Scary Movie 4

[Remo D]

Some may prefer the R-rated Wayans Brothers style, others may go for the more "traditional" (but still frequently 'gross') David Zucker PG-13 approach, but how much you'll enjoy a SCARY MOVIE is going to depend pretty much on how much you were affected by any of the movies they're doing (we already KNOW that they know how to replicate them). The good thing about this is that it works whether you loved the originals OR hated them!

To recap my feelings...

SCARY MOVIE--frequently hilarious
SCARY MOVIE 2--almost worthless
SCARY MOVIE 3--just... "eh."

But this one's pretty damn funny--and despite my previous misgivings, the TV spots only blew the opening and closing gags (no end-titles joke, by the way). And never mind the poster... they do NOT do KING KONG anywhere.

When I first saw JU-ON, I must confess that I never expected to see an AIRPLANE/NAKED GUN take on THAT material... guess we have the success of THE GRUDGE to thank for that... It's that, WAR OF THE WORLDS (Tom Cruise version only, natch) and THE VILLAGE (remember what I said about love it or HATE it?)... the SAW stuff is not a running theme--well, you'll see. And they get all the movies right, and they do them to a turn. Sick of Dakota Fanning's screaming in WAR OF THE WORLDS? Imagine it's HER here. The BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN bit is, frankly, hysterical (sure, most of the intended audience knows OF the movie, but how many have actually SEEN it?), Leslie Nielsen is as dependable as ever, and even Dr. Phil does a good job.

But the biggest surprise? The movie actually contains one genuine SCARE that WORKS! I couldn't believe it... a SCARY MOVIE actually made the audience jump!

I could go on, but there's no point. You already know if you're into it or not--and if you are, this is the best one since the first SCARY MOVIE (though not necessarily the best spoof movie since the original AIRPLANE!).

P.S. Poor Chloris Leachman! I doubt I've ever seen such a veteran actress subjected to such a... sponge bath...

[Latte Thunder]

Caught this last night. The best thing that ever happened to that franchise is the Zucker camp. It was damn funny and I'm not ashamed to admit that I have a soft spot for these retarded parody flicks. I even like the second one.

The War of the Worlds angle seems to go on forever, but the peripheral parodies break it up nicely. The high point for me had to be the exchange between the Japanese ghost boy and Cindy. The one in "Japanese". Also, since I hunger for more news that confirms my long standing suspicions that Tom Cruise is a raving madman, the Oprah gag at the end had me in tears. On the surface, it's an outrageous take on that wonderful moment in TV history, but if you go back and review that Oprah footage, it's really not that far off. Cruise didn't hit her with the chair shot, but he sure did laugh like an idiot. A LOT.

[Darth Tanner]

Caught this the other day and enjoyed it as well. Definitely better than the last two. For the record I liked the first one but greatly disliked the second one (which I thought was a complete bore). The third one was alright. You could definitely do worse.

BTW Latte, I thought you said you hated the second one. What changed your mind?

[Latte Thunder]

I saw it the other day, dude, and found myself greatly enjoying it. I'm just weird like that. I do remember seeing it in the theater and cracking a smile maybe once but the second time around was a lot better.

[MaggotExistence]

I agree that the second one is by far the weakest of the three i have seen. I did think there were some funny moments though. I am however looking forward to seeing the fourth one. Especially since those who have seen it, including both of you, thought it was worth the flow. Still, as with any comedy of any kind, i will wait until the dvd comes out. Im just not comfortable listening to other peoples annoying laugh in the theater.