Review

A group of dumb kids apparently kill some dude then get singled out by a bumbling serial killer. It's a spoof on the then current PG13 Teen horror movies Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer. Surprisingly Scary Movie makes more sense than the films it's sending up. A mixture of slap stick comedy, gross humour, and more Wayans than you can poke a stick at. Let's see how we got our laughing gear around this bedtime story ....

I actually saw the Scary Movie series of films out of sequence. And for anyone else who caught the third offering first, do what l did go back to the original. The Wayans, (how many of those dudes are there anyway), did their homework on the crop of Horror flicks that were forced feed to the public in 2000. Some one needed to take the piss out of em and team Wayan were just the crew to do so.

The movie opens with a rip of Scream and then keeps the jokes coming thick and fast. For horror movie buffs this is a must see. The Wayans manage to shoehorn about every then current genre movie into their plot without missing a beat. Big up respect for the take on The Blair Witch Project, a movie which has received resounding praise while being the biggest con job since Amityville told us to "Get Out".

Scary Movie romps along like a greyhound on a good day. Director Wayans doesn't let it flag and keeps the tempo raging. Just when you have finished chuckling over one scene, up pops another with either a gross humour value or the Wayans take on another movie. The fun don't stop kiddies. Well okay the PC brigade are going to blow a fuse, but hey end of day who gives a flying toss about those over indulged cretins anyway.

The movie takes the piss out of movies that needed it

For Scary Movie the Wayans, (there's four of em right?), assembled a pretty well unknown cast. Anna Faris (Cindy) takes the lead and doesn't let the Bros down with her performance. Faris is quite happy to not take herself seriously and surprisingly turns in a character that is more Jennifer Love Hewitt than Hewitt is. I was buying into the whole Cindy character and was digging the relationship with dad.

Shannon Elisabeth (Buffy "the shirt slayer") was the token big breasted cannon fodder that teen slashers require. She actually hit all the right notes with her role, and really nailed past scream stars in this one. Shawn Wayans (Ray) got to play a closet gay dude and is just rocking along in the role. Yet another of the seemingly endless supply of Wayans, Marlon (Shorty) was a highlight. You will either love his performance or hate the guy on sight, I was digging it.

T&A is pretty subdued considering some of the jokes involved. Carmen Electra shows off her Victoria's Secret outfit, and there's a fair amount of cleavage courtesy of Shannon Elizabeth. The gals get nadder.

The score was the one that Scream discarded and works like a charm, though you probably wont notice as the laughs keep coming. Australian band Silverchair get a track listing for those interested.

Scary Movie is worth dialing into. I wouldn't pop this one on if entertaining a group of sub teens as there's some pretty gross humour involved. We get a bush gag, death by penis, and a cum shot that packed me up. Defo a teen/adult outing, don't let the little ones trick you into showing this alley cat at the birthday party.

Surprisingly a good outing considering the movie is a parody of a parody. Horror was languishing in 2000, it needed a good kick up the date, and the Wayans supply the size 12 hobnails with gusto. Regina Hall's (Brenda) "sista" act in the movie theatre scene is worth popping the shiny disk in the player on it's own.