Plot: What’s it about?
Once you’ve been parodied in the wonderful world of Hollywood, it can be said that you’ve really “made it”. Movies like Airplane! and Blazing Saddles are just some of the examples of this very successful type of movie. What is rather interesting about this newest film, Scary Movie, is that it’s a parody of a parody. While you can tell from the cover that it hits on several movies with I Know What You Did Last Summer and Scream, serving as the main plot points here. Take any successful movie, fill it with actors, defy every rule of filmmaking and it’s interesting to see how many of these movies turn out to be successful. In Scary Movie‘s case, it’s the most successful movie in Miramax’s history (and this is a studio that has had a few Best Picture movies in its catalog). So what exactly is so appealing about Scary Movie? Words can hardly do it justice…If you like mindless, gross humor dealing with drugs, sex and violence, then Scary Movie is right up your alley. Leave all your common sense at the door and expect the unexpected, it’s really better that way.
Just as Scream started out, so does Scary Movie. Instead of the lovely Drew Barrymore, we have the lovely Carmen Electra. At parts, the dialogue is almost identical but it’s those subtle little differences that make this version funny, whereas the original was to make you scared. Now odds are, if you’ve seen movies like Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer then you’ll appreciate this movie all the more, as you’ll have some sort of baseline on what to go by; people who haven’t seen the movies being spoofed might just laugh at the slapstick humor, but luckily there’s plenty of that as well. We meet “the gang” which consists of six friends. They range from the downright stupid Shorty (Marlon Wayons) to the flamboyantly gay Ray (Shawn Wayons) and yes…this movie was directed by yet another Wayons brother, Keenan Ivory Wayons. The group is mourning over the death of Drew (Carmen Electra) who was killed by a masked assassin. This quickly flashes back into a “IKWYDLS” rip-off, but it gets some cheap laughs in. As the town becomes a media center, we meet Gail Hailstorm (Cheri Oteri) playing Courtney Cox’s role from Scream. Basically you’ve heard all of this before, as it follows the plot of Scream almost to a tee.
While I saw this in the theater I could hardly breathe, because I was laughing so hard. I’ve always been somewhat of a sucker for pointless physical comedy and this certainly delivered on almost every level. I guess I would have to say that the only weak point of this was that a lot of the jokes were very dated. There’s a scene, which should have been deleted in my opinion, of the now famous Budweiser “Whazzup” commercial. While funny right now, I think someone seeing this for the first time a few years from now would be rather lost. Still, Keenan Ivory Wayans and his talented brothers are not afraid to show us how low they’ll go for a laugh and it paid off for them big time. The screenplay is clever, though predictable, but the main success of this movie is with the casting. We see that no one is left untouched, as most every race and sexual orientation is made fun of throughout. Chalk Scary Movie up for one to own if you like movies of this genre.
Video: How does it look?
Scary Movie makes its 4K debut courtesy of a new 2160p transfer featuring Dolby Vision. Unfortunately, while this latest edition represents a welcome opportunity to revisit the 2000 horror spoof, the results are somewhat less impressive than one might have hoped for from a new 4K master. The image is generally clean and watchable, with a modest improvement in overall clarity over the previous Blu-ray presentation. Colors receive a welcome boost from the HDR grading, with more pronounced blues and a generally more appealing color palette. Contrast is also improved, particularly in darker sequences, where black levels benefit from additional depth and the Ghostface mask stands out more effectively against its surroundings. Dolby Vision provides some welcome refinement, although the improvements are not consistently transformative.
Audio: How does it sound?
We get the same DTS HD Master Audio mix as found on the previously-released Blu-rays. And it provides a perfectly respectable presentation of Scary Movie, delivering clear dialogue, punchy musical cues and the occasional burst of horror-inspired sound effects. While this isn’t the sort of mix that’s going to put a high-end surround system through its paces, it gets the job done without any significant shortcomings.
Supplements: What are the extras?
You’d think 25 years would bring us more supplements. You would be mistaken. The same features that appeared on the Blu-ray from the mid 00’s are still there. And nothing new has been added.
- Behind the Scenes – An 8 minute featurette with some behind the scenes information.
- Deleted Scenes – Several are included: “Hop-A-Long Shorty”, “Ray Calls a Play”, “Bobby’s Lesson”, “Gail Sets a Surveillance Camera”, “Shorty Watches a Girl on Surveillance Camera” and “Cindy’s Last Stand”
- Theatrical Trailer
The Bottom Line
I still prefer this original version to the 2026 reboot. It’s not quite a good as the films it lampoons, but it’s close. The new 4K transfer left me wanting a little more, but with a movie like this – I won’t get too worked up. The same audio as well as the same slew of supplements are present, so they’re hoping you like the terms “4K” and “Steelbook” to sell this one.
