Just not funny

Rating: 2/10 (6 July 2001)

This sorry sequel to the original spoof might have been okay if it had not had the problem of being unfunny. The first movie was okay, mixing gross-out gags and parody of the Scream movies, but this movie is simply a stinker. The jokes are obvious, and can be seen a mile away. The dialogue isn't funny (arguably the worst thing in the film is a foul-mouthed parrot that repeats expletives at everybody within earshot). The movie spoofs are bad (why anyone would want to send up garbage like the Haunting and Charlie's Angels is beyond me). When the jokes were being doled out at a surprisingly clunky pace, I found myself staring blankly at the screen instead of laughing.

The gross out gags in the film are not funny, just nauseating, and most can be sniffed out very quickly (unlike the bathroom scene in the original, which was a shocker to everybody). Gross out gags can definitely be very funny, as in There's Something About Mary or American Pie. But here the writers (for lack of a better term) want us to laugh at someone sitting on a toilet just because its gross. It doesn't work that way.

The fact that this film makes the original look like a comedy classic just about sums it up. When I saw the original, I was surprised to hear audience members laughing at even the worst jokes. In Scary Movie 2, though, the audience didn't go for it. I heard lots of courtesy laughs and nervous laughter, like some felt they had to laugh because the film was billed as a comedy. Aside from one dinner scene featuring Chris Elliot there are no scenes that inspire raucous laughter, like a good comedy should. If you're looking for a good time, look elsewhere. This film should be avoided at all costs.