There are three camps of opinion on Scary Movie. Theater patrons, of course, have the most important voice, and they turned out in droves to see the film, in some cases over and over again. This led to an inevitable (although widely panned) sequel, and a third film is in the works.

An even larger audience generally doesn't make it to the cinemaplex, but will rent movies six months or so after their release, or wait to see them on cable a few more months later. This group of film fans was less enthusiastic, as is made clear by the dismal 5.5/10 rating at imdb.com.

A third and much smaller group is comprised of film critics, who generally applauded the movie, with certain reservations.

Three audiences, and three distinct reactions. It is not surprising that Scary Movie brings out such extremes. The same scene can be interpreted several different ways. The challenge with satire is to 'take it to the edge' while entertaining and not offending the audience.

It's a line that is so difficult to walk that many comics often choose to deliberately exclude even a large demographic, in order to bring a key age or cultural group on board. Better to make a smaller audience laugh, in other words, than to leave a large crowd listless.

For example, perhaps the funniest scene in the slasher parody Scary Movie involves a requisite "killer chases screaming teenage bimbo" moment. The girl blocks the killer's path up a flight of stairs, first with a vase (boring), then with a feeble grandmother (funny), then with a grand piano (also funny). The punchline comes when the grand piano misses the killer, and takes out "grandma" instead.

The moment was hilarious for me, partly because it breaks a taboo against injury to the helpless and innocent. If "grandma" was a true film character, with feelings and thoughts, it would be a different matter. Here, she's just a momentary stereotype in a one-off sight gag. But if you see "grandma" as a person, then the scene is offensive, and not at all humorous.

If you oppose violence in the name of comedy to otherwise meaningless characters, then by all means avoid Scary Movie and nearly the entire Warner Bros. library of animated shorts. Watch something educational instead.

If on the other hand, you are merely wondering what a grand piano is doing on the staircase to begin with, then there's no hope for you. Satire is beyond your current capabilities.

The problem with Scary Movie, to the limited degree that a problem exists, is not that the film is offensive. It has to offend in order to succeed, as risk goes with reward.

The trouble is that when a movie is entirely on gags, nearly all of the gags must work for the film to be good. Even the most celebrated such comedies (Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Airplane) fall flat every time a gag does. Truly magnificent satire (the 'early talkie' scenes in Singing in the Rain, for example) have story and characters that provide substance beyond the gags themselves.

Scary Movie is full of hilarious moments, but there are dud scenes as well. Closet homosexual Ray (Shawn Wayans) gets his eager girlfriend Brenda (Regina
Hall) to dress up like a football player, so he can enjoy his fantasy of raping a teammate. This entire dreary skit drags on and on, without ever being funny even once. Your mileage may vary, however.

The hits generally outnumber the misses, and the film is much better than expected. One obstacle is that the slasher movies it parodies, such as Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Nightmare on Elm Street, are deliberately campy themselves.

Scary Movie overcomes this with completely gross-out raunchy humor that makes the 'original' films seem like "Masterpiece Theater" in comparison.

But the old saying "do not look a gift horse in the mouth" comes to mind. If a gag is truly funny, it should also not be forced to be wholesome. Funny is enough, although to be good requires more structure. (56/100)

k@filmsgraded.com, briankoller@yahoo.com


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age