Scary Movie

I hate funny Horror films. I just went over this recently, but was still impressed by The Boneyard. Mainly due to that film being something I didn't expect. Not completely original, but done with enough love and heart to make it all click. Plus it still took the genre seriously.

So how would I feel about a parody of the genre I have so much love for? Well, a part of me says I would be fine with one, but then I stop and think about it and realize that I have yet to find a parody of the Horror film that I have liked. I hated "Re-Possessed", hated "Dracula: Dead And Loving It", hated every other one I have seen. So how would I feel about one that the rest of the world loved and that I had yet to hear anything bad about, even from close friends?

"Scary Movie" starts, plays, and ends much the same as "Scream". There are scenes that are in fact even line for line the same as "Scream". When it does step outside of the "Scream" films for it parody, it takes exact lines and scenes from other Horror films. I really am not going to get into the plot here, since it really doesn't matter all that much. It is "Scream", if you have seen that, you know the plot, if you haven't, well, go rent it.

The thing is, I love comedy. I love Horror. I should have loved this film. But I hated this piece of shit. I did not laugh once. I barely cracked a smile. As many have chosen to point out, and many have been correct, this is a parody on a movie that was a parody in itself. The main difference being that you could still see the respect that "Scream" had in its subject. Wes Craven, who I am not a fan of, had the idea to stand the genre on its head and make it work for us again. He demanded it break its own rules. In the wake of the first film though, he has chosen to keep patting himself on the back (or the screenwriter has) and keep pointing out all these cliché breaks that he does in the films. Almost to the point of making up clichés, that were not really there. Just grabbing something in another movie and deciding that that was a cliché. But this is not about those movies, or is it?

The picture quality is just what you would expect from a new movie, no grain, strong colors and an all around clear transfer. The only problem is that it might be too clear. I have noticed with numerous films that use "green screening" that the object that is inserted always looks really fake on DVD. In this it happens to be a segment in the "Matrix" parody. After kicking the killer down, the hero Cindy hovers in the air and does a Celtic dance, which I guess is a "Titanic" parody at this point. Without getting into a debate over how poor the comedy is at this point, I will just say that the scene looks terrible. It actually looks like a lesser quality print was used. Plus you can see the outlines around her. This little segment should never have found its way into the film.

Sound is fine also. I have heard a few complaint about this portion of the film. Dialogue not being loud enough and the soundtracks being too loud. But if you liked the film, I found nothing distracting about the soundtrack. Really, this is a DVD that if you like or love the film, you need this DVD. The whole presentation is quite nice.

Where I also found disappointment on this DVD is that the supplementals are very limited for a movie that was as big of a hit as this was. All you really get are a behind-the scenes, deleted scenes and a "Chillin' With The Villain" game. To be honest with you, I watched all of these and I can't even remember what any of them were like! That says something I would have to say. I watched the making of feature on Carpenters "The Thing" once, well over a year ago and I can still recite things that were said on it! I saw this last weekend and I can't even remember what the damn deleted scenes were! I just know that there was nothing extra shocking or funny on them, just more of the same.

As for the game on it, well, I didn't even attempt it. I hate games on DVD's. It took me over a year to even try the one on my "Dark City" DVD. I am sure that it is a funny little tidbit.

There are a few extra DVD-Rom games, one of which I am sure would be fun, that being the "Scary Movie: Guide For The Culturally Challenged". This is a segment where pop-up descriptions show up and explain inside jokes and other tid-bits to you the viewer as you watch the movie. I guess that you can then jump on over to a quiz of some sort while you do all of this! This is type of extras I was hoping for on the regular DVD extra-features. I was also hoping to at least get a commentary track. I am sure that the Wayans could kick out a commentary that would rival almost anybody else. I really do like Keenan Ivory Wayans and think he is a funny guy, then to sit him in a room with his brothers and sisters to have them discuss the film they all made, please, tell me this would not have upped the sales and quality in spades! I probably would have bought this thing just knowing that they did that, instead I chose to rent it and found out I hated the movie! But re-release it with a commentary track and I will think about buying it and will definitely rent it again!

In comedy, the parody is one of the hardest styles to actually do well. Most fail. Even the kings, the Zuckers and Abrahams are hit and miss. This film is a combination of the parody and the gross out styling that the Farrelly brothers have mastered. Yet with the Farrelly brothers the gross out humor is done with a strange form of taste and a bit of innocence, almost like a child who laughs at farting. "Scary Movie" on the other hand has all the innocence of a bunch of drunken college students.