Scary Movie 2 (2001)
Grade: C+
Cast: Anna Faris, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Regina Hall, Christopher Masterson, Tori Spelling, Tim Curry, David Cross, Chris Elliott
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
Rated R for strong sexual and gross humor, language, and drug content.


The spoof is a kind of film that is no doubt going to hit it big and also miss even bigger. Even the best spoof ever, "Airplane!", has its moments of embarrassing comedy. 2001’s "Scary Movie 2", produced at the speed of light to capitalize on its predecessor’s amazing box office success, is a complete compromise, staying true to the unevenness of the spoof genre. It has moments of sidesplitting hilarity, but, alas, also moments that are quite unfunny. Those unfunny moments doom it to mediocrity, but I still smile when thinking of the things "Scary Movie 2" gets right.

The movie starts with a brilliant parody of "The Exorcist". James Woods (in a role that was intended for Marlon Brando of all people, at least until he dropped out because of an illness) and Andy Richter play the priests, and Natasha Lyonne plays the possessed girl. The whole scene reeks of the kind of hilarity a great spoof should have—there’s greatness in the direction, script, and delivery from the actors. Then, we get the plot set-up, which is supposed to be making fun of "The Haunting", I guess, but is played more seriously than a parody’s plot should be played. From here on, it's the definition of hit-or-miss.

Most of the original characters return, and the most annoying is played by Regina Hall, the one with the annoyingly shrill voice, which is seriously, seriously annoyingly annoying (the film’s jokes are redundant, so I should be able to be redundant too). I read this somewhere else, although I can’t remember where, and I must agree: if they had to bring back a dead character (yes, Hall’s character died in the original), it should have been the beautiful Shannon Elizabeth’s. Although she was probably too busy making "Thirteen Ghosts", the kind of movie this one is mocking. Among the new ones, the funniest are played by David Cross and Chris Elliott. Cross’s character is in a wheelchair, and Elliott’s character has a mutilated hand, and the two bitterly throw insults at each other making fun of the other’s handicap. The actors do this well, and their dialogue had some thought put into it (whereas most of the gross gags involving poop and semen probably had no thought put into them at all). The only other notable new character is Theo (Kathleen Robertson), and the only reason she’s notable is because of how beautiful Robertson is.

Outside the opening sequence, the film has no directorial flair whatsoever, resulting in an untamed wild horse of a movie, throwing stuff at us so quickly and fearlessly that it doesn’t seem to care how much of it works and doesn’t work. What does work is often because of Anna Faris, who was also in the original. She is humiliated, embarrassed, and insulted, and Faris is hilarious as we watch her reactions to the craziness going on around her. Unfunny is Shawn Wayans, as a guy who may or may not be gay (and probably is, due to all the homophobic jokes related to him), and fairly funny is Marlon Wayans as Shorty, a pothead who can only think of what he’ll be smoking next. Some of his best moments are when he plays off of a foul-mouthed talking bird. I also liked the joke where a giant marijuana plant smoked him

"Scary Movie 2" makes fun of just about everything—from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" to "The Haunting", and from "Raging Bull" to "Hannibal". It doesn’t know when to stop and think about its humor, which is most of the reason it isn’t all that good. The best parodies are fast and furious, but they usually have mostly funny humor. "Scary Movie 2" is about half-and-half, and I don’t think that equals a recommendation.


-Alex, July 2002