For Spooky Month at RFMC, we’re looking back at the “Scary Movie” franchise that started by making fun of “Scream” and – despite its promise of “No Sequel” — just kept going. First up is “Scary Movie” (2000):
Horror movies parodied
“Scream’s” plot is the framework, with “I Know What You Did Last Summer’s” plot used as the inciting incident – although the police chief doesn’t care that the teens killed a guy. Anna Faris’ Cindy Campbell spoofs Neve Campbell in “Scream” and Jennifer Love Hewitt in “I Know.”
The Wayanses were in a tricky position because “Scream” itself makes fun of scary movies. And that only continues in the two sequels, which make fun of the first “Scream” via “Stab.”
A DVD feature reveals how the Wayanses cracked the code: Take every joke way further. So if Courteney Cox’s Gail Weathers is tough on her cameraman, Sheri Oteri’s Gail Hailstorm is absolutely brutal to hers. It wasn’t easy, though, as director Keenen Ivory Wayans had to sometimes tell his writers “ ‘Scream’ already did that.”
Other movies parodied
A final Cindy-vs.-Ghostface showdown uses “Matrix” slo-mo and 360-degree effects that totally hold up, even though we might not demand that of a comedy. The writers then go back to 1995’s “The Usual Suspects” to tie the plot together. I love the totally stupid notion of a mug made by “Doofy Ceramics.”
Best actor
Anna Faris comes out of nowhere for her breakthrough role. Although the type of acting is different, Faris is more memorable than Campbell in “Scream.” She plays the comedy and “fear” with appropriate broadness and is willing to look ridiculous – shaving her face and tongue, for example.
I surmise that Faris is a natural talent, as this isn’t the type of film that does lots of takes. For an example of an awkward take, check out the sequence where Regina Hall’s Brenda is murdered by theater patrons for talking too loud (“Your ass is grass”).
The PR team didn’t have time to adjust to Faris’ breakthrough, as she’s not even on the poster, and she’s tucked at the back of the DVD cover. The marketers focus more on Shannon Elizabeth, a sex symbol from “American Pie.”
Best cameo
James Van Der Beek pops into Cindy’s bedroom window, having climbed onto the “wrong set.” In 2000, it probably bothered me that it should technically be Katie Holmes at the window.
A year later, JVDB would spoof himself in “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” The two appearances hint at his post-“Dawson’s Creek” career, where he’d happily play “himself” in “Don’t Trust the B—- in Apt. 23.”
Oh yeah, that guy
Lochlyn Munro’s IMDb resume runs more than 300 entries deep, so you’ll recognize him without remembering from where. He embraces his role as the “IKWYDLS” Freddie Prinze Jr. stand-in, exaggerating his anger to steroidal levels after he and his friends run over a guy and decide to dump the body.
Funniest sequence
Ghostface hits the bong with Shorty (Marlon Wayans) and his stoner buds, and the mask designers do a great job making him look increasingly stoned.
Meta humor
“Scream” exists in this film’s world, as does “Jennifer Love Huge-Tits.” Shawn Wayans’ Ray expresses frustration over the cancellation of “The Wayans Brothers” and the stupid casting of a white Jamaican stoner in “I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.” (Interestingly, that’s Jack Black, before he became an A-lister.)
At fountain on the quad, the six main characters laugh about the idea that they “are in a horror movie.” If they were, they’d be played by actors in their 20s and 30s playing teenagers. The actors’ ages at the time: Jon Abrahams, 22; Faris, 23; Elizabeth, 26; Hall, 29; Shawn Wayans, 29; Munro, 34.
Time-capsule humor
Three jokes wouldn’t be made today, at least not in the same way. Doofy (Dave Sheridan) is mentally challenged, the girls’ gym teacher is transgender, and Ray is (apparently) gay.
The joke that’s most secure in the time capsule is the stoners doing the “Wassahhh?” phone greeting from Budweiser commercials. But it’s still funny, especially when we see Ghostface’s various expressions.
Best one-liner
Ray: “Does this shirt make me look gay?” (His friend says no, so he twists the shirt into a bow in the gay style.) “How ’bout now?”
“Scary Movie” (2000)
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
Writers: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer
Stars: Anna Faris, Jon Abrahams, Marlon Wayans
Photo credits: Dimension Films