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Release Date: July 7th, 2000
Video Release: December 12th, 2000
Release Date Notes: The 7/7 release date puts this spoof in theaters just 3 days after Scream 3 hits video on 7/4. Here's something else to note. When it was first announced, it was for a October, 1999 release preceding the then-planned December release of Scream 3. Then, that film was moved to February, 2000; and this one to late March, then to May, and finally landed on the plum date of July 7th, 2000.
Not to be Confused With: Another horror spoof heading to theaters this summer is I Know What You Screamed Last Semester. This isn't that movie.
Title Note: Anyone who knows their horror movie lore knows the significance of the title, Scary Movie. It's the original title of the first Scream movie.
Former Titles Note: This film began with the merger of two scripts that both spoofed the horror genre: Last Summer I Screamed Because Friday the 13th Fell on Halloween and Scream If You Know What I Did Last Halloween.
MPAA Rating: R (for strong crude sexual humor, language, drug use and violence)
Running Time: 85 minutes
Distributor: Dimension Films
Cast: Anna Faris (Cindy Campbell), Regina Hall (Brenda), Jon Abrahams (Bobby), Rick Ducommun (Cindy's Dad), Carmen Electra (Drew Decker), Shannon Elizabeth (Buffy Gilmore), Kurt Fuller (Sheriff), Dan Joffre (Kenny), David L. Lander (Principal Squiggman), Lochlyn Munro (Greg), Andrea Nemeth (Heather), Cheri Oteri (Gale Hailstorm), Dave Sheridan (Doofy), Jayne Trcka (Miss Mann), Marlon Wayans (Randy), Shawn Wayans, Marissa Jaret Winokur (Jill), James Van Der Beek (cameo), Keenen Ivory Wayans (cameo)
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans (director of the the hilarious blaxploitation spoof I'm Gonna Git You Sucka; his next film will be, surprise, Scary Movie 2)
Screenwriters: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Phil Beauman (cowriters of Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood), Buddy Johnson (debut), Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer (cowriters of Spy Hard; they've also got Untitled Teen Spoof and The Year Without Santa Claus in the works); (Wayans, Wayans, Beauman, and Johnson were the writers of the original Last Summer... script; Friedberg and Seltzer were the writers of the original Scream If You Know... script. All six screenwriters have been credited by the WGA. (Buddy Johnson and Phil Beauman are next teaming up for Ten Things I Hate About Clueless Road Trips When I Can't Hardly Wait to be Kissed)
Based upon: This is, of course, a spoof of the teen-slasher films of recent years, including the following franchises: Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Sequel Note: (7/13/00) Okay, so the poster says "No Sequel." Dimension's Bob Weinstein has told EW Online that the easy way around that is for the sequel's poster to say "Look, We Lied." There's no word yet on when the Scary Movie 2 might be greenlighted, but they probably won't wait long. (8/20/00) The Wayans are on board for the sequel, which Dimension is hoping to get done in time for a May, 2001 release.
Premise: No word on the actual plot of the film, but there's probably, I don't know... a guy with a sharp pointy instrument chasing many, many teenagers? I'll post more when I hear it. (4/11/00) The trailer is out now, and that synopsis isn't far from the truth. Basically, what we see are snippets of a story that pastes together elements of Scream (guy in white mask and black cloak chasing girls with a knife) and I Know What You Did Last Summer (kids hit a guy with their car). Other recent movies that are spoofed include The Matrix, The Sixth Sense, and The Blair Witch Project. (7/1/00) Okay, having seen the film, I can give you a synopsis. Basically, it's about a group of six friends (three couples) who accidentally killed someone last Halloween, and are now being threatened by mysterious notes, even as someone in a black costume (and Scream mask) is killing each of them... sound familiar? Of course it does. The plot is just the frame that the many jokes are wrapped around.
Filming Date: This film began filming on August 11th, and wrapped in the early Fall, 1999.
Official Site: ScaryMovie.com (teaser site now open with a new trailer)
Also at Theaters: July 2000
Input about Upcomingmovies.com, or any movie covered here, is encouraged. Just e-mail Greg Dean Schmitz at greg@upcomingmovies.com. Please note that all release dates are subject to change.
