Scary Movie 2 (2001) Movie Review
Written By: LFG
Edited By: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
Producer: Eric L. Gold
Writers: Thomas Craig, Greg Grabianski, Dave Polsky, Michael Anthony Snowden, Craig Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans
Date Released: July 4, 2001
Cast:
Anna Faris as Cindy Campbell
Marlon Wayans as Shorty Meeks
Regina Hall as Brenda Meeks
Shawn Wayans as Ray Wilkins
Christopher Masterson as Buddy Sanderson
Kathleen Robertson as Theo
David Cross as Dwight Hartman
James Woods as Father McFeely
Tim Curry as Professor Oldman
Tori Spelling as Alex Monday
Chris Elliott as Hanson
Rating = 1/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
Four college students namely Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris), Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall), Shorty Meeks (Marlon Wayans), and Ray Wilkins (Shawn Wayans) were “randomly” chosen to participate as subjects of Professor Oldman’s (Tim Curry) paranormal activity study which will take place in a creepy mansion for the entire weekend. The foursome, along with other subjects, are under the impression that they are participating in a sleep study, and they only joined since they are guaranteed an A as soon as the study ends. On their first night, Cindy starts to hear an eerie voice, which led her to discover a secret room with a portrait of a woman who greatly resembled her. Her friends also started to experience weird encounters with various entities throughout the mansion. It turns out the mansion is haunted by Hugh Kane, the house’s previous owner, and now they must find a way to escape the house and the curse that comes with it.
Gore Factor
There was only one scene that one might consider gory since it was of a head sliced open and the brain was exposed, however since it was done in a comedic way and there was no blood, it was not entirely gory. But there were a lot of gross humor and violence throughout. There were also some disgusting scenes featuring vomit and other bodily fluids that might be too much for some viewers.
The Grave Review
Scary Movie 2 is a comedy horror film and the follow up sequel to the 2000 hit, Scary Movie 1. Like its predecessor, it aimed to poke fun at other horror films and even pop culture, so viewers should not expect this to be scary at all. The premise of the film is a spoof The Haunting (1999), but it also managed to incorporate other horror films in the story as well. To some degree it’s quite amusing to recognize famous scenes from other movies, but it’s not as funny as they meant it to be.
The four original characters are wacky as ever, and they all have the same persona that they had in the original film. The character who stood out the most was Hanson (Chris Elliott), the caretaker with the weird hand. His frequent banter with the paraplegic assistant, Dwight (David Cross), was definitely one of the highlights of the film. However, Alex’s (Tori Spelling) character was the most useless and did not add anything to the story at all.
While there was no hardcore gore in this film, there were some hilarious yet gross scenes that stood out. The opening scene which spoofed The Exorcist (1973) was quite funny, and even if the special effects weren’t extraordinary, it was decent enough to warrant laughter. This is also the scene where you see the most amount of vomit in the entire movie. Also, the makeup was excellent and seemed like the exact replica of the original 1973 film.
In a nutshell, it is more difficult to find new ways to make people laugh, than it is to find new ways to scare them. No one expected this film to be scary, but people expected it to be funny at least. Which is why in the end, the film fell flat on its face as it fails to deliver the comedic factor that made the first film a success.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Scary Movie 2 (2001) one grave out of five graves.
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