not scary, not funny, not even so bad its funny - but worse!

Rating: 2/10 (15 April 2005)

most of the reviews I've written so far have been glowing or at least grudgingly good with a few criticisms. This is the first I've written where I can find no redeeming qualities about it. So why 2 stars? Well, it is only 79 minutes long, and Anna Faris is reasonably pretty. Thats about it though, and really the only reason it didn't get lower is because i simply don't like giving 1 out of 10 simply because of the work that goes into making any film - but this film comes closer than almost any other I've seen.
Whereas the first Scary Movie, whilst not exactly brilliant, was a relatively original spoof of Scream and I know what you did last summer, with some genuinely funny moments, Scary Movie 2 has none of these. Furthermore, the first film stuck to poking fun at horror films, whereas this abomination of a sequel frequently meandered off aimlessly into other films, most notably a Charlie's Angels sequence. With the exception of the Wayans Brothers and Faris, the majority of the 'names' from the first film are absent - not that their presence could have salvaged this road accident of a film. What on earth were Tim Curry and James Woods thinking? The jokes are purile and immature, and their crude nature make the humour from the first film look like an Oscar Wilde play. Surely there are only so many times projectile vomiting and bodily functions can be amusing? and surely they are before the age of 15? (incidentally, this film is an 18, but it surely cannot have been aimed at over-18s).
The film starts only reasonably bad with a spoof of the exorcist, and, whilst never approaching the comedy of the first (that in itself not a great challenge to meet), it is watchable. Its all downhill from there though. As spoofs go, Spaceballs it ain't. By the end you are simply crying out for whatever serial killer they are spoofing at present to slash up them or, failing that, you. The tag-line read more laughs, more screams, less clothes - inaccurate on all three counts.
I've never given a film such a slating before, so this is a novel experience for me, and oddly a rather calming one too. The only scare to come out of this film is the prospect of a third film, and even a rumoured fourth in the franchise in the works. A truly terrifying prospect indeed.