more vulgar than funny

Rating: Null/10 (19 September 2004)

"Scary Movie 2" may well be one of the crudest, raunchiest and most vulgar comedies ever aimed at an essentially mainstream audience. This sequel to the original box office smash has a great deal of energy but little else to recommend it. The first film, though hardly a model of tasteful restraint, at least managed to be clever and witty from time to time. This version is a farrago of dirty jokes revolving around disgusting bodily functions and perverse sexuality - neither of which I have a particular problem with, but the least we could demand from such an assault is that the jokes themselves be funny. Unfortunately, most of the humor is executed in such a strained, over-the-top style that all the effort is visible right up there on the screen - the death knell for any truly effective comedy. At its narrative core, the film is a parody of all those "Haunting"-type movies in which some carefully selected people are gathered together in a haunted house by a sinister doctor intent on conducting some diabolical experiment. Along the way, the filmmakers poke fun at "What Lies Beneath," "Invisible Man," "The Exorcist," "Poltergeist," "Charlie's Angels" and an assortment of other well-known flicks.
The fact that "Scary Movie 2" is aimed at a young teen audience should certainly give the parents of America pause. Although this film probably doesn't visualize anything most of these youngsters haven't articulated amongst themselves already, discriminating parents should at least be aware of the graphic nature of most of the material (if they have to pare this down for network television any time soon, there will be five minutes left of the movie).
Almost inevitably - as is the case with most of these scattershot-type comedies - "Scary Movie 2" manages to elicit a few genuine laughs with its antics - just not enough to make the film really worth recommending.