ReView: ‘Scary Movie’ is Still Scary Good

Picture sinking into the red, plush seats while lights dim, and the whir of the projector dissipates across the auditorium. The aroma of popcorn and the slurping of sodas fill the theater as the silver screen illuminates in color.

Out of nowhere in the middle of the film, a bloodcurdling scream erupts from the center of the room — “Lord, Imma have a heart attack,” a lady yells. “Damn, this is some scary shit.”

While it may seem like a moviegoing experience from hell, it’s one of the funniest scenes in the crowning comedic feat that is “Scary Movie.”

Released in 2000, “Scary Movie” is a full-on lampoon of popular movies at the time, namely the horror films “Scream” and “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” A product of the Wayans brothers, it was directed by Keenon Ivory Wayans and written by Marlon and Shawn Wayans — who both also star.

The lead performances of Anna Faris and Regina Hall as Cindy Campbell and Brenda Meeks, respectively, bolster the Wayans brothers’ satirical writing. Even though the actors had the support of a tour de force script, they were encouraged to improvise and adlib scenes — such as Brenda’s aforementioned movie theater scene — according to BET. 

The film’s 25th anniversary conveniently coincides with the announcement of a sixth installment in the “Scary Movie” franchise, with all three Wayans brothers returning to write the reboot and Faris and Hall to reprise their roles.

In a cold open full of an ever-expanding pan of Jiffy Pop and Shaq disses, the parody of the Drew Barrymore opening of “Scream” literally slashes to a halt for the title drop. In the aftermath of the slaying, the main plot surrounds a high school friend group who — the year prior — killed and covered up a man on Halloween. One by one, they all become targets of a masked serial killer. 

What follows is a never-ending free-for-all of jokes, slapstick and a pointed takedown of the horror movie blockbuster. The scariest part of “Scary Movie” is how well it’s able to string jokes one after another throughout its concise 88-minute runtime. 

And, yes, the movie uses heaps of humor one would find etched into the stalls of a middle school bathroom. But that’s what makes it so refreshing today — it doesn’t take itself seriously, and it knows that. 

In legendary film critic Roger Ebert’s review of “Scary Movie,” he starts with a disclaimer, saying films of the spoof genre are “the most unreviewable” as there is inherently barely any original content to critique.

“How can you discuss the satire, except to observe it is more mindless?” Ebert wrote. 

I disagree. Intentional or not, “Scary Movie” provides a valid — and effective — criticism of the low-quality, raunchy teen flicks of the time, such as casting a troupe of late 20-somethings to play high schoolers — and the film addresses it with a meta acknowledgment.

In another example of a horror movie spoof, when running from the killer, Cindy runs up a seemingly endless flight of stairs, throwing down conveniently placed items, such as a vase, a bicycle and even her grandma. 

Too many contemporary films feel the need to have overly complicated and gimmicky plots to give social commentary — cough cough “Don’t Look Up” cough cough. “Scary Movie” opts for comedy commonly considered crude to create a conversation. 

One such example is its portrayal of its Black characters. The “token black friend syndrome” ran rampant in many of the era’s B-grade comedies. Often, the Black characters would be seen as different or edgy, solely because of their Blackness.

“The black characters had no unique lives or motivations, but instead served as set pieces to break up the monotony of whiteness,” Vanessa Willoughby wrote in an article for Vice discussing the tokenizing trope.

But in “Scary Movie” and its sequels, both Hall (“One Battle After Another,” “O’Dessa”) and the Wayans’ racial identities are central to their characters’ stories, not mere catalysts for jokes. The audience doesn’t laugh at Brenda, Bobby or Shorty because they’re Black, but because of the precarious situations they’re thrust into.

The film also pokes fun at the systemic racism present in certain government institutions. Running from the killer, Cindy frantically types into a 911 emergency website, “WHITE WOMAN IN TROUBLE.” Instantly, a squadron of police cars, sirens blaring, appears in her driveway. While comical, the gag highlights the inherent privilege white people have over people of color when it comes to how they’re treated by law enforcement. 

Twenty-five years after its release, through nonsensical visual gags, digs at low-quality teen flicks and critiques of contemporary society, “Scary Movie”  has stood as a benchmark not just in comedic cinema, but as a cultural zeitgeist whose importance within pop culture as a whole cannot be understated.

“Scary Movie” is available to stream on Peacock.