I wanted my 90 mins back. Verdict: 1/5 ... More

Posted by Tokenfella at 00:11, 18 March 2006 | Report This Post

Scary Movie

Fantastic. Loud laughs that come thick and full. Brilliant. ... More

Posted by premierbaron at 22:17, 17 March 2006 | Report This Post

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