Stay for the End: There's a scene after the credits. It's not integral to the story, but just a leftover prop joke involving a certain cleaning household appliance. Once you see the movie, you'll have a pretty good idea what this scene might entail.
Review (***): The first thing that must absolutely be mentioned about Scary Movie is how far it pushes the "gross-out" trend comedies have been following of late. There's several male body parts on display, as well as plenty of pubic hair. Think about it this way; this is the sort of "horror" movie where fake blood is actually the 2nd most-seen bodily fluid (hint: what American Pie and There's Something About Mary had mere drops of, Scary Movie hurls at you by the gallon). This isn't the first gross-out comedy of the year (previous summer comedies Me, Myself & Irene and Road Trip also fit that bill). It is, however, quite funny more often than the jokes fall flat. The film's humor is on the far side of political correctness, with many "gay" jokes, and a decidedly pro-pot stance. There's also a "retarded" character that is the source of much ridicule. Most of that stuff is when the movie leans towards the cliched, but there are plenty of other more thoughtful bits relating to the recent horror trend that make up for it; the jokes aren't all in one basket. I will note that it's a surprise this film got past the MPAA with an R; South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut had problems getting an R, and it only exceeds this in the number of "f words"; visually, Scary Movie has many more questionable bits.
The plot basically follows the original Scream, with a subplot of I Know What You Did Last Summer and scenes from Scream 2, The Matrix, The Blair Witch Project, and others thrown in for spice. Newcomer Anna Faris holds the movie together as the central character, and like Cameron Diaz in There's Something About Mary, it's her sweetness that makes the grosser comedy bits work. As "Cindy Campbell", she's the Neve Campbell/Sydney character, complete with the "virgin" subplot. Indeed, I noted that everyone she meets in the film approaches her sexually; including a coach and a police officer. I'd make a reference to the Dr. Bill character in Eyes Wide Shut; but wait a second... this is Scary Movie. Never mind. The film starts with the obligatory "celebrity gets killed" scene from the Scream series, with Carmen Electra in that role. From there, the plot follows Scream nearly faithfully. One of the themes of the film is that these kids are dumb, but they're sweet about it (and none too young either). There's also a self-awareness that I thought worked well.
Scary Movie isn't high-art, but it does give the audience the sort of spoofing they expect, as well as all those gross jokes I mentioned. The cast and crew seemed to be having fun making this film, which is something I've noticed about the Wayans' previous films; they're spoofs that don't take themselves too seriously. As long as they're delivering the funny, that's all they seem to care about. Spoof comedy has been a bit of a dying breed in recent years, and I'm not sure I'd want to see spoofs too regularly, but for this certain brand of "teen horror" that's just begging to be chided; Scary Movie does the job.
Greg's Preview Thoughts: (2/10/99) Last November, fans of teen-slasher movies like Scream were all abuzz when Miramax/Dimension announced their purchase of the Scream if You Know What I Did Last Summer script. Well, now comes word that they've procured the rights to this similar-titled script by the Wayans-Beauman team, and this is the movie that they will film this Spring, with hopes of meeting an October release. (wonder why? :)
One aspect of this project that particularly sparks my attention is the helming role for Keenen Ivory Wayans, who delivered one of the funniest movies of the 1990's a few years back, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. That movie piled joke upon joke upon joke so thoroughly that you barely get a chance to breathe. If he can pull that off again... we're all in for a treat.
Trailer Thoughts: (4/11/00) The trailer is being shown in theaters, and it's got a few funny moments, reminding us that it's been a while since there hasn't been a genre spoof in the tradition of Airplane in theaters for quite a while (Mafia! is the last I can remember). Anyway, there are several recognizable takes on recent movies, such as The Matrix, Blair Witch, The Sixth Sense, and of course, IKWYDLS and Scream. I don't most of the trailers for comedies so far this year have genuinely made me laugh much, but this one did... so that's a good sign. The question now is whether they just took all their funniest moments and stuck them in the trailer. We'll see.
Page Created: 2/10/99
Page Updated: 10/3/00
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